Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0342549

Funded Activity Summary

Mistletoe as a keystone resource---an experimental test. My recent synthesis of known interactions between animals and mistletoe suggests that mistletoe functions as a keystone resource, influencing diversity patterns in forested ecosystems worldwide. This project tests the keystone hypothesis explicitly for woodland communities using landscape-scale manipulation. In 40 woodland remnants, all mistletoes will be removed from 20, with subsequent seasonal censuses of woodland birds, arboreal marsupials and butterflies. Incorporating data on spatial and temporal variation in fruit, nectar and arthropod availability, this study represents a model system for understanding the ecosystem-wide role of ecological keystones and the influence of resource distribution on diversity patterns in fragmented habitats generally.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-02-2003

End Date: 31-01-2006

Funding Scheme: Discovery Projects

Funding Amount: $180,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Landscape Ecology | Conservation And Biodiversity | Forestry Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | Ecological Applications |

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

Living resources (flora and fauna) | Remnant vegetation and protected conservation areas | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management

Other Keywords

Conservation And Biodiversity | Ecological Applications | Forestry Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Landscape Ecology | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Remnant vegetation and protected conservation areas

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