Research

General Research Interests

The research in our lab is very diverse. In general, we aim to achieve a deeper, mechanistic understanding of basic ecological and evolutionary processes. Much of our work focuses on understanding the “rules of nature” that control the survival, growth, and reproduction in individual organisms, and how these affect and are affected by the structure and function of communities and ecosystems. We use a variety of approaches to address our questions, including theoretical approaches, broad comparative studies (e.g. macroecology), as well as field and laboratory experiments. Several of the studies currently under way in our lab are listed below.

Current Projects in the Gillooly Lab

• Energetic constraints on the life histories of “super-organisms” living in colonies.
• Combining Ecological Stoichiometry with the Metabolic Theory of Ecology
• The Energetic Basis of Mutation and Speciation
• Sexual selection, encounter rate, and mate-limitation across species of varying body mass with implications for genetic drift
• Resource abundance and persistence in single-tree populations of the soapberry bug (Rhopalidae) through time: a dispersal trap?
• Acoustic herds: Rhopalid acoustic behavior assists formation of aposematic aggregations using time-dependent signalling.
• Productivity, food web structure, and dynamics of temporary pond communties
• Linking biomechanics and energetics to understand constraints on animal movement