Project Mentor
Hernan Capador
Co-mentors: Joe Wright, Kristin Saltonstal
How trees fight back: community assembly in tropical forests
Why are tropical rainforests so biodiverse? Interactions between trees and other species are key processes that could explain this phenomenon as trees depend on other species for a variety of essential processes, including pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient acquisition, and defense; and are adversely impacted by other species acting as pollen robbers, seed predators, herbivores, and pathogens. Modern molecular tools, such as metabarcoding or qPCR allow for a deeper understanding of these interactions as they allow communities of organisms to be identified from environmental samples. For example, Virola nobilis is a tropical tree that relies on animals such as toucans and monkeys to disperse its seeds. However, seeds are vulnerable to soil organisms, and because microbial communities in the soil under Virola trees can harm Virola seedlings disproportionally compared to other species, their survival is higher when seeds are dispersed several hundred meters. This frees up space for other tree species to grow next to Virola. This project seeks to better understand which organisms control the distribution and abundance of trees and how trees resist the attack of their enemies to become more abundant. The goal is to link traits in trees with (meta)genomic data to understand how plant communities and their associated organisms (friends and foes) assemble in tropical rainforests. This is possible thanks to historic data from the 50-ha plot on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), together with recently developed molecular and genomic resources available at the Naos Laboratory in Panamá City. Given the breadth and diversity of techniques used in this project, there are several sub-projects the candidate can get involved in, that range from work in the field and greenhouse to the molecular lab and bioinformatic data analysis.
Required skills:
Interest in forest ecology, genetics, evolution or related fields. Ability to work with groups of people from diverse backgrounds. For more field-based projects, willingness to work outdoors in hot and humid conditions is expected. Experience working in a laboratory is preferred, but not required.
