Amy Wolf (lead), Sarah Ortiz, Damla Cinoglu, and I are conducting an experiment on the mechanisms of biodiversity in generating ecosystem functioning at Brackenridge Field Lab.

We are interested in the roles that competition/facilitation of abiotic resource availability versus plant-insect interactions have on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We are experimentally manipulating diversity, phylogenetic diversity, water availability, and insect communities. This experiment benefits from the work of many undergraduate students and is currently the subject of projects large and small on plant strategies, plant/pollinator interactions, and phenology, to name a few.

This project is currently funded by the Stengl-Wyer Endowment.