Hi everyone-

First a little bit about myself: I’m a first year grad student in the Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology department at UCSB. I am working with Carla D’Antonio. I have yet to nail down a dissertation topic, but I have been interested in functional diversity and how this may relate to invasion potential.  Typically in the (terrestrial) plant world people classify functionality using the phenology (early season/late season) coupled with the life form of the plant (grass, herb, shrub, vine etc.).  The link between invasibility and functionality may be that if there are pre-existing (native) plants with the same life form and phenology then perhaps it will be more difficult for a new species belonging to that same functional group to become established. Currently, Carla and I have been going through the Cal Invasive Plant Council’s list of *nasty* invaders and trying to determine whether or not they are unique (functionally) in comparison to the native plants in which they are invading. We then plan to compare this to moderate and low impact invaders.

I also have a little common garden project going on that is concerned with a non-native vine that is taking over riparian systems in CA.  Originally I thought that this vine may be so successful because there are not any other native vines in CA riparian systems.  But after creeping around, I found that there are a number of native vines, but they just don’t become as abundant as Cape Ivy (the invader).  So I am growing all the vines I could get my hands on in this common garden and am planning to examine different physiological and phenological traits that they may possess.

Let’s see as far as communicating in espanol, hmmm, I think it would be good for me. As an undergrad I did the study abroad program in Costa Rica with Frank Joyce (not sure if you all work with Frank?). It has been awhile though, but it would be good for me to brush up on my Spanish.  

I’m looking forward to working with all of you! Till next week-

Nicole

Cheers!

I am a third year graduate student at Kansas State University's Division of Biology.  To further profiling efforts, I am working towards a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology for the Fungal Ecology Research Group (Dr. Ari Jumpponen, PI).  For my dissertation, I am attempting to characterize a community of Ericoid Mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi isolated from the Arctic LTER at Toolik Lake, AK.  With ErM, the idea of functional diversity is directly linked to the major benefit they are thought to give thier host plant, i.e. nitrogen acquisition.  In the tundra ecosystem where my plant roots were harvested from, we detected a vast increase in the genetic diversity of ErM fungi that were present.  Herein lies the crux of the buiscut.  When I attempt to characterize these fungi based on functionality, I can find a range of functional plasticity within a single genetically defined species is equal to or greater than the function of all species detected (even when we look across phyla).   My knowledge of functional diversity of plants is, however, incomplete.

In addition I have reported on the importance of historical herbarium collections, the role of introduced fungi to oil brine remediation, and the classification of the Phallales (a morphologically ambigious order of Basidiomycetes) based on molecular characters.

I have taken classes in spanish since grade school continuing through high school and even a few credits in college; that being said, I could probably not successfully hail a taxi or ask for directions.  My grasp of vocabulary is adequate, but my grammer is worse than bad.  I am sure I could manage to translate some text though... with the help of google! (or my wife, as she can speak a bit and has spent some time in San Jose)

I can hardly wait for the first chat...

NBS

Hi all-

I'm working through my second year here at the E3B program at Columbia, and finally corralling my interests into a single research focus. I'm working on a large-scale biodiversity manipulation experiment in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, looking at novel ways to clarify the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, mostly via working out a trait-based approach to understanding the link between the two.

I've been working with some others in our lab on testing a metric (based on the FDvar of Mason et al 2003 and Petchey & Gaston's FD) which may allow us to look at multiple traits, and also consider intraspecific variation in traits at the same time. We're using simulations now, but hope to move up to real data soon! I'm interested in demonstrating how functional diversity metrics may be actually useful for setting conservation priorities or in contrasting losses in taxonomic and functional diversity.

I'm also more broadly interested in how land-use management determines ecosystem responses to disturbances, and am helping on some projects in tropical and temperate forests to look at that.

I speak about 10 words of Spanish, and can read only a little more.

Dan

Hello,

I'm a first year phd student at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB, where I also did my masters.  My main research focus is how wildlife persists outside of protected areas, and specifically, in agricultural landscapes.  My dissertation will look at carnivore use of avocado orchards: in southern California, we have a lot of land in avocado orchards, and many of these orchards are adjacent to wildlands.  Avocado orchards are used by a wide range of carnivores, including black bear, coyote, bobcat, gray fox and raccoon.  I am interested in how these carnivores are using the food subsidy provided by the fruit, and in their pest control function (many orchards have problems with rats and ground squirrels, which eat the fruit and cause erosion, respectively.

I am also interested in functional diversity because I believe the traditional focus on biodiversity conservation at the species level is necessary but inadequate.  Defining and considering functional diversity will contribute to the valuation of biodiversity on farmlands, which I believe will provide positive incentives for healthy agricultural systems.

I can understand Spanish pretty well, and I can make myself understood, although my grammer isn't always pretty.  But, like Nicole, I'd love to have some practice.

I'm looking forward to working with all of you!

-Theresa