Over twenty years ago, the PI began an investigation of how to measure the effects that animals like pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores have on the reproductive success (fitness) of understory plants in tropical rainforests. Fitness is difficult to measure, being determined by the timing and effort invested in key events (birth, growth, reproduction and death) over the full lifetime of an individual plant as well as the overlapping of events among individuals in a population. There are three main issues to address. First, how much is plant growth, survival, reproduction at a given age or developmental stage affected by a particular animal? Second, what are the estimates of growth, survival, and reproduction for all ages or stages of plants within their natural habitats? Third, how can we synthesize the stage-specific effects with the demographic patterns in the context of a stable or a changing habitat? The synthesis has heretofore remained elusive, but can be addressed by analytical tools that are being developed by the PI and collaborators. The PI will synthesize her abundant data with new models that combine local and global environmental dynamics and provide new methods to study the effects of multiple interactions.
The PI aims to advance discovery as well as promote learning and training of university students. Interdisciplinary approaches and new analytical tools will enhance research infrastructure. Results will be shared with managers in the service of society to manage tropical forests and their diverse biotic interactions.
