Michał Bogdziewicz, PhD, from the Faculty of Biology at Adam Mickiewicz University has been awarded a prestigious grant by the European Research Council (ERC).
This is the second ERC grant awarded to a scientist representing Adam Mickiewicz University.
Global warming threatens the reproductive strategy of plants, which may cause problems for forest regeneration. Trees have a reproductive capacity based on the synchronised, mass production of seeds. At irregular intervals over several years, trees produce large quantities of them (these are called seed years). This is because in years of seed scarcity, natural selection takes place in populations of seed-eating animals. In seed years, on the other hand, these animals are not able to eat all the seeds.
The results showed a worrying trend: the effectiveness of consumer satiation strategies has declined in recent decades, probably due to changes in seed production caused by global warming.