Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The long-term goals of this research program are to advance an integrated understanding of how ecological and evolutionary processes interact to determine the structure and dynamics of populations and communities. In my lab, we combine experimental, observational, and theoretical approaches to this research, with short term research goals (the next 5 years) focused on combining field observations with critical experiments to test hypotheses emerging from theoretical models of eco-evolutionary dynamics. We will continue to make novel theoretical contributions to this area of research as opportunities arise. Empirical studies focus on plant populations and communities in lawns and grasslands, which contain many fast-growing and easy-to-manipulate species, thereby providing excellent opportunities for addressing fundamental questions in ecology and evolution. Our recent work has addressed the determinants of community composition and trait distributions, and the ecological consequences of genetic diversity in individual species. In particular, we have developed dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) as a model system, and found that genotypic diversity in experimental populations can enhance invasion success. Experiments proposed here will address: (1) Mechanisms underlying positive effects of genotypic diversity on population productivity. (2) The maintenance of genetic diversity in dandelions. (3) The hypothesis that genetic diversity within species contributes to species coexistence. (4) The hypothesis that species diversity can promote genetic diversity. (5) The interaction between ecological and evolutionary processes underlying community-level changes in functional traits. The results of these studies, and related research under this conceptual umbrella, promise to provide novel, empirical tests of theoretical models concerning the population- and community-level consequences of genetic diversity, and of the interplay between ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change. This exciting general area of research builds on decades of ecological and evolutionary studies, but only in the past 10 years or so have empirical studies directly integrating ecological and evolutionary processes really flourished, leaving many questions without empirical tests. Our research will make important contributions to filling these gaps, and ultimately to a more integrated understanding of population and community dynamics across biological levels of organization.