The stoichiometry of food webs

Project description

Ecological stoichiometry yields exciting, often-counter-intuitive predictions linking the chemical composition of organisms to the biogeochemical cycles of elements in ecosystems. Yet, most of these breakthroughs come from studies of bi-trophic interactions (mainly plant-herbivore and plant-decomposer interactions). However, most natural food webs contain more than two trophic levels. This project is a dual modeling and experimental investigation of the role of stoichiometry in food webs, focusing on bacteria as a node that integrates effects of C, N and P recycling in ecosystems.