Structure and functioning of the decomposer system in lowland rainforest transformation systems (B08)

• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: from 2012 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 192626868

The project investigates changes in the structure and functioning of decomposer food webs with conversion of tropical lowland rainforests into rubber and palm oil plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. The project focuses on spatial and temporal variations of the response of soil food webs to rainforest conversion at the landscape level as well as responses to variations in tree diversity and management of plantation systems. Overall, the project aims at uncovering generalities on the structure of and energy flux through soil animal communities of tropical rainforest and plantation systems thereby contributing to biodiversity conservation and the development of sustainable land-use systems.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 990: Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Mark Maraun, until 12/2015; Professor Dr. Stefan Scheu