Anne Bjorkman (UBC Ph.D. student, co-advised with Greg Henry) - annebj@gmail.com

I am interested in the evolutionary consequences of climate change in natural systems. I am currently conducting field experiments to determine whether evolutionary adaptation has occurred in high arctic plant communities as a result of long-term warming experiments initiated in 1992. A second experiment will investigate the ability of plants from the low Arctic to migrate northward and establish in new environments as temperatures increase. The results of this research will increase our understanding of the likely effects of future climatic changes in Arctic ecosystems and throughout the world.

Heather Kharouba (UBC Ph.D. student) - kharouba(at)zoology.ubc.ca

My research is focused on understanding how insects are responding to climate change and how interactions with their host plants are influencing this response. Specifically, I’m interested in how the geographic distributions and phenology of insects are shifting, as well as whether they are tracking similar responses in their host plants. I’m currently exploring broad scale phenological changes in Canadian butterflies and their adult food plants to see whether they are changing at the same rate in response to recent climate change. On a much smaller scale, I’m also testing how increases in temperature affect the temporal interaction between the western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum pluviale) and its host plant, red alder (Alnus rubra). I hope this work will help direct conservation efforts to effectively protect species into the future.
https://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~kharouba

Jenny McCune (UBC Ph.D. student) - jmccune(at)interchange.ubc.ca

Given our relatively short human lifespan, it’s hard to imagine being able to view time from the perspective of an 800 year old tree, not to mention several generations of 800 year old trees. I’m interested in trying to gain this perspective in studying how plant communities change over tens, hundreds and thousands of years. In particular, I want to figure out how the actions of human societies in the process of managing and utilizing plants have caused changes in vegetation, and how these human impacts have interacted with climate change and other processes over time to determine how the vegetation looks today. I think a long-term perspective can give us insight into how sensitive plant communities are to change, how long it takes them to respond to change, and whether they can return to the way they were before the change happened. Knowing these things can inform the management decisions we make in order to conserve or restore plant communities.

Liz Kleynhans (UBC Ph.D. student, co-advised with Sally Otto) - kleynhan(a)zoology.ubc.ca

Typically when people investigate how species might adapt or evolve to cope with environmental change they only consider single species in isolation. However, in the real world species occur in communities with different numbers and diversities of competitors. My research investigates how community context (both biotic and abiotic) might influence the capacity of a species to adapt or evolve to new circumstances. I hope to tackle this question by using a variety of experimental and theoretical approaches.

Jamie Leathem (UBC M.Sc. student, co-advised with Jeannette Whitton) - kermit(at)interchange.ubc.ca

I am interested in using plant traits to learn about ecological strategies of northern plants. My research uses trait data to test whether invasive plants in Yukon Territory exhibit different ecological strategies than native plants. I am using both functional trait data I gathered from roadside plant populations, as well as data from published floras. Understanding the traits of invasive plants in Yukon could help us predict what species may become invasive in the future. Another important aspect of my research is using this same trait data to test current theories of community assembly. I am testing whether the distribution of traits in roadside plants supports neutral theory or niche-based theories. To date, most research in this area has focused on highly diverse tropical systems, and I am excited to apply it to a much less diverse sub arctic system.

Nathan Kraft (UBC Biodiversity Research Centre Postdoctoral Fellow) - nkraft(at)biodiversity(dot)ubc(dot)ca

I study the ecological and evolutionary forces that structure communities. My research integrates aspects of community ecology, ecophysiology, and community phylogenetics. Recent projects have focused on the forests of lowland Amazonia and plant communities in California. In addition to a focus on species coexistence, my research interests include species responses to climate change and the assembly of regional biotas..
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~nkraft/

Robin Beauséjour (Candidat à la maîtrise/M.Sc. student, Université de Sherbrooke) - robin.beausejour@usherbrooke.ca

Mon projet de recherche porte sur les processus et les causes déterminant les changements temporels à court terme dans les communautés végétales de sous-étage des forêts anciennes (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Montérégie, Québec). Je m’intéresse à l’influence potentielle de plusieurs facteurs pouvant expliquer les changements observés : (i) le broutage par les cerfs de Virginie (Odocoileus virginianus); (ii) la succession post-verglas; (iii) les changements environnementaux; (iv) des modifications de la structure et de la composition minérale du sol par les vers de terre. Un ré-échantillonnage des communautés de plantes de quelques dizaines de parcelles sera fait, suite à un intervalle de dix ans. Chaque facteur sera testé en utilisant des traits tirés de la littérature attribués à chaque espèce. Un autre aspect important de mon projet est qu’il pourrait s’inscrire dans un programme de suivi écologique à long terme de ces communautés.  

