Behavioral Cascades: Predator Loss, Fear, and Species Interactions in Tropical Ecosystems
Institute Seminar by Dumas Galvez
- Date: Jul 14, 2026
- Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Dumas Galvez
- Dumas Gálvez is a behavioral ecologist based in Panama whose research focuses on how animal behavior influences ecological interactions and ecosystem processes in tropical systems. He is affiliated with the Coiba Scientific Station, the University of Panama and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where he studies behavioral responses to predators, competition, and environmental change across a range of taxa including rodents, ants, termites, and other arthropods.
- Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
- Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Bücklestrasse + Online
- Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
- Contact: mcrofoot@ab.mpg.de
Animal behavior plays a central role in mediating species interactions and can generate cascading effects that influence ecosystem processes. In tropical ecosystems, behavioral responses to predators, competitors, and environmental disturbances can alter key ecological functions such as seed dispersal, decomposition, and species coexistence. In this talk, I present a series of studies conducted primarily in Panama that explore how behavioral interactions among animals shape ecological dynamics across multiple taxa, including rodents, ants, termites, and spiders.
The MPI-AB Seminar Series is open to members of MPI and Uni Konstanz. The zoom link is published each week in the MPI-AB newsletter.