COMMUNITY COEXISTENCE & SPECIES PERSISTENCE
Spatial scales of species coexistence
We are evaluating how species persistence is shaped across spatial scales. By planting replicate focal seeds in both non-competitive and competitive treatments we can decouple the effects of biotic and abiotic drivers on persistence-area relationships. Across the spatial extent of our study system (McLaughlin Reserve), population growth rates indicate where they can persist, and surveys indicate where they do exist, thereby quantifying source-sink dynamics and dispersal limitation across scales.
This work is supported in part by CNPS.
We are evaluating how species persistence is shaped across spatial scales. By planting replicate focal seeds in both non-competitive and competitive treatments we can decouple the effects of biotic and abiotic drivers on persistence-area relationships. Across the spatial extent of our study system (McLaughlin Reserve), population growth rates indicate where they can persist, and surveys indicate where they do exist, thereby quantifying source-sink dynamics and dispersal limitation across scales.
This work is supported in part by CNPS.
Coexistence mechanisms that facilitate range expansion
Our goal is to reveal what future conditions will allow for the sub-alpine species to expand and persist into the alpine. We are exploring the effects of three major global change drivers (GCDs): snow melt, atmospheric warming, and nitrogen deposition. At Niwot Ridge LTER in the Colorado Rockies, we transplanted a sub-alpine perennial (Trollius albiflorus) into the alpine, within each combinations of GCD treatment. Through tracking Trollius population growth, we will be able to mathematically decompose these invasion growth rates into which coexistence mechanisms (no variance, variance of each GCD, and covariances between GCDs) help or hinder range expansion.
Our goal is to reveal what future conditions will allow for the sub-alpine species to expand and persist into the alpine. We are exploring the effects of three major global change drivers (GCDs): snow melt, atmospheric warming, and nitrogen deposition. At Niwot Ridge LTER in the Colorado Rockies, we transplanted a sub-alpine perennial (Trollius albiflorus) into the alpine, within each combinations of GCD treatment. Through tracking Trollius population growth, we will be able to mathematically decompose these invasion growth rates into which coexistence mechanisms (no variance, variance of each GCD, and covariances between GCDs) help or hinder range expansion.