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Javier Rodriguez 

 

 

 

The spatial patterns of disruption of plant-animal interactions within a population dynamic approach


Javier did his Ph.D at the IMEDEA in the Balearic Islands (Spain) under the supervision of Anna Traveset. His Ph.D thesis was focused on the ecological and demographic consequences of plant-animal interactions in island ecosystems.

 

His study system comprises the shrub Daphne rodriguezii Teixidor (Thymelaeaceae) and its seed disperser, Podarcis lilfordi Gunter (Lacertidae), both endemic to the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean). This system is well suited for investigations on the disruption of a mutualistic plant-animal interactions because the spatial distribution and demography of the plant are directly influenced by the presence of its unique seed disperser and because both intact and disrupted populations (i.e., with and without the seed disperser) exist.

In his PhD, Javi adapted a comparative perspective to determine the common (and also the specific) bottlenecks on the reproductive output and plant regeneration of  D. rodriguezii in comparison to that of a congeneric species with a broader distribution, D. gnidium. In a second step of his Ph.D., he focused on the spatial patterns of plant regeneration and demography of D. rodriguezii.

 

Postdoc project in Leipzig

The general aim of his Marie Curie project in Leipzig is to improve the understanding of the direct and indirect consequences of the disruption of plant-animal interactions between D. rodriguezii and P. lilfordi, considering the spatial-explicit population dynamics of both partners of the interaction. Taking advantage of the unique data set already available for this shrub-lizard system Javi will compare the structure and dynamics of intact and disrupted plant-lizard populations. His project adopts a multidisciplinary approach and uses modelling techniques (i.e., individual based modelling and spatial-explicit population models) to study how the presence (or absence) of the seed disperser impacts the spatial pattern of seed deposition, producing demographic consequences on the plant and, in turn, altering the spatial structure of plant populations.

 

The methodological innovation of his project is the integration of previously collected data during Javier’s Ph.D into two interacting Spatial-Explicit Population Models which describe an explicit plant-animal interaction. This type of simulation model allows for taking a first principle approach in which natural history and field observations are used to deduce the causal relationships among components of the natural systems and the resulting system dynamics.
 

 

                                  

  The study site

  The study plant Daphne rodriguezii ...

...and its seed disperser, Podarcis lilfordi. Both are endemic to the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean).

 

           
 
    Modified: 06.04.2009   Resp.: Thorsten Wiegand     webmaster