Seminar of BC, CLS and FSc. USB

The Institute of Hydrobiology at Biology Centre CAS, the Czech Limnological Society in České Budějovice and the University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science invite you for a scientific seminar:

How body size and animal personalities affect predator-prey interactions, food webs and biodiversity threats

Dr. Gregor Kalinkat

(Leibniz-Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany), www.gregorkalinkat.com

Thursday 8 March 2018, 13:00

Lecture hall of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, ČB

Abstract
Systematic investigations of predator-prey interactions as the core elements of natural food webs have long since identified that body size is the single most important trait driving these interactions. Further research shows that so far unexplained variation in trophic interaction strengths might be caused by consistent differences in behavioral traits. In the first part of this presentation I will demonstrate based on examples from fish and insects how the functional response framework can be used to explain these relationships in a systematic and mechanistic way that enables upscaling to the whole food web level. In the second part of my presentation I will look at how body size and intraspecific variation affect the interactions among humans and wildlife, or more broadly, biodiversity. A key finding is that human-animal interactions do not scale as universally with body size as do the interactions among natural predators and their prey. Despite complex relationships we can learn useful lessons from these size-based approaches that can inform how we tackle management and conservation issues like invasive species and other biodiversity threats.