Intraguild Interactions in Aquatic Feeding Guilds
Intraguild predation is a complex trophic phenomenon wherein potential competitors can also prey upon one another, leading to simultaneous competitive, predator-prey, and cannibalistic interactions. For larval amphibian communities, these risks are compounded by the temporary nature of their rapidly drying pond habitats. Identifying factors underlying changes in the strength and/or direction of intraguild interactions is therefore critical in determining which species will persist and how species composition will vary across years. Examples of our recent research on intraguild interactions include studies of: 1) species-specific temporal patterns of agonistic behaviors and associated effects on community size structure; 2) effects of non-lethal injury on foraging ecology and microhabitat partitioning in intraguild predators; and 3) roles of kin recognition for facultatively paedomorphic salamanders. In collaboration with Howard Whiteman (Murray State University), our newest venture is an NSF-sponsored research program investigating the influences of predator size variation on the strength of aquatic trophic cascades in salamander ponds in Colorado and Kentucky.
Intraguild predation is a complex trophic phenomenon wherein potential competitors can also prey upon one another, leading to simultaneous competitive, predator-prey, and cannibalistic interactions. For larval amphibian communities, these risks are compounded by the temporary nature of their rapidly drying pond habitats. Identifying factors underlying changes in the strength and/or direction of intraguild interactions is therefore critical in determining which species will persist and how species composition will vary across years. Examples of our recent research on intraguild interactions include studies of: 1) species-specific temporal patterns of agonistic behaviors and associated effects on community size structure; 2) effects of non-lethal injury on foraging ecology and microhabitat partitioning in intraguild predators; and 3) roles of kin recognition for facultatively paedomorphic salamanders. In collaboration with Howard Whiteman (Murray State University), our newest venture is an NSF-sponsored research program investigating the influences of predator size variation on the strength of aquatic trophic cascades in salamander ponds in Colorado and Kentucky.
Patterns of Amphibian Abundance and Distribution
Species’ geographic ranges are considered the ultimate expression of their ecological niches, and range size is often utilized to assess extinction risk, yet few studies have sought to examine the underlying factors associated with “where ectothermic taxa occur”. We are identifying morphological and ecological variables most closely associated with geographic range size among North American amphibians, which will both inform management decisions for imperiled species and facilitate future investigations of range-limiting phenomena. Furthermore, species are expected to exhibit an "abundant center distribution", wherein populations are most dense and/or numerous at the center of the range and become more sparse towards range peripheries. These generally assumed (but rarely tested) patterns, however, have received mixed support, and the consequences of potentially reduced densities of peripheral populations have not been fully explored. Through collaborative efforts, we are analyzing data from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) to determine if amphibians adhere to the abundant center distribution and how range-wide patterns of abundance influence ecological and evolutionary processes.
Species’ geographic ranges are considered the ultimate expression of their ecological niches, and range size is often utilized to assess extinction risk, yet few studies have sought to examine the underlying factors associated with “where ectothermic taxa occur”. We are identifying morphological and ecological variables most closely associated with geographic range size among North American amphibians, which will both inform management decisions for imperiled species and facilitate future investigations of range-limiting phenomena. Furthermore, species are expected to exhibit an "abundant center distribution", wherein populations are most dense and/or numerous at the center of the range and become more sparse towards range peripheries. These generally assumed (but rarely tested) patterns, however, have received mixed support, and the consequences of potentially reduced densities of peripheral populations have not been fully explored. Through collaborative efforts, we are analyzing data from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) to determine if amphibians adhere to the abundant center distribution and how range-wide patterns of abundance influence ecological and evolutionary processes.
Amphibian Macroecology
The last few decades have seen tremendous increases in the scope and public availability of data related to amphibian ecology (eg. NAAMP, AmphibiaWeb, VertNet). Such data provide opportunities to ask wide ranging questions at the scale of species, communities, and ecosystems that could not previously be addressed using manipulative experiments at the level of species, subspecies, populations, etc. The most recent research direction of the lab is to utilize publicly available data to address broad questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation that pertain to the Amphibia as a whole, as opposed to the more species-centric approaches used in our behavioral ecology and biogeography research.
The last few decades have seen tremendous increases in the scope and public availability of data related to amphibian ecology (eg. NAAMP, AmphibiaWeb, VertNet). Such data provide opportunities to ask wide ranging questions at the scale of species, communities, and ecosystems that could not previously be addressed using manipulative experiments at the level of species, subspecies, populations, etc. The most recent research direction of the lab is to utilize publicly available data to address broad questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation that pertain to the Amphibia as a whole, as opposed to the more species-centric approaches used in our behavioral ecology and biogeography research.
Related Projects
Outside of the aforementioned research, other recent research in the lab includes:
a) impacts of invasive honeysuckle on larval amphibians and aquatic communities
b) assessments of amphibian conservation status based on geographic range position
c) "legacy effects" of ephemeral predator impacts by larval salamanders
d) pond-specific morphology of larval amphibian populations
Outside of the aforementioned research, other recent research in the lab includes:
a) impacts of invasive honeysuckle on larval amphibians and aquatic communities
b) assessments of amphibian conservation status based on geographic range position
c) "legacy effects" of ephemeral predator impacts by larval salamanders
d) pond-specific morphology of larval amphibian populations