Start Date
10-4-2023 3:45 PM
End Date
10-4-2023 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Meaningful forecasts of the responses of organisms to climate require an explicit understanding of how organismal behavior and physiology are affected by environmental heterogeneity. Such predictions are complicated because physiology and behavior vary over different time scales, vary across different life stages, and do not operate in isolation of one another. In this talk, I review case studies from my lab to highlight progress that has been made along these fronts and provide generalizations that might be made to other systems, particularly in the context of predicting responses to climate change.
Biography
My lab works at the interface of theory and empiricism to solve problems in ecology and evolution, particularly with regard to thermal biology and climate change. My research focuses on the effects of environmental heterogeneity through both time and space on the physiology, behavior, and ecology of individuals. Specifically, I am interested in understanding whether and how animals (typically reptiles and amphibians) might respond to ongoing climatic change. Toward that end, I use an integrative approach that both develops and tests theory. Approaches in my lab use tools not only from physiological and behavioral ecology, but also from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, evolutionary programming and individual based modeling, statistics, and (recently) ecological genomics.
Additional Links
ORCID
Forecasting Winners and Losers of Climate Change: Insights from the Interactions Between Organisms and their Microclimates
Meaningful forecasts of the responses of organisms to climate require an explicit understanding of how organismal behavior and physiology are affected by environmental heterogeneity. Such predictions are complicated because physiology and behavior vary over different time scales, vary across different life stages, and do not operate in isolation of one another. In this talk, I review case studies from my lab to highlight progress that has been made along these fronts and provide generalizations that might be made to other systems, particularly in the context of predicting responses to climate change.