Marine Biodiversity Lab
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Marine Biodiversity Lab |
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The Marine Biodiversity Lab at the College of William and Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science is a group of people working in Emmett Duffy's lab, with broad interests in the ecology, evolution, diversity, and conservation of marine organisms and ecosystems. What causes populations to differentiate, and new species to emerge? On an ecological time scale, how is species diversity maintained and what are its consequences for ecosystem function? Our current research addresses such questions by integrating methods from experimental ecology, behavioral ecology, population biology, and systematics. Most of our work focuses on the consequences of resource use patterns and interactions at the population, community, and ecosystem levels in marine animals. Our two major research themes include (1) studies of the community and ecosystem consequences of functional diversity in seagrass beds of Chesapeake Bay, and (2) systematic, ecological, and behavioral studies of the evolutionary radiation of sponge-dwelling Caribbean reef shrimp. Current student projects involve foodweb interactions in vegetated marine systems, invasion biology, determinants of species diversity in open systems, and links between community structure and geochemistry. |
| Current Research |
BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING IN SEAGRASS
BEDS
Among
the most pervasive and irreversible environmental changes wrought by human
activity is the ongoing erosion in species diversity on global and local
scales. The consequences of this declining diversity for ecosystem
functioning, and the associated services provided to humans (primary production,
trophic transfer, nutrient cycling, etc.), have been a major focus of interest
and controversy in ecology in recent years. Yet the relationships
between biodiversity and functional processes in food webs remain poorly
understood.
We are studying the food webs supported by submersed vegetation in the
Chesapeake Bay estuary as a model system for addressing links between biodiversity,
trophic structure, and ecosystem functioning. Eelgrass (Zostera
marina) beds are important and threatened coastal ecosystems throughout
the northern hemisphere, supporting economically important fisheries.
In these and many other vegetated aquatic ecosystems, grazing of epiphytic
algae by small, motile invertebrates (mesograzers)
appears critical in facilitating dominance of shallow waters by vascular
macrophytes,
which in turn provide essential nursery habitat and production for ecologically
and economically important fish, shellfish, and waterfowl species (see
Submersed
Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay for more information).
Mesograzers are abundant, and play potentially pivotal roles, in vegetated
benthic habitats worldwide,
yet their community-level impacts are poorly understood. 
Our
research investigates the role of mesograzers in vegetated marine systems,
including both their "top-down" impact on plant community structure and
function,
and their "bottom-up" importance as trophic links to higher consumers.
We employ a suite of mesocosm and field experiments, time series analysis
from field monitoring, and studies of grazer population dynamics and feeding
biology. This long-term research has been supported by the National
Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography program).
The
sponge-dwelling shrimp genus Synalpheus is among the most diverse
genera of Crustacea, with >100 described species, and is a numerically
dominant component of the coral reef benthos worldwide. Its species
richness is matched by an intriguing diversity in life history characters, degrees
of host specificity,
and most notably in social systems, including asociality, subsociality,
communal aggregation, and the only known cases of eusociality in marine
animals.
Synalpheus is indeed one of the most socially diverse genera of animals outside
the insects. Our ongoing systematic research is clarifying the difficult
taxonomy of this genus, including descriptions of several new species,
and recently has produced a phylogenetic reconstruction for most of the
West Atlantic species of Synalpheus.
The phylogeny opens the door to exploiting this group's great potential
as a model system for comparative research in the historical analysis of
biodiversity, including comparative analyses of life history, social systems,
and speciation mechanisms. 
There
are many opportunities for student research projects in this area, including
behavioral ecology, comparative analysis of morphological and social evolution,
population genetics, and speciation patterns. This research has been
supported by the
National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution (Caribbean
Coral Reef Ecosystem program), and the National Geographic Society.
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Principal Investigator:
J. Emmett Duffy, Professor of Marine Science
Lab chief:
Paul Richardson, M.S. Old Dominion University 2001
Postdoctoral Associates:
Zachary P. Long, Ph.D. Rutgers University 2004
Brian R. Silliman, Ph.D. Brown University 2004
Graduate Students:
| James Douglass |  |
Ph.D. | My graduate work at VIMS has focused on the role of small, invertebrate grazers in structuring benthic ecosystems; primarily eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds in Chesapeake Bay. I have used a combination of controlled experiments and observational studies to elucidate the complex interactions between grazers and the rest of the benthic community. I plan to defend my dissertation entitled "Grazer community dynamics in eelgrass beds; intermediate consumers as mediators of environmental change" in July 2008. After graduation I will relocate to Fort Pierce, Florida, to persue further seagrass community ecology research through a Smithsonian Marine Science Network postdoctoral fellowship. |
| Althea Moore |  |
M.S. | Interaction structure of a marine community |
| Rachael Blake |  |
Ph.D. | My research focuses on the effects of environmental stressors on the eelgrass community in Chesapeake Bay. I am using a combination of mesocosm experiments and field surveys to examine how stressors such as temperature, nutrients, and salinity impact eelgrass and the animals that utilize this important benthic habiatat. |
| Matthew Whalen |  |
M.S. | TBA |
| William Tarantino |  |
M.S. | Modeling and testing diversity's effects on food-web Interactions |
Alumni:
Amanda Spivak, Ph.D. 2008 (currently a postdoc at Miami University of Ohio)
Kristin France, Ph.D. 2007 (currently a senior scientist at The Nature Conservancy)
Eva Tóth, Postdoc 2002-2004 (currently postdoc at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)
Ruben Ríos, Ph.D. 2003. (currently at VIMS)
Cheryl L. Morrison, Postdoc 2000-2002 (currently at USGS Leetown Science Center)
John D. Parker, M.S. 1998. (currently a senior scientist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center).
Annie Harvilicz, Department of Biology, the College of William and Mary, B.S. with High Honors, 1999. (Currently an independent Veterinary Professional in the greater Los Angeles Area)
Kenneth S. Macdonald, Ph.D. 2002. (currently a Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History)
Molly Mitchell, Department of Biology, the College of William and Mary, B.S. with Honors, 1999. (Currently working in the real world)
Jennifer M. Rhode, Ph.D. 2002 (currently Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina, Asheville)
Alessandra Sagasti, Ph.D. 2000. (Currently at Montgomery College, Maryland).
| Information for Prospective Evolutionary Ecology Students |
A Letter to Prospective Students
Courses taught by Emmett Duffy:
| Related Links of Interest |
In no particular order . . .
Ecological Society of America
American Society of Limnology
and Oceanography
Estuarine Research Federation
The Crustacean Society
Smithsonian Institution
The
Tree of Life
Animal
Diversity Web (from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology)
Evolution Research News
Evolution and Population
Genetics Educational Database
The
Evolution Directory (EvolDir) (managed by Brian Golding)
Estuarine
Science Reference Series (EReFs)
Marine
Biology Web (by Jeff Levinton, SUNY-SB)
This page last updated 3 April 2008
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