Aboveground biodiversity patterns and associated services across rainforest transformation landscapes

I am ecologist who is interested in how biodiversity can be maintained in human dominated landscapes. Essentially, I am asking how different human land uses and management practices affect local and landscape wide biodiversity patterns. Ultimately, I wonder how we can design the sustainable landscapes of the future. In my work I mainly focus on the tropics and functional biodiversity such as pollinators and pest control agents. My previous research led me to places such as Sulawesi, Sumatra and South India.

During the final phase of the EFForTS project I will coordinate the large scale landscape assessment in which we plan to sample well over 100 plots in the lowlands of Sumatra. Furthermore, I will investigate how rainforest transformation and landscape heterogeneity in central Sumatra influence above-ground biodiversity patterns and ecosystem processes. For this purpose I will work with dummy caterpillars, stingless bee colonies, pantraps and audio recordings of birds and bats.