Research Professor and Wildlife Biologist, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S.G.S., Laurel, Maryland; Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1975.

Population and community ecology, behavioral ecology, conservation biology, avian biology.

284 Clark Hall
434-924-3207 ext 669
rme5g@virginia.edu

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My research interests range from basic questions concerning the evolution of coloniality to highly applied questions of habitat management and restoration for coastal wildlife populations. My work has concentrated on metapopulation dynamics of a number of avian species, habitat choice and variability, and factors influencing reproductive success. I have also directed projects involving landscape-scale experimental manipulations of habitats in coastal wetlands to evaluate wildlife responses. Of recent interest is a project to model the long-term implications for wildlife of coastal sea level rise and projected changes in Atlantic coastal marshes. I feel it is important to keep the broad (landscape) perspective in one's research even if much attention is devoted to small-scale local experimentation.

Associate Professor, Ph.D., Colorado State University, 1997.

Ecosystem and plant community ecologist; climate-plant-soil interactions: grassland, shrubland and tundra ecosystems; field studies, remote sensing and simulation modeling.

211 Clark Hall
434-924-4308 ext 688
hee2b@virginia.edu

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My current research efforts are in the arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada, the savannas and grasslands of southern Africa, and successional fields of the Virginia Piedmont. In the Arctic, we are examining the dynamics of tundra vegetation in response to climate change and interactions among tundra vegetation, nitrogen cycling and freeze-thaw disturbances. In southern Africa, we are studying the interactions among climate, vegetation and land use and concomitant effects of carbon, nitrogen and water cycling. In the Virginia Piedmont, our research focus is vegetation dynamics and carbon sequestration as land succeeds from managed regimes to secondary forest.

Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 1994

Population biology, ecological genetics, consequences of small population size, plant reproductive biology, response to environmental variation

255 Gilmer Hall
434-982-5010
lgalloway@virginia.edu

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I use both ecological and genetic approaches to explore mechanisms of adaptation in natural plant populations. Populations of a species typically differ genetically and this may impact conservation and restoration efforts. Individuals transplanted from a different source into an existing population to bolster population size or as part of a restoration effort need to be able to thrive in the new environment and reproduce successfully with the local population. In Partridge pea we found little local adaptation; individuals were able to survive and reproduce even when planted in sites a hundred km from home. However, the offspring of crosses between these geographically distant populations performed poorly. We found similar outbreeding depression from crossing genetically differentiated populations of American bellflower, suggesting caution should be taken when considering conservation efforts that include genetic mixing. In contrast, gene movement from horticultural plantings of Cardinal flower was of little threat to the performance of native populations of the same species. My lab is also investigating plant response to global warming, focusing on the relative contributions of phenotypic plasticity and genetic change from selection imposed by the longer season length. Finally, we study the role of intergenerational effects (maternal effects) in adaptive evolution, plant reproductive biology including inbreeding depression, mating systems and plant pollinator interactions, and evolution in polyploids.

Professor

Mammalian biodiversity and conservation, macroevolution

Gilmer 234
434-982-5010
JLGittleman@virginia.edu

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My research Group is generally interested in how, where and when biodiversity is changing on a global scale. Currently, we are working on using branch lengths in big, complete phylogenies to represent a natural measure of biodiversity ("phylogenetic diversity" or PD). Specifically, the types of questions we are are addressing include: How is PD distributed around the planet, are some areas losing greater amounts than others, how does conservation action of preserving particular areas (hotspots, wilderness areas) save PD, and is species richness a surrogate of PD.

Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Duke, 1998.

Biogeochemistry and community ecology, tropical ecology, the biology of conservation and land-use change.

216 Clark Hall
434-924-0581 ext 691
dl3c@virginia.edu

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The focus of my current research are the effects of land-use change, specifically forest conversion, on nutrient cycling in tropical forests. In the Yucatan peninsula in southeastern Mexico, I am studying how biotic, abiotic, and historical factors constrain the recovery of forest ecosystem processes following shifting cultivation in dry tropical forests. Precipitation limits plant productivity and decomposition at large spatial scales (10s to 100s of kilometers), whereas the composition and structure of the tree community interacts with variation in soil nutrient availability at smaller scales (10s to 100s of meters) to limit the rate of nutrient cycling and growth. The legacy of logging in the 20th century, and Mayan agriculture in the 10th century, further constrain biogeochemical processes in forests of all ages. My research entails field work at the regional scale in a mosaic landscape of disturbed, recovering, and mature forests. I have been studying how litter fall and growth dynamics, forest structure and woody biomass, soil nutrient availability, and plant nutrient status change during the process of succession. This work is followed by extensive work in the laboratory, mostly on the chemistry of soils and plant tissue. Future work in Costa Rica will include investigations of the relationship between ecosystem function, both above- and below-ground, and the species diversity/community structure of secondary forests.

