FORKAST

BAVARIAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION "CLIMATIC IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS AND CLIMATIC ADAPTATION STRATEGIES"

TP11 Impacts of anthropogenic climate change and extreme climatic events on plant - pollinator networks

Interactions between flowering plants and pollinators are extremely important both from an economist's and and an ecologist's point of view. Plant-pollinator networks (PPN) formed by these   interactions are presumably particularly threatened by climate change, since these networks contain mutually dependent species that differ in their responses to projected climatic changes. Of particular concern is the danger of desynchronisation of plant flowering and insect acitivity periods. Therefore, this project aims to further our understanding of the structure of interactions in PPNs in order to to develop strategies to prevent species loss and preserve the essential ecosystem functions provided by these networks. Results derived from data collected along an alpine elevation gradient will be combined with statistical analysis of existing data sets and those of related FORKAST projects. These data will be used to parametrise prognostic models that will aid in estimation of the consequences of long-term climatic trends and extreme events for PPN stability, and in identification of particularly threatened species.

linking up with the following projects:
TP 8, 12, 14, 17

Grant-aided by:
Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Arts