Understanding the functional impacts of pollinator species losses on plant populations is critical given ongoing pollinator declines. Simulation models of pollination networks suggest that plant communities will be resilient to losing many or even most of the pollinator species in an ecosystem. Thes

Climate change is expected to disproportionately impact high elevation ecosystems by disrupting current temperature and precipitation regimes. The future carbon balance of these systems is uncertain, given the interplay between longer growing season length and the potential for increased drought. Cu

Environmental variation often induces shifts in functional traits, yet we know little about whether plasticity will reduce extinction risks under climate change. As climate change proceeds, phenotypic plasticity could enable species with limited dispersal capacity to persist in situ, and migrating p

Prediction of hydrologic response to global climate change is paramount for regions that rely upon snowpack for their dominant water supply. Temperature increases are anticipated to be greater at higher elevations perturbing headwaters systems that provide water to millions of downstream users. In t

Long term data on stages of plant succession on bare areas is extremely useful in determining patterns of revegetation over longer periods of time. Understanding of these patterns can have application in conservation and restoration. This study examined plant community composition data for a subalpi

Divergent natural selection promotes local adaptation and can lead to reproductive isolation of populations in contrasting environments; however, the genetic basis of local adaptation remains largely unresolved in natural populations. Local adaptation might result from antagonistic pleiotropy, where

An earthflow that occurred in Gunnison County, Colorado created a natural laboratory to study plant succession. Plant succession and ants can effect the soil composition of grounds left bare and depleted of organic matter by the landslide. This study was conducted to examine if the described success

A 22 year warming experiment at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory has elucidated short term (15 year) responses in plant community and soil organic carbon to artificial warming. This summer’s research evaluates long-term (>15 year) changes and, because of recent climate change effects, the releva

A central question in the study of biodiversity is, what mechanisms allow species to coexist? While most attention to this question has focused on antagonistic species interactions, positive species interactions have recently gained attention and may rival antagonisms in their importance. Grasses wi

My research investigates parental investment into offspring during reproduction in an invertebrate species that exhibits a unique combination of two life history traits, iteroparity (multiple reproductive bouts) and extended biparental care. I present a brief

Social behavior consists of distinct and measurable social attributes. While many previous studies have categorized species as social or not, or quantified group size, studying the functional correlates of separate attributes may offer more specific insights into the adaptive value of sociality, but

Animal communication is vital to nearly every species. Serving multiple functions and being conveyed throughout a variety of modes, communication allows animals to make decisions based on information other animals provide. Numerous examples of this can be found across the animal kingdom, with bioflu