field trip to Moreton Island, Australia
Just back from a recent field trip to Moreton Island, Australia, where we were using automated tracking methods to assess biomass flux and flow in a number of habitats.
postdoc position in the DellEcologyLab
A postdoc position is now available in my lab (co-supervised with John Crawford) to work on the ecological drivers of dispersal, with a key criteria being that the research make use of automated tracking.
Apply by 3rd April 2015 to ensure full consideration.
See here for more details.
commentary on our recent PNAS paper
A commentary has just been published in PNAS about our recent paper on how "Metabolic theory predicts ecosystem properties".
two internships available in the DellEcologyLab
Successful students will receive a $4,000 stipend over 9 weeks, with additional research funds provided as required. International students are encouraged to apply, with the possibility of additional funds available for travel. The two projects in my lab involve integrating camera traps and remote video to understand the ecology of vertebrate communities in the upper Mississippi watershed. Thus, in the application candidates should refer to the following two projects as their preferred ones: #3) Trophic structure and energetics of vertebrates in an upper Mississippi watershed: effects of a riparian gradient and #5) Trophic structure and energetics of vertebrates in an upper Mississippi watershed: effects of an agricultural gradient.
More details about how to apply can be found here.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 16th Feb.
our new paper on the size dependence of trophic cascades
We have a new paper out in The American Naturalist on "The body size dependence of trophic cascades".
Trophic cascades are indirect positive effects of predators on resources via control of intermediate consumers. Larger-bodied predators appear to induce stronger trophic cascades, but how this happens is unknown because we lack a clear depiction of how the strength of trophic cascades is determined. In this paper we show that the strength of a trophic cascade has an upper limit set by the interaction strength between the basal trophic group and its consumer, and this limit is approached as the interaction strength between the consumer and its predator increases. Our results suggest that the loss of larger predators will have greater consequences on trophic control and biomass structure in food webs than the loss of smaller predators.
View this paper on our PUBLICATIONS page.
our PNAS paper on metabolic theory and ecosystem properties
Our PNAS paper on how "Metabolic theory predicts ecosystem properties" just came out. In it, we present theory that integrates metabolic (organism-based bottom-up) and systems (ecosystem-based top-down) approaches to characterize how the metabolism of individuals affects the flows and stores of materials and energy in ecosystems. Our approach provides a powerful way to understand the roles of organisms in ecosystem processes at scales from local habitats to the biosphere, which is required for addressing the impacts of human-caused changes in climate, land use, and biodiversity.
View this paper on our PUBLICATIONS page.
news piece in Nature today on the Moorea IDEA
News piece in Nature today on the Moorea IDEA project our lab is involved with - the hope is to eventually apply this approach to understanding the social-ecological aspects of large-river ecosystems around the globe.
IMBALANCE-P project
Tony just returned from Barcelona for a kick-off meeting for the IMBALANCE-P project. By integrating researchers in the fields of ecosystem diversity and ecology, biogeochemistry, Earth System modelling, and global agricultural and resource economics, the IMBALANCE-P project aims to providing improved understanding and quantitative foresight needed to formulate a range of policy options that will contain the risks and mitigate the consequences of stoichiometric imbalances across Earth. See here for more details.
Moorea IDEA workshop in Berkeley
Tony just got back from the 3rd Moorea IDEA workshop in Berkeley. The goal of the Moorea Island Digital Ecosystem Avatar (IDEA) is development of the first ‘avatar’ (computational model/digital simulation) of a complete social-ecological system. The IDEA Project will build advanced computational models of a range of complex socio-ecological systems, particularly islands (coupled natural-human systems) and cities (built environment). Although modeling entire socio-ecological systems is still in its infancy, doing so will prove scientifically productive in the short-term and is societally essential in the long-term. The Moorea IDEA will incorporate observations, experiments, data, and theory across a coupled 4D marine-terrestrial landscape to model how physical, chemical, biological, and social processes interact to shape the island’s phenotype.
DellEcologyLab YouTube channel
Our YouTube channel is now online!
Check out some of the recent automated tracking research we have been doing on a range of pure and applied ecological questions.
Clip shows 6 replicate functional response experiments filmed simultaneously. In each arena is single wolf spider with 3 wingless fruit flies for prey.
Video shows an egg parasitoid (T. murgantiae, adult wasp) as it initially finds and investigates a host egg clutch.
tony is a planet expert!
Planet Experts (see my profile here) is an environmentally focused, news and social media website that provides its Experts a platform to publish blogs, share photos and post videos that address the problems of and solutions to anthropogenic impacts on climate, habitats, fauna and flora. Planet Experts is a hub free of special interest groups, where Experts can impart their unfiltered environmental research, informed opinions and technological innovations, as well as interface with each other, while readers can bolster their environmental literacy, engage one another through commentary and share postings to educate their families and friends.
two postdocs available in the DellEcologyLab
Two postdocs are now available in my lab to work on a broad range of questions in community ecology, with the main criteria that the research use automated tracking and be broadly relevant to the ecology of large rivers.
Apply by 8th Jan 2015 to ensure full consideration.
See here for more details.
automated tracking system - ver 2.0
Some photos of the tracking system we have setup, which enables us track the movement and behavior of a huge diversity of critters.
our new paper on intermittent pool beds
New paper out in PLoS ONE on how intermittent pool beds - which cycle each year between aquatic and terrestrial habitat - are great systems to explore a variety of basic and applied questions in ecology. Stay tuned for a couple of papers that actually do this!
View this paper on our PUBLICATIONS page.
Species On The Move
Tony is part of steering committee for an exciting upcoming conference to be held in Hobart (Australia) in February 2016. "SPECIES ON THE MOVE" is centered around the detection, impacts, prediction and adaptation of species to climate change, and is targeted towards scientists and managers.
tony accepts position at NGRREC
Tony accepted a full time position as a research ecologist at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) in Alton, IL. He starts there early November. The NGRREC field station (where our lab will be based) is amazing!