The Anthropocene has induced drastic changes in arthropod communities, affecting ecosystem functioning and compromising the essential services they provide for human well-being, such as biological control and pollination.
Here we aim to gain better understanding of how different feeding groups (herbivores, predators, parasitoids, saprophagous) respond to major environmental changes (across a climatic and fragmentation gradient, or agricultural intensification) and how such responses may affect ecosystem functioning.
Advancing in our general knowledge and understanding of the impact of global changes on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning will lead to better informed decisions for conservation and sustainable development planning.
Research projects
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SPIDCHANGE: Spiders as integrators of brown and green food webs in a changing world(PID2022-137758NB-I00)
- Year
- 2023
- Supported
- Government of Spain (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities) and European Union
- Duration
- 3 years
How do environmental and anthropogenic disturbances affect arthropod communities? How do changes in the arthropod community impact on ecosystem functioning and the services they provide for human wellbeing? Over 85% of all known animal species are arthropods. Recent estimates, however, have revealed increased rates of species extinction at local level and massive decline in arthropod biomass, most likely linked to land-use intensification. The SPIDCHANGE project will investigate the effect of changes in habitat climate, structure, and fragmentation on the patterns of biodiversity (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, and genetic diversity) of arthropod communities, and determine how such changes are linked to basic ecosystem functions (productivity and nutrient cycling). The project will focus on spiders, one of the most diverse and abundant predators, and restricted to the cork-oak woodlands of the Iberian Peninsula, which are among the Iberian forests of major natural, cultural, and economic relevance.
Web announcement project: https://www.aei.gob.es/en/announcements/announcements-finder/proyectos-generacion-conocimiento-2022
