My lab is currently working on a set of multivariate experiments aimed at better understanding the multiple controls on community assembly and ecosystem processes.
I am particularly interested in several areas of community ecology:
1. Ecological Assembly Rules -- trait- and phylogenetically-based approaches for investigating the constraints on which subsets of species from regional and local species pools form communities. A key aspect of this is the investigation of trait and phylogenetic dispersion within communities, and the relationships between plant functional traits and performance on real geographies and in real time, and the use of structural modeling (a generalized form of path analysis) to assess the relative and independent effects on history, resources, and interactions on the assembly process.
2. Biodiversity. I am particularly interested in investigating how multiple factors (resources, stress, disturbance, etc.) affect local species density (alpha diversity) and beta diversity, which is a measure of heterogeneity.
3. Ecosystem Processes. I am working on the related issues of how the properties of communities (e.g., diversity, functional trait composition) affect processes such as primary production, nitrogen mineralization, and soil carbon storage.
4. Interactions. Ecologists have long been interested in investigating the strength of competition among species and along resource gradients. I am interested in the "interactions" of competition, mutualism, and herbivory, or perhaps more simply, the contingencies and complexities among plant-plant, plant-fungal, and plant-herbivore interactions. I am also interested in assessing the relative roles of community composition, diversity, and resources on these contingent interactions.
5. Restoration. I like to think that a lot this work has implications for restoration and management. Therefore, my students and I are also working on some rather applied questions, such as what factors lead to maximal C4 grass establishment? Are native and non-native species equivalents, or have they evolved different combinations of trait values? Is the diversity of native and non-native species under similar controls?
6. Collaboration. I am also interested in collaborating in order to expand the breadth of components in these studies. For example, some student projects involve, for example: the responses of functional traits and leaf gas exchange to fungal suppression, assessing herbivore communities, soil eubacterial diversity, ground-layer invertebrates, and habitat use by small mammals. These collaborative projects are also noted below.
2006
Multivariate controls on community assembly and ecosystem function, in collaboration with
Tali Lee (UM-Duluth), and
Steve Bentivenga
(UW - Oshkosh)
(Funded by the National Science Foundation).
Artur Stefanski (graduate student / project manager)
The following students contribute to the overall experiment, and they have their own specific projects:
Nate Butler - (in collaboration with Julie Anderson) - soil eubacterial diversity.
Chris Chalk - (in collaboration with Chris Floyd) - habitat use by small mammals.
Tina Dahlheimer, Mary Jo Klinker, and Kristin Haider - Functional plant trait analysis
Michael Fell - above- and below-ground competition intensity as affected by nitrogen and fungicide (this experiment is in its second growing season)
Kari Gullickson - (in collaboration with Paula Kleintjes) - ground invertebrate diversity and composition (this project is continuing work from 2005)
Katelin Holm - (in collaboration with Todd Wellnitz) - the relative strength of herbivory, competition, and fungal mutualism in two dicots with contrasting herbivore defenses
Artur Stefanski - (Tali Lee, supervisor) - the effects of carbon addition and suppression of mycorrhizal fungi on plant performance, competitive ability, and community composition
Alison Welin - functional traits and plant establishment
2005
Michael Fell, Kevin Buffington, Chris Chalk, Steve Chevalier,
Tina Dahlheimer, Becky Dufner, Michael Schicker, & Alison Welin -
multivariate controls on community assembly and ecosystem function, in collaboration with
Tali Lee(UWEC Biology), and
Steve Bentivenga
(UW - Oshkosh)
(Funded by the National Science Foundation).
In 2005, our focus was on building a functional trait database and to investigate the effects of nitrogen fertilization and
fungicide on functional traits.
an NSF-SREU facilitated the start of three spin-off projects:
Michael Fell - above- and below-ground competition intensity as affected by nitrogen and fungicide; Mike also measured gas exchange in collaboration with Tali Lee.
Kevin Buffington (in collaboration with Paula Kleintjes) - ground invertebrate diversity and composition.
Chelsea Gudgeon (in collaboration with Julie Anderson) - soil eubacterial diversity
2004
Deborah Freund (M.S. Candidate), Michael Fell, Amanda Hoffelder, and Kristyn Grzelak - multivariate controls on community assembly and ecosystem function
Michael Steiner - Experimental wetland restoration at Knight's Creek, Dunn Co., WI. (Funded by WI Dept. of Transportation)
Steve Kruger - 80 years of vegetation change in Tiffany Bottoms, Tiffany State Wildlife Management Area, Buffalo Co., WI, in collaboration with Doug Faulkner (UWEC - Geography)(Funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources)
2003-2004: Jesse Anderson - the effects of chlorothalonil fungicide on mycorrhizal colonization rates Melissa Fraaza, Marie Butchert, Wendy Parker, Lindsay Entringer, and Steve Lange (U.Chicago) - a multivariate investigation of factors affecting root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi in prairies, oak savannas, and hardwood forests.
2002:
Brian Brezinski and Kristin DeGroot - patch & landscape-scale effects on
bird assemblages in a savanna-forest mosaic,
Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area, Buffalo Co.,
WI) 2000-2001: 1997-2002:
Deborah Freund (M.S. Candidate) - fertility and mycorrhizal fungal effects on the competitive ability of prairie plants
Jo Heuschele (MS) - plant traits and trait-environment linkages in
oak savannas, Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area,
Dunn & Buffalo Co., WI
Sarah Peot (M.S. 2001, UW-Eau Claire) - Lakeshore habitat restoration: a demonstration project at Lake Wissota State Park, Chippewa Co., WI with Karen Voss (WI Dept. of Natural Resources, Funded by the WI Dept. of Natural Resources)
Thomas Holder (Ph.D. candidate, Mississippi State University)
- coastal sand dune restoration and the stability of seed production,
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf Shores, AL (Funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
2001:
Alicia Howe - scale effects on oak savanna diversity, and floristic
inventories,
Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area,
Eau Claire, Dunn, Pepin, Buffalo Co., WI
Katherine Hawkins - butterfly composition and diversity, L.C.R.S.N.A., and plant
biodiversity in eastern North America
2000:
Jennifer Meisel and Nicole Trushenski - composition & diversity in oak
savannas, Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area
1997-1998:
Timothy Schauwecker (Ph.D.
2001, Mississippi State University) - patterns of assembly along disturbance and
productivity gradients in blackland prairies,
Oktibbeha Co., MS
1998:
Sarah Forbes (M.S. 1999, Mississippi State University) - the effects of soil and shade stress on taxonomic and morphological diversity in blackland prairie plant communities, Chickasaw and Oktibbeha Co., MS with James Grace (National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA)
1997-1998:
Timothy Schauwecker (Ph.D. 2001, Mississippi State University) - blackland prairie restoration and patterns of assembly along disturbance and productivity gradients in blackland prairies, Oktibbeha Co., MS
