Terrestrial Restoration Ecology Lab

There are a wide range of quantitative techniques available for use in ecology.  Learning about those techniques is one challenge; as is learning how to choose amongst them.  However, an even more powerful skill is to be able to design quantitative tools that are applicable to specific situations.  These tools might take many forms based on the design of the data collection process, multivariate nature of data, spatial and temporal covariates, etc.

Several examples are summarized below.  Future directions include increasing the application of permutation-based techniques and building models of species distributions under varying climates and disturbance regimes.

 

Select Relevant Publications:

Mitchell, RM, and JD Bakker. 2014. Quantifying and comparing intraspecific functional trait variability: a case study with Hypochaeris radicata. Functional Ecology 28:258-269. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12167

Bakker, JD. 2008. Increasing the utility of Indicator Species Analysis. Journal of Applied Ecology 45:1829-1835.

Petrova, M, JD Bakker, and EC Turnblom. 2014. Ten-year periodic diameter model for uneven-aged ponderosa pine stands in the Southwest reduces long-term error propagation. Forest Science 60:1148-1155. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-537

Research team: Claire Wainwright (SEFS), Matt Davies (Ohio State University)

In conjunction with other research projects, we are examining the ways that multivariate permutational statistical models can enhance our understanding of ecological communities.  Much of this work occurs in R, an open-source statistical and graphing platform.

Research team: Claire Wainwright (SEFS), NutNet

In conjunction with other research projects, we are developing methods to distinguish spatial, temporal, and treatment-related effects on compositional change, including assessments of the linearity and directionality of treatment-related effects.

Utility of multivariate permutational statistical models

Understanding compositional change

Quantitative Techniques