Speaker

Dr. Camilo Zalamea
University of South Florida

Abstract

Mechanisms that maintain plant diversity at local and regional scales have long captured the interest of ecologists. Recently, the role of plant-microbe interactions in structuring the composition of plant communities has become clear. Early studies focused on antagonism, showing that fungi and fungus-like pathogens promote plant diversity by imposing density- and distance-dependent mortality on seedlings and saplings. However, an emerging perspective is that non-pathogenic fungi also define plant health, with implications for shaping plant community structure. Focusing on seeds, a key component of fitness for most tropical trees, this talk centers on translating individual-level plant-fungal interactions to the processes that maintain tropical tree diversity.