Molecular biologists study how a gene works by switching it off, engineers try to replicate a device by taking it apart: these are all examples of reverse engineering. This approach is precluded to ecologists given the dramatic consequences of disturbing ecosystems, except in mathematical models and simulations. I intend to study the patterns of biodiversity loss due to extinction events in ecological networks using models and simulations, with the ultimate goal of understanding how to assemble robust networks. | |
Does biology matter when predicting animals' response to climate change? Correlative range models largely ignore biological traits including size, physiology, and behavior. My research focuses on incorporating these biotic details into mechanistic models that link individual energetics and population dynamics to predict climate-induced range shifts for reptiles and amphibians. My NCEAS research aims to extend the models across taxonomy and geography and to consider the range implications of adaptation and geographic variation in traits. | |
| I am interested in determining the existence and role of publication bias in ecology. Publication bias is prevalent in many fields of science although has been relatively unexplored in ecology. The importance of factors unrelated to publication quality will be tested using survey data, online databases and bibliometric methods. I will also evaluate the impact of publication bias on the composition of the ecological community in addition to developing best practices for journals, reviewers, and editors. | |
Understanding species coexistence is crucial to understanding the processes that structure communities. Niche mechanisms that promote coexistence result from trait differences that reduce niche overlap allowing stable coexistence. The relative importance of niche versus neutral mechanisms for driving community patterns is debated in ecology. Evolutionary distance may be a surrogate to understand which species can coexist and under what mechanism. At NCEAS I will use published experiments to see if phylogenetic relatedness predicts coexistence. | |
I aim to explore whether regional patterns of species co-occurrence can be explained by evolutionary divergence in ecological traits. The study will synthesize ecological and evolutionary theory to explore species coexistence for primates and carnivores. Using phylogenetic methods and geographic and biological databases, this research will provide the first global analysis of species coexistence and divergence across multiple communities. This work will be important for understanding the ecological and evolutionary limits to species richness and character diversity. | |
| As a postdoctoral fellow with the Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) project, I am working on methods for integrating multiple biophysical, social and economic datasets across spatial and temporal scales, estimating the joint uncertainties associated with the integrated data, and incorporating that uncertainty into management decision-making. These activities will be tied to development of system models and a decision-support framework to support marine EBM in coastal California through my involvement in and coordination of the Science Frameworks for EBM working group. |
Salmonid species have complex life history traits, which make them particularly susceptible to human activities. Climate affects fish metabolic rates, habitat use, and behavioral responses to a variety of environmental stimuli. My work at NCEAS consists of identifying salmon populations that are resilient or sensitive to climate change across their range from California to Alaska. Using a state-of-the-art climate model, fine and coarse-scale hydrological drainage maps, abundance time-series and other datasets, I will propose management strategies to enhance the resilience of populations to likely habitat changes. | |
| I combine algorithms and mathematical models to address relationships between structure and dynamics in large ecological data sets. My approach at NCEAS will be to complement an existing database on ecological networks by introducing behavior and interaction types. I will use this enlarged database to test alternative behavioral models of networks to identify mechanisms generating the structure and dynamics of empirical data. My goal is twofold: to relate structure and dynamics with responses to disturbances and to use networks as a way of integrating behavior within community patterns of species abundance. | |
| Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) often regulate carbon uptake, and many forests transition from N limitation to co-limitation to P limitation as they develop. At present there is no theoretical framework that determines the conditions under which each resource limits production, or when transitions between the different states occur. I will build such a theoretical framework and, in conjunction with existing data, analyze transitions between the alternate ecosystem states of limitation by N, P, or both. |
| My research examines the current movement within ecology to incorporate social science variables, methods and theories to enhance understanding of ecosystem processes. I am conducting a comparative investigation of collaborations and research institutes working to synthesize social-ecological research. My goals are to understand the most effective ways to catalyze disciplinary synthesis, to examine the effects of participation in such efforts on scientific collaborations and careers, and to discover ways in which ecologists and social scientists can best engage with policy makers. |
| Anthropogenic and climate change may potentially elicit abundance shifts, population extinction, contemporary evolution, or nonadaptive responses among species experiencing a variety of scenarios. My research at NCEAS involves assessing sensitivity of salmon species to river modifications and climate change throughout their North American ranges, and identifying optimal conservation strategies to promote population resilience. To better predict future population dynamics, I hope to use key insights from case studies detecting adaptive and plastic responses of salmon to 20th century habitat and climate change. |
| Temperate grassland is among the most globally endangered of ecosystem types, as it is highly threatened by the expansion of agriculture, the intensification of grazing pressure, and other human activities. I will be focusing on grassland conservation strategies for Argentina, where much of the best remaining temperate grassland can be found. Using a return on investment approach, I will explore how the inclusion of economic information can improve the quality of environmental planning for Argentinean grassland and for conservation in general. |
Jennifer Williams | I am broadly interested in population ecology, particularly in understanding how evolutionary processes affect population dynamics and species interactions. The goal of my NCEAS project is to use stochastic population models to test life history theory regarding when semelparity and iteroparity lead to higher individual fitness, and to examine when iteroparity can buffer population fluctuations. This project will help to refine current theory, and will clarify the connection between selection pressures on individuals and the consequences for population persistence. |
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NCEAS
Postdoctoral Associates
Stefano Allesina
Lauren Buckley
Marc Cadotte
Francisco Madriñán
Duncan Menge
John Parker
Jai Ranganathan
