The Kaspari Lab
Research
We explore how and why ecological communities vary from place to place, and use ants and other soil critters as model organisms in evolutionary ecology. In the essay “Systematics Ascending”, E. O. Wilson contrasted two ways of doing science based on…
People
Folks in our lab know their organisms, know their theory, and combine field and lab studies to answer questions that obsess us. We work all over the world, but have a real fondness for tropical rainforests and grasslands. We have…
Teaching
Most of the world’s greatest challenges are ecological. We are all students in this rapidly changing world and depend upon everyone’s creativity and hard work to find solutions. We learn by combining intense exposure to data and concepts, regular practice of new skills, and making time for quietude…
Stories
Introducing “Ecology Stories”
Wisdom begins with the proper naming of things. In this episode of Ecology Stories—written as a resource for science classes—@damotmot and I present an illustrated intro to taxonomy.
A chaos of surfaces: part 2
The litter biologist, on her hands and knees in the tropical litter, dips low and smells the moist spicy funk of good rot*. She sees a mosaic of five or six species of leaves, some rounded, some crenulated, in shades…
New Paper: Predicting the number of non-native across North America’s insect communities
When walking through a patch of habitat a key question obsesses ecologists: “How many species are there?”. An ornithologist or mammalogist can usually get a number within a reasonable range, in part because those critters are well studied. What happens…
Potassium as a game-changer in prairie food webs
This study suggests why the K and Na in urine may reveal a plant’s hidden super-power in its battle against herbivores.