Project Details
Projekt
Plant-arthropod associations from the Lower Miocene of the Most Basin in northern Bohemia (Czech Republic)
Applicant
Professor Dr. Torsten Wappler
Subject Area
Palaeontology
Term
from 2008 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 90621048
Terrestrial plants and insects account for the majority of the Earth's biodiversity today, and almost half of insect species are herbivores. Thus, insects and plants share ancient associations that date back now for more than 300 million years. However, investigation of their interactions still stands largely at their beginning. More than 2400 plants remains are available for the examinations. The variety of these damages which are classified as socalled "guilds" or functional feeding-groups supplies an outstanding example of the complexity, the structure and the change of terrestrial ecosystems. The primary objective of the project is to document changes in insect herbivory through the Oligocene / Miocene boundary, with the aim of understanding the principal factors that caused the observations. Ecological and palaeontological studies indicate that temperature, precipitation, leaf nutrient content and floral diversity can influence insect herbivory. However, plant-insect interactions, a dominant feature of terrestrial ecosystems, are not well known during this interval. In Europe, the Neogene is characterized by palaeogeographic reorganization due to the collision of the African with the Eurasian plate. In addition to the global climatic changes, the tectonic development and sea level changes severely influenced the climate in Eurasia. The Neogene European palaeofloral record is very rich and diverse which support a profound large-scale understanding of the floristic and vegetational development. The project will combine quantitative studies of late Miocene fossil plant-animal interactions and contemporary insect faunas. A database of all fossil traces will be compiled and analysed in terms of the diversity and intensity of palaeo-herbivory.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Czech Republic, USA
