I am an ecologist interested in how plant and soil communities respond to global change drivers across ecosystems. My research investigates how montane ecosystems respond to warming and dominant species loss across elevational gradients.
As climate change proceeds, ecosystems are facing novel pressures that are altering ecological interactions and, ultimately, ecosystem function. Montane ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to shifting climate regimes, yet generalizing montane ecosystem responses to climate change is inhibited by immense spatiotemporal variation in the rate/extent of change. Further, the role of community shifts and dominant species in mediating ecosystem responses to climate change is unclear.
To overcome these obstacles, I work with the warming and (species) removal in mountains (WaRM) network, an international group of researchers and experimental sites spanning Greenland, Canada, France, Switzerland, USA, China, Argentina, and New Zealand. I leverage methods in plant, soil, and ecosystem ecology to better understand the direct and indirect effects of global change on mountains.