Research Abstract:
How do the environment and spatial processes interact to determine community composition? How are humans changing these interactions and what does this mean for global biodiversity? I ask how and when space matters for the diversity and composition of communities, especially under the ever increasing impact of humans on the globe. Research in my lab lies at the intersection of providing empirical tests of ecological theory and providing scientific information to conservation managers. Current projects in the lab include:
- How corridors and edge effects affect plant communities
- Using species traits to predict landscape responses
- What controls edaphic endemic plant diversity
- How climate change affects edaphic endemic plants
- How landscape heterogeneity affects wind-driven seed dispersal
Our study sites include the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC; the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains in southwestern Oregon; the Tyson Research Center; and the Missouri glades.
Selected Publications:
Brudvig LA, Damschen EI, Tewksbury JJ, Haddad NM and Levey DJ. Landscape connectivity promotes plant biodiversity spillover into non-target habitats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2009 Jun 9;106(23):9328-32. Epub 2009 May 22.
Harrison, S, E Damschen, B.M. Going. Climate Gradients, Climate Change, and Special Edaphic Floras. Northeastern Naturalist 2009 16(sp5):121-130.
Damschen EI, Brudvig* LA, Haddad* NM, Levey* DL, Orrock* JL and Tewksbury* JJ. The movement ecology and dynamics of plant communities in fragmented landscapes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2008 105(49):19078-19083. (*=alphabetical authorship after first author).
Damschen EI, Haddad NM, Orrock JL, Tewksbury JJ, and Levey DJ. Corridors increase plant species richness at large scales. Science 2006 313:1284-1286.
Tewksbury JJ, Levey DJ, Haddad NM, Sargent S, Orrock JL, Weldon A, Danielson BJ, Brinkerhoff J, Damschen EI , and Townsend P. Corridors affect plants, animals, and their interactions in fragmented landscapes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2002 99:12923-12926. Awarded the 2002 Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology, International Association of Landscape Ecology.
Last Updated: 08/10/2009 |