Dynamics of seedling recruitment and tree seedling–herbivore interactions during forest recovery

在“物种相互作用网络的重组”研究单元中，子项目SP5“森林恢复过程中幼苗招募和树苗-草食相互作用的动力学”主要研究幼苗招募和树苗-草食相互作用。在整个森林恢复时间序列中，将监测所有样地的幼苗招募和幼苗与食草动物的相互作用。物种特有的形态和化学特征，如叶片厚度或叶片代谢物将被表征和叶片草食量化。我们还将沿着时间序列评估早期和晚期演替物种的遗传多样性。种子雨和幼苗招募的实验将有助于量化种子传播网络中不同组成部分的功能贡献及其对扰动的响应。种子降雨和幼苗招募预计会因种子大小和幼苗物种的扩散综合征而有所不同。在恢复森林中，幼苗的遗传多样性和功能性状与叶片的草食性以及幼苗-草食网络的结构和动态有关。

Within the research unit “Reassembly of species interactions networks”, the subproject SP5 “Dynamics of seedling recruitment and tree seedling–herbivore interactions during forest recovery” focuses on seedling recruitment and seedling–herbivore interactions. Both, seedling recruitment and seedling-herbivore interactions will be monitored in all plots across the forest recovery chronosequence. Species-specific morphological and chemical traits such as leaf thickness or leaf metabolites will be characterized and leaf herbivory quantified. We will additionally assess the genetic diversity in early and late-successional species along the chronosequence. An experiment on seed rain and seedling recruitment will help to quantify the functional contribution of different components of the seed dispersal network and their responses to perturbation. Seed rain and seedling recruitment are expected to differ depending on seed size and dispersal syndrome of the seedling species. Genetic diversity and functional traits of seedlings will be related to leaf herbivory as well as the structure of seedling-herbivore networks and their dynamics in recovering forests.