INTERACT
Effects of climate on interactions between wood-decomposing microbes and insects at a global scale
Funding: DFG
Running Period: 2023-2025
Project Staff: Jiayun Zou, Sebastian Seibold
Collaborator: Claus Bässler (University of Bayreuth)
Considering global climate change and the ongoing loss of biodiversity, including forest insects and microbes, a better understanding of climate effects on the complex relationships between wood-inhabiting insects and microbes is needed to predict the future of the global forest carbon sink. Deadwood decomposition is an important process in the global forest carbon cycle, and insects interact closely with wood-decomposing microbes, including symbiotic associations, facilitation and competition. While local field studies have shown that insect-microbe interactions can either accelerate or decelerate wood decomposition, yet it remains unclear how the effects of insects on microbial communities change along global climate gradients.