Stefano Allesina | Marissa Baskett | Bernardo Broitman | Lauren Buckley | Amber Budden | Marc Cadotte | Elsa Cleland | T. Jonathan Davies | Kevin Drury | Allen Hurlbert | Carrie Kappel | Brad McRae | Carlos Melián | Thomas O'Halloran | Christine Petersen | Jai Ranganathan | Jennifer Smith | Patrick Stephens | Mark Urban | |
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. | |
| As the frequency and magnitude of temperature extremes increase with climate change, mass coral bleaching events threaten the persistence of coral reefs. However, corals and their symbiotic algae may adapt to climate change through community shifts, physiological acclimation, and genetic adaptation. Using theoretical models, I will explore this potential for rapid adaptation, compare indicators of corals' capacity to survive climate change, and investigate the effect of additional anthropogenic impacts. These models will further the understanding of the interaction between evolutionary and ecological processes, inform conservation management decisions, and create a theoretical framework for synthesizing coral bleaching data. | |
| I plan to incorporate social sciences to the ecosystem-based management of coastal ecosystems. Community-based processes have successfully incorporated folk knowledge in the design of management strategies by involving stakeholders in the scientific process. I will review the implementation these initiatives have on temperate coastal ecosystems worldwide and compile from public sources the relevant environmental and biological datasets defined through participative scientific process. Finally, I plan to develop simple bio- economic models of the ecosystem under management where uncertainty is a central forcing factor. | |
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 study the response of plant communities and ecosystems to global environmental changes, such as nitrogen deposition, elevated CO2, and invasive species. I am also interested in strategies for restoration of native plant communities in the context of present and future environmental changes. My current research focuses on responses of plant communities to nitrogen deposition, asking whether the functional traits of invasive species differ between low and high nitrogen conditions, and whether the functional traits of the native community influence the success of the invading species. | |
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. | |
Kevin Drury (805) 893-5934 | I am interested in how species interactions influence population dynamics. Most recently I have focused on calculating the expected time to threshold crossings and subsequent shifts between stable regimes. While at NCEAS I will work with software engineers in the Ecoinformatics group and field biologists at Kruger National Park in South Africa who have identified thresholds of potential concern. I will help generate Kepler workflows that use park data to test whether ecosystem features extend importantly above or below these thresholds. We can then provide the software engineers direct feedback about features most useful for scientifically-based park management. |
| I am interested in geographical patterns of abundance, distribution, and species richness and the search for general rules that govern the structure of ecological communities across time and space. Currently, my research at NCEAS combines geographically extensive survey datasets with range maps to explore the patchy nature of most species ranges and the consequences for community level analyses that use range map-based estimates of richness. I am also examining the degree to which local community composition (survey data) reflects a non-random subset of the regional species pool (range map data). | |
| 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. |
| I am interested in how landscape connectivity affects ecological and evolutionary processes. My NCEAS project involves developing and testing models of landscape connectivity using algorithms borrowed from electronic circuit theory. The algorithms can be used to efficiently predict gene flow in heterogeneous landscapes, and also show promise in predicting animal movement and mortality patterns during dispersal. The models should help researchers and managers predict ecological and evolutionary consequences of landscape change, and identify important habitats for conservation. | |
| 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. | |
 | With broad interests in environmental sciences and focused expertise in forest-atmosphere interactions, I plan to apply my knowledge of the atmosphere to current ecological challenges in the context of climate change. I am interested in feedbacks between the biotic and abiotic environment that require analysis at regional scales using data synthesis and numerical models. At NCEAS I will employ these tools to study invasive species in forests and the decline of pelagic organisms in the upper San Francisco Estuary. |
 Christine Petersen(805) 892-2512 | 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. |
Jai Ranganathan | 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. |
| My research focuses on the ecology and conservation of marine communities. Specifically, I study how human activities (overfishing, nutrient pollution and invasive species) alter ecosystem properties. I primarily study coral reef degradation and seek to understand how phase-shifts from coral to algal dominance occur. Currently I am looking at how reef communities change across gradients of human disturbance and am assessing the relative importance of various stressors in causing reef decline. Finally, I hope to use my results to develop effective conservation and restoration plans to better manage these natural systems. | |
| My research uses phylogenetic methods to address questions that lie at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. Past work has included (1) the origins of regional patterns of species richness, (2) the origins of large scale patterns of community structure, (3) the evolution of ecological specialization, and (4) the phylogeny of amphibians and reptiles, particularly emydid turtles. My work at NCEAS explores the relationship between the relative age and species richness of numerous terrestrial plant and animal assemblages. | |
| An exciting integration of ecological and evolutionary theory is currently underway. An intriguing question that has emerged from this integrated perspective is how does evolution alter community dynamics within a regional network of patches linked by migration? To begin answering this question, I am synthesizing data on inter-population variation in traits involved in interspecific interactions to explore relationships between trait distributions, community structure and landscape connectivity. Results will be used to inform rapidly advancing theories on evolution in metacommunities. | |
Skip to navigation, main content, secondary content or to search.
NCEAS
Postdoctoral Associates
Stefano Allesina
