Much of my research revolves around these questions, and at the moment I am working in litter food webs. My taxonomic expertise is in spiders (a fabulous taxa for study), but in my experiments I quantify the responses of many arthropod taxa to change, including ants, beetles, and microarthropods. I am also interested in linking changes in community composition to ecosystem processes, such as decomposition, nutrient flow, and carbon storage.

Specific projects:

In collaboration with Nate Sanders and J.P. Lessard (University of Tennessee) I am studying how how arthropod communities (spiders, ants, beetles, centipedes, and microarthropods) are structured by the presence of a dominant ant species (Formica fusca var. subsericea Say), and how these effects are modulated by litter depth and altitude. This research is being done at the Coweeta LTER site in North Carolina.

In collaboration with Nate Sanders and Aimee Classen (University of Tennessee) and Aaron Ellison (Harvard Forest) I am studying how ground dwelling arthropod communities and nutrient availability will be affected by changes in forest type and litter fall from the loss of hemlock due to infestation by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This research is being done at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts.