newsletter Archives - Page 5 of 8 - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Fire Impacts on Species Richness

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

After spending nearly six years at Oklahoma State University, Assistant Professor Monica Papeş has traded the Cross-Timbers and Great Plains ecoregions for the Appalachians and Blue Ridge ecoregions by joining EEB in January 2017. Consequently, her regional research focus has shifted to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where Papeş and her master’s student Mali Lubic are beginning to investigate the effects of the 2016 fires on understory plant communities.

The US Forest Service classified the fire intensity from Landsat satellite imagery into three categories: low, medium, and high. High-intensity fires are more likely to occur after extended periods of fire suppression, which is the case in the national park. This study will compare plant species richness and abundance on sites selected across regions of low, medium and high fire intensity to unburned reference sites. The main objective is to determine whether significant differences exist in plant community changes across the fire gradient as these communities recover from the fire. This work is part of a larger EEB initiative to investigate the effects of the 2016 fire on organisms and ecosystems in the park.

On a much broader scale, Papeş is investigating the use of satellite imagery to map tropical forest diversity. This project makes use of data collected by a NASA experimental sensor, Hyperion. This is the only satellite sensor that records the amount of light reflected off the surface of Earth in hundreds of narrow spectral bands. This type of data allows identification of tree species and measuring vegetation diversity from space. The goal of this project is to identify areas of high species richness that could be targeted for conservation.

Moving to UT has been a remarkable career advancement for Papeş. Through a partnership between EEB, geography, and NIMBioS, Papeş has the unique opportunity to establish and direct a shared facility centered on spatial analysis: Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL). Spatial analysis makes use of geo-referenced data to visualize and study processes (for example, species’ geographic ranges; the spread of a disease; optimal size of a protected area). The SAL will be open to all UT faculty and students and will be fully operational by the end of 2018.

Papeş’ research interests focus on understanding species’ distributions from local to continental scales. This fundamental question has applications in diverse fields, such as biogeography, biodiversity conservation, and global change. EEB faculty are a dynamic and diverse group that excel in these fields.

Plant Petting Zoo

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

This fall, students and faculty in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology will be able to conduct plant research in seven state-of-the-art greenhouses after a year and a half of renovations and expansions to bring the facilities up to modern standards critical for plant research.

“We are extremely grateful for the support of Dean Lee and the college, which helped provide the needed resources to transform our greenhouses at Hesler and Senter Halls into Research I facilities,” says Susan Kalisz, EEB department head.

Greenhouses are essential to teaching and research in the department. For years, the original six greenhouses were in various states of disrepair. The lack of insect screens allowed easy access for pest insects and easy escape of beneficial insects, which counteracted any attempt to keep pests in check using natural control methods. Pebble-floor drainage made it difficult to prevent the entry and growth of pest plants and additional insects. Today, each greenhouse has a solid concrete floor with metal drain channels and is bug-proof thanks to the addition of insect screens to the ridge vents and exhaust fans.

“All our greenhouses are now effectively closed systems, which is critical when controlling variables in research projects,” says Jeff Martin, greenhouse and garden facility manager. “Now our researchers determine what goes in and out of the greenhouses; not nature.”

The diverse collection of plants, ferns, and mosses reflects the diversity of research and teaching opportunities in the department. Greenhouses feature plants from tropical, temperate, and arid climates and range from avocado and mangos to orchids and water lilies. Faculty use the outdoor fern and moss gardens for their unique botanical traits and in classes focused on student skills in plant identification.

“Our greenhouse complex now provides the winning combination of the plant growth expertise in our knowledgeable staff; excellent, controlled research facilities; and terrific teaching resources in a living collection,” Kalisz says.

Ethan Marks (left) and Nate Kingsley (right) share Chancellor Davenport’s excitement about the variety of plants in the greenhouse.

Nate Kingsley, a senior EEB major, is one of the many students benefiting from the renovations and diversity of the greenhouses.

