Physiological constraints on species interactions
A central challenge of ecology is to understand the dynamic nature of species interactions. Such knowledge is considered key to developing models that can capture the influence of species interactions on ecosystem processes and to predict responses to environmental change.
Classic mathematical theory of consumer-resource interactions considers only species abundances and assumes that individuals within populations are all the same: same size, same feeding rates, same survival requirement, etc. However, natural populations are composed of different sizes, ages, and ontogenetic stages each having different life histories. Some species feed at different trophic levels at different life stages, causing the structure of food webs to change over time. A major gap in food web theory is how stage structure alters species interactions.
Interaction strengths measure the effect of one species on another, and can provide important information on the processes that regulate population dynamics, community structure, and food web stability. Two major theories in ecology, Metabolic Theory of Ecology and Ecological Stoichiometry, provide a mechanistic understanding of how temperature, body size, and prey quality constrain feeding rates. My research bridges these two fields and asks how these constraints vary over different life stages of a consumer, and ultimately influence the strength of species interactions over time.