Food Web Differences in Primary Versus Secondary Growth in a Lowland Tropical Rainforest
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Abstract
Biodiversity of wildlife can be seen in interactions between species, such as predation. One way to understand predation between animals such as mammals and birds are food webs, which documents which animals eat each other. Understanding how humans can impact these food webs, and therefore the larger ecosystem where the food web exists, through actions such as deforestation, is important for conservation. We collected data comparing old-growth and secondary growth tropical rainforest sites in La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. We examined twenty-eight different study locations, collecting fifteen days of data between May- June 2023. Species data were collected using camera traps and acoustic recorders, and vegetation data was gathered with a mixed-reality device, a Hololens. We created food webs using the occurrence data from camera traps and acoustic recorders and labeled forest type by looking at the vegetation and mapped data. Analysis was conducted using the AI supported softwares Wildlife Insights for photos and Arbiman for the audio recordings. We hypothesize that if the type of forest, a proxy for human disturbance, impacts food webs, then locations with the same type of forest will have more similar food webs. Knowledge of in which ways humans impact ecosystems allows us to make better conservation decisions and policies in line with both conservation and economic goals.
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NSF's Nano Research Experience for Teachers at Rice University- NSF EEC-1406885
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Office of STEM Engagement, Rice University, Houston, TX