“I’ve always had a passion for organisms and the natural world,” Kinsley says. “Being an EEB student has been a great way to understand how all the pieces of the living world interact. I’ve had many opportunities for stimulating hands-on research in the labs and engaging biodiversity collections in the herbarium and greenhouses. My favorite organisms are flowering plants, so working with our incredible live collection at the greenhouses has allowed me to get first-hand experience dealing with the cultivation and maintenance of these incredibly diverse organisms.

Martin encourages anyone interested in seeing the greenhouses to visit or set up a tour. Visit eeb.bio.utk.edu or call 865-974-3065 for more information.

Improving Disaster Response

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

Rats. Fish. Mud. Though not readily apparent, water is the thread that ties all three together.

“Too much water. Not enough water, and just the right amount of water,” says new Associate Professor Michael Blum, referring to his work on post-disaster infectious disease, conservation of at-risk freshwater fish on oceanic islands, and coastal restoration.

Trained as an evolutionary geneticist, Blum began his academic career studying the stability and formation of butterfly hybrid zones across the Neotropics. Having a certain knack for interdisciplinary approaches, he has since pursued research that leverages ecology and evolutionary biology to improve urban and coastal sustainability.

“As a society, we struggle to live with water,” Blum says. “It’s a fight we won’t win.”

Though it may sound like a simple premise, living with water is a challenge for the vast majority of the world’s population. Blum regularly works across the aisle – with engineers, resource managers, community organizers, lawyers, historians, social scientists, artists, among others – to rethink how society views and manages water.

Blum’s work in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is well known, but his work on rats in New Orleans often garners greater public interest.

“Rats are fascinating, and everyone has a rat story,” says Blum, who is leading a team that is undertaking what is arguably the most extensive scientific study of urban rodents ever attempted. “We fondly refer to it as our ‘rat project,’ but it is much more than that.”

Associate Professor Blum and PhD student Bruno Ghersi Chavez being filmed trapping rats in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans for the Morgan Spurlock documentary “Rats.” Catch it on Netflix.

Blum’s team is investigating how decision-making during responses to catastrophic disasters like Hurricane Katrina can ripple forward to shape human well-being decades afterwards. Aside from trapping rodents, Blum’s team is inventorying the pathogens carried by rodents, characterizing land use and plant community structure, and surveying risk perception throughout New Orleans. Tying it all together, Blum is now working with colleagues to develop modeling tools to improve disaster response and post-disaster decision-making.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining EEB,” Blum says. “The department is an exceptional community of scholars with a demonstrated global impact. There are amazing opportunities for collaboration.”

With the disciplinary breadth and reach of the department, Blum looks forward to seeing where conversations about rats (and fish and mud) will lead.

Mitigating Anthropogenic Impacts

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

Increasing demand for food, energy, and raw materials is driving rapid environmental change with profound impacts on biodiversity around the world. Xingli Giam, a new assistant professor in EEB, focuses on characterizing and mitigating anthropogenic impacts on the environment with a particular emphasis on tropical and freshwater ecosystems.

Giam combines fieldwork with the development and application of cutting-edge theoretical, statistical, and meta-analytic modeling tools to conduct interdisciplinary research that has real policy impact. Giam joined the EEB faculty in February and since then, he and his team have been developing research projects spanning different ecological and human systems.

These projects include uncovering climate change impacts on the unique fish fauna of Southern Appalachia, identifying hotspots of rare fishes to inform conservation priorities in the Upper Tennessee drainage, and examining the impacts of coal mining on aquatic biodiversity and local communities in two of the five largest producers of coal in the world – the United States and Indonesia.

In addition to developing his research program, Giam is excited to mentor undergraduate and graduate students at UT. Despite the increasing economic inequality in the United States and other countries, Giam still believes that education is the great equalizer in society.

“Growing up in a modest family, I benefitted from having excellent teachers and research mentors, and I want to pay it forward,” says Giam, who was first in his family to graduate high school. “I hope I can contribute by being a thoughtful teacher and mentor here at UT.”

Coming from a postdoctoral research position at the University of Washington, Giam is thrilled to join EEB because of its very special community.

