First meeting: 15.-19.05.2017

PIs:
Oliver Schweiger
Josef Settele

iDiv member:
Josef Settele

Project summary:
Global change can lead to the re-assembly of species assemblages with severe consequences for ecosystem functioning. Two basic processes are mainly involved in such processes, environmental filtering and niche partitioning, both determined by species traits, niche characteristics and phylogenetic history. However, our understanding of these processes is still limited. Recent attempts to analyse phylogenetic patterns as proxies for functional diversity have demonstrated a mismatch in spatial patterns of species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity. The reasons for this mismatch have not yet been resolved, partly due to the limitations of the available data sets. We will integrate multiple data sets on species distribution and abundance with high temporal and spatial resolution and extent in combination with comprehensive information on species traits, their niche characteristics and phylogenetic relationships. With a group of major data holders and world-leading experts from multiple disciplines, we will identify and synthesise different and context-dependent re-assembly processes which act on different spatial and temporal scales and determine species co-occurrence, community assembly and biodiversity under changing environmental conditions. Using European butterflies as a model system, we intend to (1) analyse their trait and niche evolution, (2) identify the impact of global change drivers on spatial and temporal patterns of species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity and their mismatches, and (3) analyse scale-dependencies of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity.

Participants:
Jonathan Chase (iDiv), Enrique Garcia-Barros (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Andros Gianuca (UFZ), Toke Høye (Aarhus University), Evrim Karacetin (Erciyes University), Vassiliki Kati (University of Ioannina), Mikko Kuussaari (Finnish Environment Institute), Joseph Middleton Welling (Oxford Brookes University), Tomas Murray (National Biodiversity Data Centre), Martin Musche (UFZ), Piotr Nowicki (Jagiellonian University), Lars B. Pettersson (Lund University), Martina Šašić (Croatian National History Museum), Reto Schmucki (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), Oliver Schweiger (UFZ), Josef Settele (UFZ), Timothy Shreeve (Oxford Brookes University), Jana Slancarova (Biology Centre CAS), Martin Wiemers (UFZ), Robert Wilson (University of Exeter)

Meeting report

Second meeting: 16.-20.04.2018

Participants:
Tuba Bucak Onay (Nature Conservation Centre), Jonathan Chase (iDiv), Andros Gianuca (UFZ), Toke Høye (Aarhus University), Mikko Kuussaari (Finnish Environment Institute SYKE), Joseph Middleton Welling (Oxford Brookes University), Tomas Murray (National Biodiversity Data Centre), Piotr Nowicki (Jagiellonian University), Lars B. Pettersson (Lund University), Elisa Plazio (Jagiellonian University), Martina Šašić (Croatian Natural History Museum), Reto Schmucki (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), Oliver Schweiger (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ), Josef Settele (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ), Tim Shreeve (Oxford Brookes University), Olga Tzortzakaki (University of Patras), Martin Wiemers (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ), Robert Wilson (University of Exeter), Michele Zaccagno (University of Turin), Niklaus Zimmermann (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL)

Meeting report