Community Stability and Diversity
Most broadly, research in the lab examines why we observe the ecological diversity and species assemblages we do. Our research focuses on answering the interrelated set of questions:
What mechanisms maintain biodiversity in a given community?
How important is variability in creating stable communities and species assemblages?
How important is spatial variability and dispersal in structuring communities?
and similarly,
How does spatial patterning form in landscapes? What can spatial patterns tell us about underlying mechanisms and species interactions?
How important is variability in creating stable communities and species assemblages?
How important is spatial variability and dispersal in structuring communities?
and similarly,
How does spatial patterning form in landscapes? What can spatial patterns tell us about underlying mechanisms and species interactions?
The Role of Spatial Structure and Spatial Variation
Spatial structure in the environment is a key, yet often times under-appreciated, mechanism that allows for species to stably coexist with one another. Combining metacommunity theory and spatial coexistence theory, I examine how landscape variability and species' dispersal interact to allow for coexistence. I use simulation models, analytics, and microcosm experiments to explore how spatial structure and competitive structure interact to influence community coexistence.
Stochasticity and Inherent Variability
Stochasticity is commonly known to play an important role in structuring neutral communities. Yet, it also plays a critical role in competitive communities, as it can influence diversity patterns, coexistence, and species-level extinction patterns. Mechanistically accounting for stochasticity in models of community dynamics reveals the underlying structure that arises from demographic and environmental processes, showing us that stochasticity is more than inherent randomness in a community or ecosystem.
Synchrony and Its Role in Stability
More recently, as part of an LTER and NCEAS working group, I have becoming increasingly interested in spatial patterns of synchrony in populations and communities. Synchrony of population fluctuations across a landscape is a common phenomenon, but what does this tell us about community composition and stability? Currently, I am working to connect patterns in synchrony to underlying mechanisms, and am excited in the future to examine the interplay between spatial synchrony, spatial variability, and coexistence.
