Project description
 
Descripcion del proyecto en Español

The idea that interactions between organisms are more intense in the tropics underpins much thinking about tropical ecology, global patterns in plant and animal traits, and latitudinal gradients in biodiversity. In this project, we aim to provide the first direct and global test of this idea by quantifying the intensity of herbivory, seed predation and density-dependent seedling mortality at approximately 100 sites around the world.
 
The main questions we hope to answer are:
1) Is the proportion of leaf production consumed by herbivores greater near the equator?
2) Are a greater proportion of seeds killed by seed predators near the equator?
 
We will also investigate the causes of any latitudinal gradients by determining which environmental variables are most closely associated with the strength of biotic interactions, and by quantifying the relationships among latitude, herbivore abundance, resource availability, plant defences and herbivore damage.
 
If that's not enough detail for you, you could look at pages explaining
  • why we think this project is interesting and potentially useful,
  • various hypotheses about the shape of the relationship between herbivory and latitude, or
  • The full sampling protocol (including site seclection criteria and descriptions of the site and species measures)
  • the Field Guide (these are the instructions for field workers, in English), or the Guia de Campo (español, translated by Heidi Stevens). Alternatively, you can read an abbreviated guide in Danish (thanks to Rasmus Ejrnæs).
 
This project is funded by the Australian Research Council, Macquarie University, the Australian Geographic and the Amazon Conservation Association.