Phenology of tropical tree species

Phenology of tropical tree species – environmental cues, molecular mechanisms, and consequences for plant-animal interactions

In the project, we will investigate the causes and consequences of regular and synchronized phenological transitions in tropical tree species. Investigating tropical tree phenology requires an integrative approach that takes into account the monitoring of tree phenology, molecular methods to study gene expression, and ecological approaches to study plant-animal interactions.

The study will be carried out in the montane humid forests and the seasonally dry tropical forest of Southern Ecuador. Here, available data from previous and ongoing projects (most importantly from the research unit RESPECT) and continuous measurements of important parameters such as climate and carbon flux provide an ideal basis for realizing a study on tree phenology. During this project, we will simultaneously monitor phenological transitions, changes of gene expression, stem diameter variation, optical properties of canopies in four tree species and link this to carbon fluxes and climatic parameters. Thereby, this project will provide insights on how phenological transitions are triggered, which gene regulatory networks are involved in phenological transitions, and how these influence plant growth and carbon sequestration. Further, we will study the interdependencies of trees and their mutualistic partners in the light of phenological transitions. We will investigate pollinator assemblages, pollen-mediated gene flow, seed set, and germination rates. Overall, this project will make important contributions to future predictions of the impact of climate change on montane rainforests.

The project is funded as an Emmy Noether research group by the DFG (HE 7345/8-1).

Claudia Viganó and Alessandro Mainardi work as PhD researchers in the project and Dr. Carina Moura involved as researcher and coordinator.