International Research Experiences for Students (IRES): Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in the Galapagos Marine Reserve

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0651325WitmanThis proposal will develop a research and training program for graduate and undergraduate students focused on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Undergraduate students will be recruited nationally as well as from Brown University. Each year for three years two graduate students and one undergraduate student will spend seven weeks in Ecuador at the Galapagos Marine Reserve, under the supervision of Dr. Witman of Brown University and Stuart Banks of the Charles Darwin Research Station in Ecuador. Students will focus on 2 major questions using experimental and observational approaches. 1) Does the diversity of grazers affect productivity, a key ecosystem function? and 2) What is the relationship between taxonomic diversity and functional diversity for invertebrates and fishes across the GMR? The project will also include a complementary study of the effect of fish predation on sea urchins, to build an understanding of how trophic cascades influence biodiversity - ecosystem functioning relationships.