Demographic and environmental controls on landscape-scale resilience and restoration
I am currently working to understand how demographic processes and environmental conditions influence the recovery of ecosystems from disturbance and restoration outcomes. We are using this to inform how management strategies in sagebrush-steppe rangelands across the Great Basin can be adapted to maximize post-wildfire recovery in variable environments (Shriver et al. 2018). |
Demographic and population modeling methods
Modern inference approaches have opened up exciting opportunities to link process models with diverse datasets. A common focus of my research has been developing demographic and population modeling frameworks to link models with data and better understand the impact of environmental variability (Shriver 2016, 2017; Tomasek et al. In Review), disturbance and management across landscapes (Shriver et al. In Prep), the impacts of herbivory on diverse communities (Coverdale et al. 2016) and life history strategies (Shriver et al. 2012; Shriver 2017).
Modern inference approaches have opened up exciting opportunities to link process models with diverse datasets. A common focus of my research has been developing demographic and population modeling frameworks to link models with data and better understand the impact of environmental variability (Shriver 2016, 2017; Tomasek et al. In Review), disturbance and management across landscapes (Shriver et al. In Prep), the impacts of herbivory on diverse communities (Coverdale et al. 2016) and life history strategies (Shriver et al. 2012; Shriver 2017).
Impacts of environmental variability on population and community dynamics
One of the most ubiquitous predictions of global climate models is that environmental variability will increase in the future. My PhD research in the Chihuahuan desert grasslands (Jornada Basin) focused on understanding how changing rainfall patterns, brought on by climate change, will influence the physiology, demography, and coexistence annual grasses and forbs. Using field observations and modeling I showed that species responded differently to rainfall variability, creating tradeoffs between growth and survival (Shriver 2016). I then linked these life history tradeoffs to their underlying physiological mechanisms, and showed that the tradeoffs act to create niche differences and promote coexistence (Shriver 2017). |
Additional past and ongoing projects
Community ecology of East African savannah understories (Coverdale et. al 2016)
Life history patterns of unusual organisms (Shriver et al. 2012)
Paleoecology and fire history of the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin (Minckley et al. 2012; Shriver and Minckley 2012; Minckley and Shriver 2011)
Community ecology of East African savannah understories (Coverdale et. al 2016)
Life history patterns of unusual organisms (Shriver et al. 2012)
Paleoecology and fire history of the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin (Minckley et al. 2012; Shriver and Minckley 2012; Minckley and Shriver 2011)