My research is focused on understanding the patterns and causes of community change over the past decade in the understory of an old-growth forest (Mont St.Hilaire, Montérégie, Québec). I am interested in testing the influence of several factors to explain observed changes : (i) deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herbivory; (ii) post-ice storm succession; (iii) environmental changes; (iv) soil changes caused by earthworms. A re-survey of the plant community 10 years following an initial survey (by Ben Gilbert) will be conducted. Each factor will be tested by assessing the influence of plant traits known to affect responses to the above factors on species increases or decreases over time. Another important aspect of my project is the continuation of a long-term ecologic monitoring program in this ecosystem.

Carissa Brown (Postdoctoral Fellow, Université de Sherbrooke) - carissa.brown@usask.ca

I study plant species and communities at the edge of their range, focusing on the direct and indirect effects of climate change on species distributions. I am currently looking at this in two systems: 1) black spruce-dominated boreal forest at the limit of its climatic tolerance in sub-arctic Yukon; and 2) deciduous-dominated forest communities on elevational gradients in Parc national du Mont-Mégantic in southern Québec. At Mont-Mégantic, I am particularly interested in whether species have changed their distributions in the recent past, and how that is linked to climatic and edaphic factors.

J’étudie des populations et des communautés végétales à la limite de leur distribution en me concentrant sur ​​les effets directs et indirects des changements climatiques sur la distribution des espèces. J'étudie ceci dans deux systèmes: 1) la forêt boréale subarctique du Yukon dominée par l'épinette noire à la limite de sa tolérance climatique et 2) les communautés forestières dans le Parc national du Mont-Mégantic, Québec, où la forêt est dominée par les feuillus (érable à sucre, hêtre) en basse altitude et par les sapins en haute altitude.  Au Mont-Mégantic, je suis particulièrement intéressée à savoir si la distribution des espèces a changé dans un passé récent et comment ceci est relié à des facteurs climatiques et édaphiques.

http://homepage.usask.ca/~cab195/

Isla Myers-Smith (Postdoctoral Fellow, EnviroNord/EnviroNorth & Université de Sherbrooke) - imyerssmith@gmail.com

I study the influence of warming climate on tundra vegetation in northern ecosystems. In particular, I am investigating the spread of willows and other shrub species into arctic and alpine tundra.  Shrubs have the potential to restructure tundra ecosystems  through the alteration of ecosystem functions and the creation of feedbacks to climate warming that further the increase of shrubs.  I am collaborating with researchers working at sites around the circumpolar Arctic to synthesize our combined data to better understand shrub encroachment in tundra ecosystems. 

J'étudie l'influence du réchauffement climatique sur la végétation de toundra dans les écosystèmes nordiques. J'étudie en particulier l'augmentation et la dispersion des populations de saules et autres arbustes dans l'Arctique et la toundra alpine. Les espèces arbustives ont la capacité de restructurer les écosystèmes de toundra par altération des fonctions des écosystèmes. Ces actions peuvent avoir une rétroaction sur le réchauffement climatique et accroître encore l’augmentation des populations d’arbustes. Via mes collaborations avec des chercheurs travaillant sur différents sites autour de l'Arctique circumpolaire, mon travail vise à combiner et synthétiser les données déjà récoltées, afin de mieux comprendre l'augmentation des populations d’arbustes et leur dispersion dans les écosystèmes de toundra.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~myerssmi/home.html
http://shrubhub.biology.ualberta.ca/
http://environord-environorth.ca/

Josée Savage (Candidat à la maîtrise/M.Sc. student, Université de Sherbrooke) - Josee.Savage@usherbrooke.ca

Mon projet de recherche a pour objectif de déterminer les changements temporels de la végétation de sous-bois le long du gradient altitudinal du Mont Mégantic au Québec. Je souhaite mettre en évidence l'effet potentiel des changements climatiques des dernières 40 années en échantillonnant de nouveau des parcelles du parc. Je m'intéresse plus particulièrement à trois variables: 1) l'effet de l'augmentation régionale de température causée par le réchauffement climatique; 2) l'effet de l'introduction d'espèces indigènes par l'humain dans le parc et 3) l'effet de ces derniers sur les diversités alpha et bêta, ou "homogénéisation biotique".

The objective of my Master's research is to quanify plant community changes over the past 40 years along an elevational gradient on Mont Mégantic, Québec. By resurveying plots initially surveyed in the early 1970s, I will test for potential effects of climate change, such as increases in the mean elevation of species distributions. More broadly, I am interested in three issues: (1) the plant-community consequences of climate change; (2) the introduction of non-native species on Mont Mégantic; and (3) the effects of the latter two factors on alpha diversity and beta diversity ("biotic homogenization").

Hiroshi Tomimatsu
UBC Postdoctoral Fellow (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science) 2007-2009
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Tohoku University
htomi(a)bios.tohoku.ac.jp
http://www.geocities.jp/hrs_tomi/index_e.html

Tanis Gieselman
UBC M.Sc. 2008-2010: "Changes in grassland community composition at human-mediated edges in the south Okanagan"
tanis.gieselman(at)gmail.com