Saara DeWalt

My research lab is broadly directed at understanding the determinants of plant distributions and patterns of abundance over large geographic scales and among habitats over short geographical scales. My research addresses several questions in population, evolutionary, and community ecology: What are the roles of herbivores and pathogens in shaping patterns of plant abundance and distribution on local and geographic scales? What are the ecological and evolutionary processes that affect and maintain genetic variation and structure in plant populations? Which current and historical factors determine the structure and composition of plant communities? Primarily, I address these questions by studying trees and lianas (woody vines) and non-native, invasive plants in temperate and tropical forests. These study systems have allowed me to test fundamental ecological hypotheses concerning the determinants of species abundance, community composition, and diversity. My work on invasive species also provides opportunities for applied research on effective control methods. Much of my research involves broad biogeographical comparisons of plant populations and communities and is focused in the Neotropics.

• AB Biology, Brown University, 1994
• PhD Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, 2003
• Huxley Research Fellow, Rice University, 2003-2005