Decomposers
Many native ecosystems of have been lost and degraded over the last couple centuries as the human population has increased. As human impacts continue and as the climate changes, restoring and maintaining resiliency within natural habitats is increasingly important. The loss of species and the reduction in population sizes of native species are likely to result in reduced ecosystem functioning. If a degraded or compromised habitat loses resiliency, future changes will have increasingly detrimental impacts compared to a fully-functional, resilient community.
Carrion Decomposers Decomposition of small mammal carcasses can be used to assess the integrity of ecosystem functioning while incorporating multiple trophic levels (foodweb approach). This work was started in San Diego County and is being implemented within the tallgrass prairies of Missouri. Research Tasks 1. Describe the decomposer communities associated wtih varying quality and landscape composition. 2. Quantify decomposition rates in relation to species assemblages, habitat quality, and landscape configuration. |