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Spring 2008 Seminars
January 7, 2008
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Lauren B. Buckley
The distribution dynamics of reptiles and amphibians in changing environments
4:00PM in BPB 130
Mechanistic distribution models that link individual energetics and population dynamics enable investigating how morphology, physiology, and behavior influence species’ responses to environmental change. I discuss developing and field testing the models for Caribbean lizards along elevation gradients. I then apply the models to investigate the range implications of geographic trait variation among populations of North American lizards. The predicted extent of the northward range shift following climate warming depends on population traits. The research highlights the limitations of correlative range models and demonstrates the importance of considering adaptation, species’ interactions, and dispersal limitations when predicting ranges. Ongoing work aims to incorporate these biotic factors into mechanistic distribution models. I close by considering the broader context of energetic, ecological, and phylogenetic constraints on global patterns of reptile abundance and amphibian diversity in changing environments.
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January 10, 2008
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Brian J. McGill
Patterns and processes in the variation of abundance between species and across space
4:00PM in BPB 130
Understanding the abundance and density of organisms (number of individuals per area) is a central question in ecology for both basic and applied reasons. Using the Breeding Bird Survey it is possible to partition variance across space, time, and taxon. The somewhat surprising results show that the largest component is actually variance within one species across space, a relatively unexplored pattern. Considerable variance also occurs between species, but about half of this variance is deeply conserved in the phylogeny. I will present a theory that explains local variation in abundance (also known as the species abundance distribution) using a stochastic spatial approach. I will then explore what is known about the mechanisms explaining the assumptions underlying this theory
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January 14, 2008
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Shannon LaDeau
The ecological drivers and consequences of West Nile virus in North America
4:00PM in BPB 130
Emerging infectious diseases present a formidable challenge to the conservation of native species. However, identifying the impacts of an introduced pathogen and distinguishing it from other forces that influence population dynamics is complex. Here, twenty potential avian hosts are examined for West Nile virus (WNV) impact across their North American population ranges. Significant changes in population trajectories, including dramatic declines, are demonstrated for seven species from four families and are consistent with a priori predictions and pathogen dispersal. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in West Nile virus impact suggest important interactions among pathogen amplification, human land use and climate. These findings illustrate the potential consequences of pathogen emergence for a diverse faunal assemblage across broad geographic scales and underscore the complexity of subsequent community response.
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January 17, 2008
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Mark Urban
Understanding species interactions across multiple spatial scales: why evolution matters
4:00PM in BPB 130
Generalizable theories in community ecology require that insights derived from local communities can be scaled up to explain species interactions across larger spatial scales. Adaptation and gene flow can play an increasingly important role in shaping species interactions across distant communities. Here, I explore how evolution alters the dynamics of species interactions in metacommunities – sets of communities linked by dispersal – through theory and experiments. In simulated metacommunities, I show that dispersal-mediated evolutionary and ecological dynamics interact to alter expectations of community assembly and species richness. Next, I examine how adaptation and gene flow shape the survival of pond salamander populations in New England that face heterogeneous predation risks from size-selective predators. Under common garden conditions, prey differed in their susceptibility to predation and foraging rates depending on their population and region of origin. A demographic model of adaptive prey foraging in response to size-selective predators accurately predicted evolved responses in salamander foraging rates and variation in survival patterns. However, nearby populations had more similar foraging rates than expected by chance, suggesting that gene flow also affects prey survival. Results demonstrate that spatial heterogeneity in predation risk, local adaptation, and gene flow from nearby populations shape salamander predator-prey interactions. An evolutionary perspective on metacommunities offers multiple future research avenues that address how adaptation and gene flow govern community invasibility, assembly, and richness. My work on pond salamanders in New England offers an empirical foundation on which to test these ideas in the future.
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January 21, 2008
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Allen Hurlbert
Resource-based determinants of species richness: testing species-energy theory
4:00PM in BPB 130
Broad-scale patterns of species diversity have captured the attention of biologists for over two hundred years. Historically examined as a latitudinal diversity gradient, the global pattern has generated a large number of hypotheses over the past several decades. Unfortunately, most of these potential explanatory variables co-vary strongly with latitude and with each other, making it difficult to distinguish among hypotheses. I present two tests of one hypothesis, species-energy theory, that seek to disentangle the variable of interest, resource availability, from latitude and other co-variates. I first show that the geographical pattern of species richness in birds varies between the summer and winter as predicted by a simple model that equates spatial and seasonal variation in resource availability. I next present an experimental test of species-energy theory using Panamanian Drosophila communities in artificial microcosms. Both studies confirm the importance of resource availability for structuring ecological communities and for contributing to broad-scale patterns such as the latitudinal diversity gradient and species-area relationships.
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January 24, 2008
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Sallie Sheldon
Biological control with a twist: Using a native insect to control an invasive exotic plant
4:00PM in BPB 130
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January 31, 2008
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Derek Briggs
Virtual fossils from a Silurian volcanic ash
4:00PM in BPB 130
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February 5, 2008
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Robert Naiman
Rainforests and savannas: Understanding fundamental ecological processes in riverine floodplains
3:30PM in BPB 131
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February 12, 2008
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Hiroyoshi Higuchi
The ecology of bird migration in East Asia, with implications for conservation and the spread of disease
4:00PM in BPB 130
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February 21, 2008
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Scott Edwards
(Harvard University)
Multilocus approaches to avian phylogeography and phylogenetics
4:00PM in BPB 130
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February 28, 2008
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Justin Schaefer
Skeletal morphology and wing biomechanics in batoid elasmobranches: stiffening squishy structures sans Cialis
4:00PM in BPB 130
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March 6, 2008
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Amy Zanne
Wood density and sapwood hydraulic function: Trait trade-offs and coordination
4:00PM in BPB 130
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March 25, 2008
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Rick Relyea
Environmental Stress in Aquatic Communities: From Community Ecology to Ecotoxicology
4:00PM in BPB 130
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April 3, 2008
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Maureen A. Donnelly
Territoriality, space use, vocalizations, and toxicity in a neotropical poison frog
4:00PM in BPB 130
Abstract: The neotropical poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, is a model organism for studies of ecology and evolution. Work in my laboratory has explored territoriality and space use, vocalizations, and the relationship between toxicity and diet. The frog ranges along the Caribbean lowlands of lower Central America and exhibits extreme polymorphism in the southernmost part of the range. I will describe the territorial system, sexual differences in space use, how variation in vocalization may be related to sexual selection, and how toxicity is related to diet.
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April 9, 2008
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Gale Ridge
12:00PM in BSP 130
PhD Defense - Heteropteran Adult Thoracic Endoskeleton, A Family-Level Study
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April 17, 2008
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Monique Turmel
Probing the evolution of green algae using a chloroplast genomics approach
4:00PM in BPB 130
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April 24, 2008
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Dan Rabosky
Ecological causes of explosive diversification during major evolutionary radiations
4:00PM in BPB 130
Abstract:
The tendency for rates of species diversification to vary both over time and among clades is one of the most pervasive features of the evolutionary process. I will examine the causal basis of two patterns of "explosive" diversification frequently observed in radiations of both extinct and extant taxa. Because many taxa of interest are poorly represented in the fossil record, I discuss the estimation of diversification rates from molecular phylogenies and show how such trees can be used to distinguish time-varying speciation and extinction rates. I then test whether species interactions may have influenced the tempo of species accumulation during a North American songbird radiation. Finally, I shift gears - and continents - to explore dramatic differences in species diversification rates in Australian scincid lizards. The results of these studies have implications for our understanding of the role of ecological opportunity in facilitating rapid diversification during continental evolutionary radiations.
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May 1, 2008
May 8, 2008
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Krissa Skogen
1:00PM in BPB 130
PhD Defense - title and time TBA
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May 9, 2008
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Maxi Polihronakis
1:00PM in BPB 130
PhD Defense - title and time TBA
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June 13, 2008
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Jang Kim
TBA
10:00AM in TLS 301
PhD Defense
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Spring 2008 Teale Lectures
February 7, 2008
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Ivette Perfecto
(University of Michigan)
4:00PM in Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
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March 20, 2008
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Roger Gottlieb
(Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
Hope in a Dark Time: The Promises of Religious Environmentalism
4:00PM in Konover Auditorium, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
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April 10, 2008
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Joseph Bruchac
4:00PM in Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
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Spring 2008 Monday Evening Seminars
(No Monday Evening Seminars are currently scheduled for this semester.)
Spring 2008 Events
March 1, 2008
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Graduate Student Symposium
The EEB Graduate Student Symposium is an all day event where graduate students present their research to other graduate students and faculty. Any EEB graduate student can present: BSMS, masters, PhD, old and new students. New graduate students usually present research ideas or preliminary data, while those more ‘seasoned’ students present their most recent results, often in preparation for upcoming spring and summer meetings.
See the symposium web site for more details.
8:30AM in BPB 130
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University of Connecticut |