Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The primary purpose is to conduct a long term research program on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics in the Serengeti ecosystem, East Africa. We use Protected Areas as Ecological Baselines to compare with human-dominated ecosystems outside. The Serengeti provides a unique opportunity to understand (1) how a natural ecosystem works, (2) what role biodiversity plays in this system, and (3) what human influences are threatening this biodiversity. The Main Questions are: 1. What are the rules for the sustainability and resilience of ecosystems? 2. How do disturbances cause changes in state or destabilize ecosystems? 3. What are the consequences when components of biodiversity are lost from a system? The three aspects are: 1. The role of disturbance in ecosystem stability and biodiversity. We are documenting the impacts of two natural disturbances, fire and grazing, on the biodiversity and abundance of birds and insects in the Serengeti grassland ecosystem. 2. Multispecies movement models. We are measuring how predators are limited in their ability to catch prey by having to live in prides and having to deal with prey in herds. Both aspects prevent lions from depleting their food source and this provides stability. We are examining how general this rule for stability is with other predators. 3. The biodiversity knockout experiment (BioKO). This program is designed to understand the role that functional groups of our biota play in whole versus communities that have lost species. The essence of the experiment is to knock out different plant functional groups, then compare the stability of this reduced system with systems that have their full biota. A 4 wheel drive vehicle is requested to conduct the fieldwork for all 3 of these programs, replacing one that is now old.