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Alpine Adventures Await! MERGE offers 10 days excursion in the breathtaking German Alps! 🏔️ Check out here: www.ecology-conservation.de/courses/ From lush valleys to snowy peaks, we explore ecosystems across elevation gradients. 🌿🦋 #LifeOfMERGE #PhotoOfTheWeek Photo by Fabienne Maihoff

11mo

We found that shade tree diversity and cover had different effects on bird and bats depending on their functional guild and the landscape surrounding the agroforestry systems

Great to see these results finally published! Data Blanca (@bioivanezb.bsky.social) and I collected during my master’s research in Peruvian cacao agroforestry systems, where you can learn more about the favorite food of leafcutter ants and how herbivory damage strongly depends on distance! 🐜

New paper out in @jappliedecology.bsky.social 📃 Led by Blanca Iváñez-Ballesteros @bioivanezb.bsky.social who studied cacao agroforestry systems in Peru during her PhD 🌱

1mo

MERGE - Master of Global Change Ecology

[new paper] I'm very happy to present my first PhD chapter in my first post in this nicer environment. If you're interested in birds, bats, agroforestry and tropical agricultural landscapes, check it out! 🦜🦇🌳🍫 ¡Contáctame para leer el artículo en español! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Mar 2, 2025

Let’s talk about cacao pollination! You can hear more about my research today at the #gfoe2025 🍫🌳🦟 @gfoesoc.bsky.social

Mar 2, 2025

Yesterday I talked about leaf-cutter ants and their role on Peruvian cacao agroforests at #ECTE2025 @soctropecol.bsky.social

9mo

👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 Be a scientist for a day! We invite you to the #BioBlitz 2025 in farmland! 📅 May 9–10, 2025 📍 Hubland, Würzburg Grab a sweep net & binoculars and help document local biodiversity! 🐝🌼🐦🦊 👉 Register: go.uniwue.de/gxwtm #CitizenScience #Biodiversity #UniWuerzburg #JoinIn @uni-wuerzburg.de

Feb 27, 2025

Ant trouble in cacao forests? 🐜 Researchers from @ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social found a way to protect crops in Peru. Turns out, leaf-cutter ants prefer papaya over cacao! 🥭 Smart intercropping saves the harvest #Agroforestry #Sustainability 📷 Melvin Opolka ➡️ go.uniwue.de/leaf-cutter-...

Apr 15, 2025

Excited to get reunited at #ECTE2025

1mo

Feb 25, 2025

Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III)

Melvin Opolka

Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III)

Pablo Aycart Lazo

Blanca Iváñez-Ballesteros (she/her)

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Agricultural expansion and intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss, particularly in tropical regions. Cacao agroforestry systems can bo…

www.sciencedirect.com

Landscape context influences local management effects on birds and bats in Amazonian cacao agroforestry systems