“There is an amazing, warm, and inclusive group of faculty and graduate students whose research interests complement mine and with whom I can form exciting collaborations,” Giam says. “In the interview process, I was really impressed by the friendly, helpful, and efficient administrative staff. Since coming here, I have become even more of a fan.”

Crossing the Pond for a PhD

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

When Thomas Brooks (’98) graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in geography, he wanted to focus his PhD work on tropical conservation. There was one problem – no one in the United Kingdom was interested in taking him on as a student.

“I wrote to several professors to explore my options, but in those days, conservation science was often seen as requiring a biology degree,” Brooks says.

He got a break when one of the professors recommended he contact Stuart Pimm in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UT.

“The professor said he heard Pimm was recruiting graduate students to work on multidisciplinary conservation,” Brooks says. “The rest is history!”

Brooks now serves as the chief scientist of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He has had a distinguished national career in conservation biology that all started in 1994 when he left his home in the United Kingdom to attend graduate school in the United States; a place he had visited only once before.

He arrived on campus during a period of transition for the department, but quickly settled into his PhD work on predicting bird extinctions following tropical deforestation. His arrival at UT also brought a new experience for Brooks: teaching a general biology course.

“I’d never taught before, so being thrown in the deep end to teach general biology was as good a sink-or-swim experience as I’ve ever had,” says Brooks, who eventually had an opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for ornithology and conservation biology courses, which is closer to his expertise.

His time in EEB was fundamental in setting him on his current career path, and he credits Pimm for much of it.

“He insisted that his graduate students learn skills in grant writing, peer review of manuscripts, and, above all, in writing scientific papers,” Brooks says.

The rigorous PhD work paid off. Brooks has authored over 200 publications and has secured approximately $9 million in major grants, including one from the National Geographic Society, which funded his PhD fieldwork in Kenya.

He still collaborates with fellow EEB graduates and professors, including Sandy Echternacht, former head of the department.

“I was delighted to renew acquaintance with Sandy when the two of us worked together on the IUCN Red List assessment of Caribbean reptiles last year,” Brooks says.

His most enduring memory of his time in Tennessee, however, is the genuine friendliness he experienced with everyone he met.

“Knoxville was a wonderfully hospitable place to work through the great challenges and joys of PhD research,” Brooks says.

Ecology of Pollen Grains

November 6, 2017 by wpeeb

Chandler Brown, an undergraduate working in the Williams Lab, entered his first plants-focused class already intrigued by the evolution of these beautiful organisms. He came to college for this class. With the acquaintance of Professor Joe Williams, his foot was in the door.

He started on a promising project on the dispersal ecology of pollen grains. When pollen disperses, it is either in a sexually immature bicellular state or in a sexually mature tricellular state. Researchers hypothesize that tricellular pollen has a higher water content than bicellular pollen because pollen is typically arrested in development at the bicellular stage when it undergoes dehydration in preparation for dispersal. If pollen fails to undergo dehydration, development might proceed to the mature tricellular stage. To understand pollen water content, Chandler compared the size of fresh mature pollen to its oven-dried size and to its fully hydrated size in 30 species. If fresh pollen is closer to its dried size, it must disperse in a very dehydrated state. Conversely, if it is close to its hydrated size it must have high water content. Pollen with high water content is metabolically active and can germinate faster. As such, metabolically active pollen has a higher competitive ability, an advantage that might explain why tricellular species originated from bicellular species in multiple instances.

This project has allowed Chandler to gain many new insights into biology and a sense of responsibility and independence while working in the lab and field. The research done in a lab allows students to develop broad skills necessary for almost any profession. Chandler learned various methods that might be applicable in many biological labs and more specifically in his field of plant biology. In addition to being honored with the knowledge of natural history in the field, he was offered a summer research grant based on the significance of his project, which allowed him to make a living within the EEB program before getting his degree. He is considering graduate school, and with this honor’s thesis project under his belt, his chances of being accepted have increased. He is very appreciative of all the great opportunities offered to him throughout his undergraduate career and looks forward to his future in plant research.