Environmental Studies Seminar Series | Exit Talk: The little things that run the world: how local communities and ants impact tropical forest restoration

In person and via Zoom (Meeting ID: 978 5545 8946, Passcode: 454736). If you are unable to stream the talk live and need to access a recorded version, please contact Stacy Philpott at [email protected]. A UC Santa Cruz email address is required to access the recording. Host: Karen Holl Speaker: Christina Blebea, UC Santa Cruz, ENVS Abstract: Neotropical forests are biodiversity hotspots, providing habitat for a diverse suite of species and important ecosystem services for people. However, many forests are disappearing or are repeatedly recleared, underscoring the need to identify the social and biological characteristics that influence whether forests persist and recover. My dissertation examines how tropical forest restoration affects ant communities and the ecosystem processes they support, as well as local-level collective actions that lead to forest permanence. First, I sampled ant communities from different forest restoration methodologies in a twenty-year-old restoration experiment in Costa Rica, comparing functional traits to reveal how restoration shapes ant function. I also experimentally tested seed dispersal by ants to determine how restoration impacts ant disperser communities, which have lasting effects on plant spatial diversity. Finally, I conducted semi-structured interviews in rural Salvadoran communities with sustained forest permanence to ask about their perceptions of the forest over the past 50 years. Overall, I found that restoration shapes which ant species are present, which can affect the ecosystem processes, informing restoration strategy. I also found that community organizing and community institutions can be fundamental to forest permanence, highlighting how reforestation initiatives need to take into account local history and agency.

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