Seminar: John J. Stachowicz – UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology

UNC-CH’s Department of Marine Sciences is proud to host a seminar by John J. Stachowicz Ph.D. This event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th, at 3:35pm in room G201 on the ground floor of Murray Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This seminar will also be broadcast live to both UNC’s Institute of Marine Sciences room 222 and online via Zoom.

Presenter Affiliation: Department Chair, Professor; Marine Community and Evolutionary Ecology, Department of Evolution and Ecology, Center for Population Biology, Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, University of California at Davis

Title:  Marine biodiversity across scales and taxa: patterns, processes and paradigms

Abstract: I am interested the causes and consequences of patterns of marine biodiversity across diverse taxa from microbes to algae to invertebrates. I’m particularly interested in how multiple dimensions of diversity: genetic or trait-based diversity within species, phylogenetic diversity among species, or simply species richness vary in both their spatial distribution and in their impact on the functioning (productivity, stability) of ecological communities. In this talk I’ll focus on the “hidden” biodiversity within (relatively speaking) homogenous looking beds of seagrass— marine angiosperms that provide structure and primary production in shallow coastal environments worldwide. I’ll consider different dimensions of diversity from genetic variation within seagrasses to the species, trait and phylogenetic diversity of invertebrates, microbes, and other taxa associated with them. I’ll describe local-scale, intensive field and mesocosm experiments, distributed experiments across locations, and global scale surveys to address a range of questions in ecology: Do similar patterns arise in the diversity of diverse taxa across latitudinal (or other) gradients? Are these patterns controlled by similar processes in different groups? What dimensions of diversity (richness vs evenness, phenotypic vs phylogenetic) are most predictive of ecological functioning? Or do different dimensions offer complementary information? Can we use patterns in traits and phylogenies to infer how assembly processes vary at different scales from local to regional to global?