IRES Track I: understanding the global problem of defaunation through field experiments in southern Africa

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The world is facing several global challenges that are transforming natural environments. The next generation of scientists requires a global perspective and training to advance science and conservation to solve these challenges. An increasingly recognized challenge is the decline in abundance and loss of animals from ecosystems, termed 'defaunation'. Because animals play many important roles in natural environments, defaunation is a key issue for sustainable ecosystems. Yet the consequences of defaunation remains poorly understood. This project will address this issue with research and education using large-scale field experiments on the loss of large mammals in southern Africa, where we will train students about science and conservation and provide them a global perspective on ecological challenges such as defaunation.Each year, U.S. undergraduate students from Florida will work with students from South Africa and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and be mentored by scientists from these countries. We will teach students about the scientific method, ecological concepts, conservation, and southern Africa culture before departing for eight weeks in southern Africa. They will conduct research on the loss of large mammals, such as the African elephant, in South Africa and Eswatini where large experiments are underway to understand the effects of losing large mammals from environments where they historically roamed. Each cohort will build upon past research and test hypotheses about how the loss of large animals may alter natural environments. Student projects will provide scientific value by comparing results across two regions that have different histories of large mammal abundance. This work will provide new insights about how defaunation influences biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, which is needed for better understanding and for conservation action that can best limit potential negative impacts. This project will also provide global training of the next generation of scientists, recruit underrepresented groups to participate in the program, and communicate the student research results to local communities in southern Africa and Florida. Our IRES students will spend eight weeks participating in large-scale field experiments on defaunation in southern Africa while being mentored by leading and rising scientists from these countries. Prior to departure, students will learn about southern Africa local culture, ecological concepts, and experimental design. They will develop independent experimental projects within the domain of a coordinated experimental network on the loss of megaherbivores in South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Eswatini’s Mlawula Game Reserve. This coordinated experimental network will help isolate the short-term effects of defaunation and provide long-term context of defaunation across regions. It will provide new information about how defaunation influences biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; this information is needed for better understanding human-dominated landscapes and how conservation can best be applied to limit negative impacts of environmental change. The first cohort will quantify how remaining biodiversity responds to defaunation through tests of the megaherbivore loss hypothesis. The second cohort will explore specific behavioral processes that drive patterns of diversity, focusing on how megaherbivore loss might alter habitat refugia for other species. The third cohort will conduct studies on species interactions and ecosystem services, focusing on the functional redundancy hypothesis. This project will foster discovery and understanding by promoting teaching and training while immersing students in field-based research in Africa. Students will advance discovery of ecological processes in rapidly changing landscapes. We are enhancing infrastructure for both research and education through our field station-based research and strengthened international relationships with South Africa and Eswatini scientists, educators, and students. We will also expand participation of U.S. underrepresented groups via minority recruitment. Finally, we will provide broad science communication and dissemination to benefit local communities in the U.S. and southern Africa.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.