THE BRONSTEIN LABORATORY
People
University Distinguished Professor, Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona
Editor in Chief, The American Naturalist
Ph.D., M.Sc., Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan
A.B. Brown University
Using a combination of field observations and experiments, I investigate how population processes, abiotic conditions and community context determine net effects of the interactions for the fitness of each participant species. Specific conceptual areas of interest include: (1) conflicts of interest between mutualists and their consequences for the maintenance of beneficial outcomes in these interactions and (2) context-dependent outcomes in both mutualisms and antagonisms. I am also collaborating on theoretical and empirical investigation of (i) the fragility of mutualisms in light of conservation threats and mechanisms of restoring disrupted interactions and (ii) the causes and consequences of “cheating” within mutualism.
B.sc. Botany, Humboldt State University
As a biologist I am interested in how the timing of important life history events (phenology) and local community context influence the outcome of ecological interactions. My work places an emphasis on the phenology of plant-pollinator interactions within the context of rapid global climate change. I do this work at the University of Arizona and The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Colorado. My ongoing research projects include: (1) drivers of plant and pollinator phenology, (2) investigation of the mechanisms and consequences of altered phenology for bee-flower interactions, (3) nesting biology and pollen diet of wild bees, and (4) examination of the consequences of mistimed interactions between the Broad-tailed Hummingbird and its floral resources along its migration route. Much of this work aims to move beyond the plant-pollinator phenological mismatch hypothesis by exploring the effects of climate change through the lens of community-scale interactions.
B.sc. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
As a Ph.D. student I am interested in the thermal ecology of mutualism. Mutualism is often a complex interaction among multiple species, each of which may respond to temperature differently. Specifically, I investigate the consequences of temperature for the ant-plant interaction between Ferocactus wislizeni and its common ant defenders at the Desert Research Laboratory in Tucson. The barrel cactus exudes nectar from extrafloral glands, attracting ants which protect the plants against herbivores. The level of protection that the mutualist ant species provide to cacti varies greatly. My dissertation research explores how these mutualistic partners and the interactions among them respond to temperature. Very little is known about the thermal ecology of species interactions and further research is essential to understand how they will respond to rising temperatures worldwide.
Sarah K. Richman
B.sc. Conservation Studies, UC Berkeley
I am interested in the community ecology of plant/pollinator interactions. Specifically, I am curious about pollinator foraging behavior and the community contexts which would allow and promote a floral visitor to switch roles from a plant mutualist to a plant antagonist. This phenomenon has been seen frequently in bumble bee (Bombus) species, which will exhibit behavioral switches between legitimate pollination and nectar robbing. I plan to continue developing these ideas as I continue through the beginning stages of graduate school. Other topics of interest include: Levels of specificity in plant/pollinator interactions, plant mating systems and evolutionary shifts from outcrossing to self-fertilization, agroecology and urban agriculture.
B.sc. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Rice University
Broadly, I am interested in applying theoretical and empirical techniques to the study of the evolutionary ecology of species interactions. I plan to explore the eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite-vector systems in which the parasite and vector have a mutualistic relationship. In the field, I am studying the interactions of desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californium), a tractable parasite that is ecologically important and ubiquitous in the Sonoran desert. A dioecious shoot hemiparasite of a variety of leguminous trees (Fabaceae), desert mistletoe is vectored by a specialized mutualist seed-dispersing bird (Phainopepla). Through modeling, experimentation, and observation, I hope to further our understanding of complex interactions.
Jessie Barker
Ph.D. Cornell University
B.Sc. Natural Sciences (Zoology), Cambridge University
I am a behavioral ecologist interested in the evolution of cooperation and conflict. My PhD research focused on the effect of competition on cooperation in social groups, with empirical work on both humans and paper wasps combined with game theoretic modeling. In my postdoctoralwork in the Bronstein lab, I will investigate cooperation among partners in mutualisms. My primary study system will be insect pollination of manzanita flowers: Why should insect visitors legitimately collect nectar if they may benefit from nectar robbing? What maintains the balance between cooperation and cheating?
Ph.D., M.Sc., Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
B.Sc. Ecology, Evolution, & Conservation, University of Washington
I’m interested in how climate change affects the timing of species interactions, particularly how shifts in flowering phenology affect interactions between plants and pollinators. I've worked in a tallgrass prairie community and, more recently, in a sky island community in the Sonoran Desert. I use a combination of experiments to directly manipulate phenology, long-term historical data to inform predictions, and observations that take advantage of natural variation in phenology to investigate both species-specific and community-level responses.
Post-doctoral Associates
Graduate Students
Dr. Judith L. Bronstein
Other Bronstein Laboratory Associates
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Nick Waser & Mary Price
Professor Emeritus, University of California Riverside
Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Dorit Eliyahu
Research Associate, University of Arizona
Ph.D. Entomology, North Carolina State University
M.Sc. Plant Protection, Hebrew University
B.Sc. Animal Sciences, Hebrew University
I am a chemical ecologist who usually works on chemical communication within and between insect species. In the Bronstein Lab, I work on a couple of projects that look at ecological aspects of interspecific interactions. One of my projects looks at the role of thrips in pollination of manzanita plants (Arctostaphylos spp.), some of which flower very early in the season. Another project examines the interactions between lycaenid caterpillars and ants.
Bryan R. Helm
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student, Davidowitz Laboratory
B.A. Biology, Depauw University
I am currently researching the proximate causes for the cessation of larval growth in Manduca sexta (tabacco hornworm), using experimental surgical techniques to test hypotheses concerning how and why organisms stop growth. Life history paradigms assume that an organism stops growth when it has enough resources to reproduce; however, the mechanistic trigger for cessation of growth remains unknown. My work is investigating if nutritional accumulation is the ultimate cause for the cessation of growth in M. sexta. Specifically, whether or not the fat bodies (centers of nutritional accumulation in insects) are involved in signaling the critical weight (or weight at which the organisms commits to metamorphosis, and thus stops growth). I am also interested in understanding how different diet quality influences the organism and its physiology.
Amy M. Iler
Research Associate, University of Maryland & The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Ph.D. Ecology & Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University
B.Sc. Conservation Studies, Muskingum University
Community phenology, with a focus on plant-pollinator interactions, provides a framework for my research questions that ask how ecosystem services respond to anthropogenic threats: species invasion, climate change, and habitat alteration.
Goggy Davidowitz
Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona
Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
My broad area of interest is in how organisms adjust growth and development in response to environmental variation. Specifically, I am focusing on the physiological mechanisms by which insects translate variation in diet quality and temperature, two environmental factors with strong effects on life histories, into phenotypic variation in body size and developmental time, two traits highly correlated with fitness. In my work I emphasize the regulation of these traits at the level of the whole organism. The complexity of the traits and the mechanisms that regulate them have led me to develop an integrative research program. Currently, I am employing techniques from quantitative genetics, physiology, respirometry, endocrinology, ecology, evolutionary biology, behavior and elemental stoichiometry, combining lab, greenhouse and fieldwork.
