Drivers of the population dynamics of a tropical ecosystem engineer

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Judith Korb
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 538250732

Drivers of population dynamics of species in the tropics are not well understood, especially for insects. Climate change is often supposed to affect insects differently than vertebrates but data are scarce. Thus, it is important to focus more on insects, especially when they provide crucial ecosystem services. Mound-building termite species are important ecosystem engineers of tropical ecosystems, which are essential for maintaining species diversity and providing ecosystem services. The fungus-growing termite Macrotermes bellicosus is the major and most important mound-building termite species in West-African savannahs. We are studying this species in the Comoé National Park of Ivory Coast since 30 years, including long-term population surveys. These data reveal a recent and dramatic decline of the species, potentially related to climate change. In the proposed project, we will identify the drivers of the population dynamics of this crucial insect from the local to the regional scale. To this end, we will use our unique long-term data set and complement it with more detailed studies. This will allow us to test explicit hypotheses, disentangle the relative importance of various factors, and identify underlying mechanisms. In addition, we will test whether and to which degree climate-change-associated alterations of rainfall patterns account for the recent decline of M. bellicosus. Thus, our study will provide a comprehensive understanding of the processes shaping the population dynamics of an invertebrate ecosystem engineer that is essential for maintaining tropical species diversity and whose abundance recently dropped at an alarming rate.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants