MY RESEARCH:
My research focuses on the factors influencing species ecological behavior. I use invasive species to ask questions about the relative importance of factors at different levels of biological organization in determining spread in the landscape. Individual species traits, such as specialized adaptations for dispersal, might facilitate spread, as may population level processes, such as survival and fecundity schedules. I have also examined the importance of species traits and of community properties in predicting invasive spread.
Some of my work focuses on determining how factors like species’ traits determine whether a species will become invasive. My dissertation research involved determining characteristics associated with multiple invasive species in the Commelinaceae (dayflower family) while controlling for shared evolutionary history. Traits of invasive species were determined by comparing invasive and noninvasive species, after taking relatedness into account. This study is novel in its multi-pronged approach to understanding species invasions using comparative ecological and evolutionary methods involving two integrated studies: an evolutionary comparative approach and greenhouse growth experiments.
At Tyson Research Center, I will examine the relative importance of demography and dispersal in explaining the success of invasive species by comparing invasive and noninvasive exotic species in the field.
My research program seeks to explain the factors influencing invasions, from species traits to population demography, and including characteristics both of the species and of the environment in which it occurs. My goal is to link the factors to develop a synthetic understanding of the processes at many levels of organization that influence invasion. This would yield a strong understanding of the mechanisms driving invasions. It might also improve our ability to predict and prevent invasions, hopefully decreasing the number of invasions that will occur in the future.
Last updated 2/20/07