Smith Lab

The overarching goal of my lab’s research is to better understand the consequences of human-caused global changes. We address long-standing, yet highly relevant questions about the functional roles of species in ecosystems, the causes and impacts of loss and gain of genetic and species diversity (at the population, community and ecosystem level), the factors that influence species coexistence and patterns of species abundance, and the relative strength of bottom-up (resources) vs. top-down (consumers) controls in structuring communities