Research Professor; Ph.D. Columbia University, 1960.

Coastal-marine ecology, conservation and policy; polar ecology; coastal-marine biological diversity and ecological processes; marine mammals and fishes.

254 Clark Hall
434-924-0551 ext 646
cr@virginia.edu

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Primary emphasis is on marine and coastal ecology, with a strong emphasis on ecological processes and conservation policy. Global coastal-marine processes and distributions of the biota (especially vertebrates) are of special interest. Past research and teaching have centered on the roles of marine mammals in the ecosystems of the polar regions. Present research emphasizes the ecology of temperate fishes in coastal zones and relationships between biological diversity and ecosystem function. In addition, with colleagues in this department and elsewhere, Ray is developing approaches to coastal-marine classification, principally for the purposes of conservation, research and monitoring. This work has been supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Man and The Biosphere Program, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, private foundations, and others. Ray and colleagues are involved in conservation and development strategies for Caribbean island nations, the Bahamas in particular.

Ray has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers, reports, books, atlases, and films on science and conservation.

Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Duke University, 1984

Evolutionary ecology; population biology; plant demography

Gilmer 266
434-982-4858
droach@virginia.edu

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My interests in conservation are focused on the demographic dynamics that contribute to the differential success of individuals within a population. In particular, we are focused on how natural selection acts at different stages of the life cycle to shape life history patterns. We have a large, age-structured, experimental population of Plantago lanceolata that we are using to study age-specific mortality, reproduction, growth, and physiology. We are also using this population to study the influence of spatial heterogeneity on these traits. Our recent results have shown that two different cohorts of plants, geminating one year apart within the same field, can experience very different ecological conditions, and this can result in variation in the dynamics of reproduction and mortality within a population.

In addition to this project with Plantago, I have a student working with Agrostemma githago, an annual weed that has evolved as an invader of grain crops. Her project is designed to study the impact of selection at early life stages on the dynamics and composition of the adult plant population.

Corcoran Professor and Director, Global Environmental Change Program; Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1971.

Global change, systems ecology, systems analysis and modeling, forest ecosystem analysis and dynamics, ornithology.

374 Clark Hall
434-924-7642 ext 611
hhs@virginia.edu

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Hank Shugart is a systems ecologist whose primary research interests focus on the simulation modeling of forest ecosystems. He has developed and tested models of biogeochemical cycles, energy flow and secondary succession. In his most recent work, he uses computer models to simulate the growth, birth and death of each tree on small forest plots. The simulations describe changes in forest structure and composition over time, in response to both internal and external sources of perturbation. The models are applied at spatial scales ranging in size from small forest gaps to entire landscapes and at temporal scales of years to millennia.

Professor, Ph.D. Duke University, 1993

Evolutionary biology, plant population genetics, invasion biology, genetics of small populations

Gilmer 043
434-982-5217
dougtaylor@virginia.edu

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The evolutionary genetics of biological invasions. Population structure, how genetic diversity is distributed in space, and the genetics of small populations.

B.F.D. Runk Professor (Biology), Professor of Environmental Sciences and Director, Mountain Lake Biological Station; Ph.D. University of Michigan 1971.

Population and community ecology, ecological genetics, vertebrate biology.

Gilmer 238
434-982-5486
hmw3q@virginia.edu

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My research takes an evolutionary approach to ecological questions. My areas of interest are population and community ecology and the application of population ecology to issues in conservation. I have worked extensively with experimental studies of food webs in temporary ponds and the ecological genetics of paedomorphosis in salamanders. My field-work is now mostly at Mountain Lake Biological Station (www.virginia.edu/~mtlake), a facility of the Department of Biology at 1200 m elevation in the Allegheny Mountains of Southwestern Virginia. Current studies are a broad approach to understanding the ecological interactions across ecotones. My colleagues and I are studying interactions between species of salamanders that breed in streams and forage on land and species that have direct development and spend their entire life away from freely flowing water. Natural history observations are used to design rigorous experimental studies in arrays of experimental streams and laboratory studies of behavioral mechanisms of interactions among species.

Other projects at Mountain Lake involve studies of forest change including are an epidemiological study of the American Chestnut and a long-term study of the role of disease in sex determination in Striped Maple.

A local project is a large study of the spatial ecology of amphibians that breed in a complex of sinkhole ponds in the Shenandoah Valley. Mark-recapture studies of four species are combined with studies of hydrology, water chemistry and vegetation to account for population dynamics, pond characteristics, and landscape features. A goal is to understand the importance of movements between populations in making conservation decisions.