A fellow researcher, Arne Devriese from KU Leuven, will visit the Pollination Ecology Workgroup and will give an overview of the research carried out within the frames of his PhD thesis, which he will very soon defend.
Title: Diversity of plants, pollinators, and their interactions in fragmented dune slacks, using a metabarcoding approach.
Summary: Habitat fragmentation is a major driver of biodiversity loss, even in naturally fragmented ecosystems. Over the past 80 years, urbanization along the Belgian coast has led to the destruction of dune slacks, a naturally fragmented habitat. This PhD research aimed to assess the effects of habitat fragmentation on dune slacks. Vegetation surveys and pollinator sampling were conducted at 19 sites along an area and connectivity gradient. Pollen was collected from pollinators, and pollen transport networks were constructed using a metabarcoding approach. Plant species richness was strongly influenced by patch area and connectivity, whereas pollinator species richness was affected by area and plant connectivity. This discrepancy likely arises because plants experience a stronger contrast with the surrounding landscape than pollinators. This was further supported by the observation that a substantial proportion of pollen transported by pollinators originated from plant species outside the dune slacks, indicating that the broader landscape composition influences pollinators. Finally, pollen transport networks exhibited high interaction variability across sites and sampling periods. Most of this variability could be attributed to turnover in floral availability and pollinator community composition, with little evidence for changes in pollinator behavior.
Place and time: Monday, 17 February, at 15:00 in Oecologicum (room 126).
Those interested in the seminar and the topic, please contact Tsipe Aavik (tsipe.aavik@ut.ee).
Tsipe Aavik / tsipe.aavik@ut.ee / +372 516 1187
