My research is motivated by a desire to understand patterns in biodiversity across multiple ecological scales and the relationship between functional traits and habitat structure. I tackle these questions by integrating ecological theory with empirical data.
Theoretical framework showing the main topics of my research. The two main areas involve phenotypic variation across ecological gradients and the interrelationships among morphological traits, habitat partitioning and resource use.
Phenotypic Variation
I am interested in organismal level and intraspecific phenotypic variation caused by environmental factors. As sedentary organisms, mussels are always exposed to river abiotic conditions such as water velocity or substrate size. I am developing a three-dimensional morphological analysis, collaborating with the Anthropology department at the University of Alabama, to quantify mussel shell variation in a more comprehensive way.
Form-Function Relationship
Mussel interspecific differences in shell morphology are also vast. Such differences in structure raise the question if they are useful or functional in any way. I am trying to examine species habitat relationship by building a functional morphological classification for 80 mussel species and depicting their relationships with abiotic factors at different spatial scales.
Biotic Relationships
I have studied biotic interactions of co-occurring species by assessing the relationship between species richness and trophic niche using isotopic analysis. Mussel species niche decrease as more species are present in a community. Our study offers support for species specialization as a key mechanism acting on the trophic axis of the niche within a diverse functional-feeding group and illustrates how species richness influences trophic variation.
Reciprocal transplant experiment: understanding the impact of the environment on the microbiome and functional traits
We set up a mussel silo experiment to evaluate changes in microbiome and functional trait expression over 16 weeks in 4 rivers in the Mobile and Tennessee River Basin
Ecological Responses of Fish and Mussels
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During my master's degree, I assessed mussel and fish distribution along the Strawberry, AR, and different microhabitat preferences by the life history-triangle
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In Alabama, we have looked at differential responses to stressors over time from Mussels and Fish
Water Quality
During my master's I collected weekly water quality samples across 9 rivers in the Strawberry River Watershed to evaluate spatial differences in the basins and relationship between suspended solids and nutrient loads.
Future Research
I am eager to expand my research by incorporating experimental studies to better understand the importance of environmental stressors and abiotic factors to freshwater mussels’ physiology, resource assimilation and morphological diversity. As I complete my Ph.D. and explore future research positions, the opportunity to design experimental studies to test the adaptive significance of morphological traits and the hydrodynamic value of shell structures is one of my top priorities
