Research
A central challenge in ecology and evolution is to understand the mechanisms that enable resilience to various anthropogenic disturbances across levels of biological organization – from development and physiology to behavior, inter-trophic interactions, and ecosystem functioning.
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How do the interactive effects of climate change, urbanization, and agriculture affect the eco-evolutionary dynamics of multi-trophic interactions and ecosystem functioning?
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To address this question, we use plant, insect, and partially migratory bird communities as our model system, which allows us to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the strength and relative importance of top-down and bottom-up interactions, and how these vary with temporal and spatial scales.
Effect of Climate Change on Multi-trophic Interactions
Anthropogenic disturbances, including changes in land use and land cover, as well as long-term weather patterns, are having a profound effect on biodiversity, altering distribution, abundance, and population dynamics. The biggest consequence is the decline in insects, such as moths, and it is a cause for alarm, labeled by some as the “Ecological Armageddon”.
Thus, understanding the effects of anthropogenic disturbances, such as the urban heat island (UHI) effect or the use of herbicides and pesticides on moths, has become a matter of urgency. Thus, Plant-insect-bird interactions in particular are an excellent model for studying the effects of these disturbances
1) Effect on multi-trophic interactions
2) Effect on the flow of energy
3) Effect on the vegetation composition and structure, and insect composition.
Our Collaborators: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Windsor, Michigan State University, USGS, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Prairie Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, and Dartmouth College
Climate change, along with changes in land use and land cover, is affecting the phenology of insect emergence and availability, which in turn has eco-evolutionary effects on the migratory behavior of partial migrants.
Partial migrants such as Brown Thrashers and Eastern Towhees are rapidly declining, and species of greatest conservation need
The goals of this project are two test following theoretical models:
1) Plasticity in Bird Diet along migratory route.
2) Shift in migratory behavior along latitudinal gradient
3) Effect of habitat quality, vegetation composition and structure on intra and inter-specific competition
Our Collaborators: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USGS, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Dartmouth College, Peoria Audubon Society, Wetlands Initiative
Migratory Behavior of Partial-migrants
Develop Tools for automating the detection and identification of insects
Several insects, especially cryptic nocturnal insects such as Moths and katydids, are often understudied.
We at Deshwal Lab of Conservation are working at:
1) Developing Machine Learning Tool to detect and identify Katydids.
2) Develop machine learning tools to detect and identify moths
We are collaborating with the University of Illinois, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Dartmouth College, University of Windsor
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
For effective, efficient and sustainable conservation to happen it's imperative for the local/indigenous communities to be involved.
We at Deshwal Lab of Conservation are working at:
1) Documenting the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of farming, hunting, fishing community
2) Documenting the TEK of Native Americans
We are collaborating with the University of Oxford, BirdLife International, Maynooth University, and the Ethno-ornithology World Atlas in documenting TEK
Through this effort we hope to bring TEK in mainstream conservation efforts.
Give Voice to the local/Indigenous community, minorities.