Current projects

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Burrow builders as ecosystem engineers

Seed predators as ecosystem engineers

Dead trees

In this project, we are evaluating the role of burrow builders as ecosystem engineers for antlions in La Mancha on the coast of Veracruz, Mexico.

Using tamarind (Tamarindus indica) as a study system, we are evaluating the role of seed predators as ecosystem engineers for other arthropods in a tropical dry forest in Veracruz, Mexico.

In this project, we are evaluating the importance of standing dead trees to the conservation of arthropods in tropical montane cloud forests in Veracruz, Mexico.

International collaborations

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Herbivory

Predation Rates

Global changes

Using standardized surveys of plant–herbivore interactions we are evaluating the factors that affect herbivory at a global scale. Project leader: William Wetzel (Michigan State University)

Using artificial caterpillars we are evaluating on a global scale the effects of intensive agriculture (maize fields) on biotic interactions (predation rates). Project leaders: Marco Ferrante (University of Göttingen,), Ezequiel González (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), and Michal Knapp (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague).

The Long-Term Ecological Research - Campo Rupestre Serra do Cipó evaluates how global changes affect biodiversity along a mountain gradient. Project leader: Geraldo W. Fernandes (Federal University of Minas Gerais)