Aquatic ecosystems are
understudied and misunderstood.
My overarching research goal is to better understand the form, function,
and geographic distribution of aquatic plants.
I aim to do this by studying their unique structures, quantifying their role in
aquatic ecosystems, and determining how they interact with their environment.
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Macroecology of aquatic plants
My current research is based on a global database of aquatic plant functional traits I compiled via the Macroecology of Aquatic Plant Functions (MAP) Project (www.maptraits.com). This project is aimed at gauging how the form and function of aquatic plants vary from terrestrial plants, with a goal of determining whether existing terrestrial models (e.g., global vegetation models) are relevant to aquatic plants. This project is taking place over global scale, and integrates environmental data to explore how aquatic plant functional traits vary across the world.
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Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning
I am also interested in exploring relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in freshwater ecosystems. This relationship has long been studied (and debated) in different terrestrial systems, and I am interested in expanding the theory into freshwater systems. Furthermore, I am interested in how these biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships vary when different measures of biodiversity (e.g., taxonomic, functional) are used.
Trait-functioning relationships
Functional traits (morphological, physiological, and phenological characteristics that influence the growth, reproduction, or survival of an organism; Violle et al. 2007 Oikos) are central to my research. However, for aquatic plants, it remains unclear which functional traits associated with specific ecosystem processes and functioning. Therefore, I am interested in identifying which functional traits are most informative of the freshwater ecosystems processes we value most.