The role of protists in microbial food webs in the studied tropical lowland ecosystem in Sumatra Indonesia

My PhD project is a part of Project B08 of EFForTS (Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems). My work focuses on the diversity, community structure, and functioning of soil protists in four systems (tropical rainforests, rubber, oil palm plantations, and shrubland systems) and three layers (soil, root, and litter) based on high-throughput sequencing. My objectives are:

1. To explore how soil protists respond to environmental changes, such as changes in land use.
2. To explore the characteristics and differences of soil protists in different layers, such as soil, roots, and litter.
3. To reveal the changes in trophic levels of soil protist communities in different land use systems in Sumatra, Indonesia.
4. To provide a comprehensive overview of protists' diversity and functional roles in tropical rainforest and plantation systems.