The diversity of life forms, both within and among species,
is the inspiration for my research.
How and why diversity arises is a central theme in ecological and evolutionary research.
Biogeographic Patterns
Biogeographic patterns of biodiversity, for example, clines in body size or species replacements along environnental gradients,
provide an excellent opportunity for understanding biodiversity. The first goal of my research is to identify and describe biogeographic patterns of biodiversity.
Ecological Mechanisms
Biogeographic patterns have been described for many organisms; however, the underlying ecological mechanisms determining these patterns are almost never identified.
The second goal of my research is to connect biogeographical patterns to ecological mechanisms that maintain the patterns. Examples of ecological mechanisms that I study include:
life history variation, competition, predation, and responses to abiotic conditions.
Evolutionary Processes
As with ecological mechanisms, the connection between pattern, mechanism(s) and evolutionary processes are not well understood. By utilizing a combination of field and laboratory experiments and
molecular genetic techniques I try to determine the role evolutionary processes such as natural selection, genetic drift and migration, in producing biogeographic patterns.
Connecting Pattern to Process
Connecting biogeographic patterns to thier underlying
evolutionary processes is necessary for understanding the generality of particular mechanisms and processes as well as providing
predictions about how human environmental change will alter biodiversity.
In sum, I use molecular genetic, physiological, and mathematical techniques,
in combination with field and laboratory experiments and cross-species comparative methods, to examine spatial and temporal variation in insect biodiversity.
