Project description
The role of meso-predatory arthropods in cacao production in West Africa
West Africa produces half of the world’s cacao, but unsustainable practices and pests threaten yields. Research on meso-predatory arthropods is lacking, despite their abundance and potential impact on cacao yield. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TheCacaoWeb project will address knowledge gaps on the role of mesopredatory arthropods in biocontrol and cacao crop yield in Côte d’Ivoire, the largest cacao producer. It will conduct a multi-factorial experiment using metabarcoding to examine how the diversity and diets of these arthropods vary with insecticide use and different shade tree species. The project will also explore the impact of insectivorous birds on mesopredatory arthropods and their diets and how these interactions influence crop yield.
Objective
West Africa produces approximately half of the cacao consumed worldwide, but yields are threatened by unsustainable farming practices and the impact of pests and diseases. It is thus urgent to develop sustainable alternatives that protect local biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services such as biological pest control. Trophic ecology research is necessary to understand the ecology of pest predators and how to enhance them, but there are still large knowledge gaps in cacao trophic webs. Mesopredatory arthropods have been rarely researched, despite being considerably more abundant and diverse than apex predators, whose effect on pests and cacao yield has been studied. TheCacaoWeb aims to address central knowledge gaps about the role of mesopredatory arthropods in biocontrol and cacao crop yield in Côte d’Ivoire, the largest cacao producer worldwide. Through a multi-factorial experiment and metabarcoding approaches, I will assess how the diversity and diet of mesopredatory arthropods changes when agroforests are managed with or without insecticides, and under the presence of different shade tree species. Through a secondment at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, I will be able to assess how insectivorous birds affect mesopredatory arthropods and their diets, and the consequences of these multi-trophic interactions for crop yield. This secondment will also allow me to work as a researcher outside academia. TheCacaoWeb will bridge key gaps in trophic ecology, while addressing pressing questions to enhance sustainable farming practices in the cacao field. I will share my results with stakeholders in Switzerland, Côte d’Ivoire, and other countries in West Africa, expanding my collaboration network and ensuring that my scientific advances impact practice. This project will position me as an independent tropical ecologist in Europe standing out for the ability to apply scientific advances to solve current problematics in tropical agriculture and biodiversity conservation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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4485-661 VAIRAO, VILA DO CONDE
Portugal
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