Research Interest

I have a keen interest in understanding the causes and consequences of diversity in space and time. My main focus is the study of arthropod community structure, but I am also interested in linking mechanistic experimental studies of community structure to more broad-scale patterns such as the biogeograpahic distribution of ants along latitudinal and elevational gradients. Among the projects I would like to initiate while pursuing a PhD is one that investigates how small- and large-scale processes interact to generate patterns in ant diversity from local communities to biogeographic provinces. I believe that a deeper knowledge of how these processes regulate ant biodiversity will lead to a better understanding of the factors that govern ecosystem functioning.

A convenient way to study the interactive effect of regional processes and local interactions on community structure is to perform a series of manipulative experiments along environmental gradients. For instance working along an elevational gradient provides the opportunity to detect rapid change in environmental variables, which can potentially explain parallel variation in community structure. Elevational gradients also allow for sampling different habitats while the regional pool of species available remains relatively similar. Compositional difference among communities are thus more likely to be caused by ecological time scale forces rather than the effect of past colonization events on the current regional species pool. As an example, the first set of experiments I would like to conduct would be removal experiments along environmental gradients.

Clearly, the influence of competition by dominant ants can influence community structure. Therefore, I intend to conduct removal experiments along environmental gradients (such as the elevational gradient at Coweeta LTER) to assess how the influence of competition by dominant ants depends on environment. Similarly, it would be interesting to compare the impact of dominant ants, and the factors that structure communities, among temperate, tropical, and desert systems, to ask whether the potential mechanisms are general across taxa and biomes.

I am interested in both the theoretical and practical effects of ant diversity on ecosystem processes. My ultimate career goal is to be a professor leading studies on the causes and consequences of ant diversity in ecosystems. Ants, as ecosystem engineers, play important roles in ecosystems as seed dispersers and by altering nutrient cycling, soil turnover and decomposition. But, we know little about whether diversity per se, species composition, species identity, or functional diversity is the most important characteristic of ant communities that drive these key processes. My PhD work will be a first step toward relating ant community structure to ecosystem processes in forest systems.

In summary, I want to pursue graduate studies exploring the relative importance and interactions of historical, regional and local processes in shaping current ant community structure. I believe that performing a series of manipulative experiments along environmental gradients will provide credible answers. I also think that ants are best suited to address those questions because they are widespread and abundant in most terrestrial systems and respond to both local interactions and environmental variation. I wish to gain academic training in community ecology to understand how biodiversity relates to ecosystem functioning, and will use this training to launch a research career with both theoretical and practical implications.