US-India Cooperative Research: How Do Human Seed Predators Affect the Population Ecology of Tropical Forest Trees?

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0352827TicktinDescription: This award supports the US-India cooperative research, How do Human Seed Predators Affect the Population Ecology of Tropical Forest Trees? US PI Tamara Ticktin, University of Hawaii will collaborate with Dr. Rengaian Ganesan, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore to assess the effects of seed predation through fruit-harvesting by humans on the population ecology of four animal-dispersed tropical forest trees in India's Western Ghats. While humans have acted as important frugivores of tropical trees for thousands of years, little ecological research has been conducted to assess the significance of the role that human gathering of wild resources may have played, and continue to play, in altering forest tree ecology. Additionally, the investigators will use both demographic and seed-dispersal analyses to study the role that animal frugivores play in shaping the structure and dynamics of tree populations. Scope: This collaboration combines the expertise of the US and Indian scientists in regeneration dynamics (Ganesan), and population modeling and frugivory studies (Ticktin) to address the complexities of this plant-human-animal interaction. The collaborating institution ATREE is a recognized scientific research institution that has conducted ecological research since its establishment in 1996. As a well-respected environmental science and policy group, it has the expertise to translate the scientific results of this project into meaningful management and educational activities regarding conservation and sustainable harvesting of tropical forests. Both Indian and US PIs are recent PhDs. This collaboration will provide training opportunities for US and Indian doctoral students and mutual benefits for faculty, researchers and students at both institutions.