The purpose of our research

is to have fun solving curious problems about the distribution of insects.  There are many patterns in the world - some of which are not yet detected - that haven't been explained.  Working on these is a lot more fun than a jigsaw puzzle, and some of them are of real consequence for our future.  As my pal Rob puts it, "mystery still lurks around ordinary corners."

Arthropods, decomposition, and the cycling of carbon and nutrients

The detrital food web - mainly the thin layer between the air and the soil - is where the action truly lies in a tropical rainforest.  Nearly all terrestrial primary production ends up as detritus. One of my principal goals is to document how ants mediate ecological processes of the detrital food web, and in turn how the composition of this resource base structures ant communities.  I am conducting observational and manipulative research to understand the interactions community composition, decomposition rates, and the abiotic environment.

Nesting biology  and ecology of rainforest ants

We are investigating three different species of ants that live in Central American tropical rainforests that all exhibit some cool idiosyncracies.  These idiosyncracies are convenient ways to see how evolution plays out in the evolution of life histories.  The first is one of the most common ants of Central American tropical rainforest, the gypsy ant Aphaenogaster araneoides. This exhibits the curious phenomenon of serial monodomy (maintaining many nests but only occupying one at a time).  The theiving ant Ectatomma ruidum is just as common as the gypsy ant, and while their nests are permanent they routinely send out thieves to steal food from neighboring colonies.  And the Cappadoccian ant Stenamma expolitum is also serially monodomous and uses a specialized pebble to blockade its nests from army ant attacks. 

Ecological stoichiometry of arthropod communities at multiple spatial scales

At the regional spatial scale, the densities of organisms may be predicted by one or more limiting nutrients; in a Costa Rican rainforest, the concentration of phosphorus in soil and litter is an excellent predictor of arthropod density in the leaf litter, and in the ants we know that nutrient stoichiometry can explain much of the life history and biodiversity of the ants.

Biodiversity and ecology of litter-nesting ants

Ecologists seek to understand the phenomena and processes that drive patterns of density and diversity.  In tropical rainforests, hundreds of ant species occupy identical niches - as far as we can tell.  Working within this hyperdiverse community of litter-nesting ants, I am seeking out environmental factors that account for variation in density, distribution and diversity.

Current collaborators

Page edited on 16-May-2008 1:52 PM