Brian Beckage

Associate Professor of Plant Biology

Ph.D. 2000, Duke University

Email: Brian.Beckage@uvm.edu

Phone: 802-656-0197

Office: 125 Marsh Life Science Building

Research Area: Forest Ecology, Theoretical Ecology, Statistics

Courses Taught: Special Topics in Ecology (PBIO 295); Advanced Topics in Ecology (PBIO 296); Data Analysis for Biological & Environmental Scientists (PBIO 295)

Link to my Web Page

Summary of Research Program

I am an ecologist broadly interested in population and community dynamics including tree demography, maintenance of species richness, and the ecological effects of climate change. I emphasize the use of quantitative approaches to investigate the mechanisms structuring ecological systems, including statistical models, analytical models, and computer simulation models. There are four areas of research that I am currently most interested in:

(1) Disturbance and Savanna Dynamics. Disturbance frequency can exert a strong influence on patterns of diversity in forests and interactions between disturbances can have strong effects on community dynamics. I am currently studying the potential for fire and hurricane disturbance to mediate the transition between forests, savannas, and open grassland systems using both empirical field studies and models. We have developed a cellular automaton model of pine savanna dynamics and are expanding this model into a fully spatial, individual-based model that will also incorporate our data from field sites in southeastern pinelands.

(2) Climate Change and Ecological Communities.

• Forest responses to climate change. We have a variety of research projects studying the effects of climate change on forest demography, including the processes and constraints that operate at species' range limits, the influence of recent climate change on species distributions, and projecting future forest distributions under likely climate change scenarios. These projects are currently focused on species and forests across New England.
• Everglades landscape dynamics. We are using a landscape model of the Everglades ecosystem to project the potential responses of Everglades plant communities to climate change, including shifts in hydrology, and disturbances such as fire. This work is being done with collaborators Drs. Louis Gross and Scott Duke-Sylvester.

(3) Tree Diversity. Identifying the mechanisms that maintain species diversity in forest stands is a central question in plant ecology. My past research in the southern Appalachians has examined the importance of several hypothesized mechanisms to maintaining species diversity. I have found little evidence supporting the role of regeneration niches, differential predation, or spatial heterogeneity in recruitment processes in contributing to species diversity within forest stands. I am interested in both empirical and theoretical studies of the role of neutral processes in forests.

(4) Complexity, NKS, and Ecology. Ecological communities are complex, nonlinear systems that often display emergent properties. I am interested in the potential for simple models such as cellular automata to capture complex behaviors and properties using simple rules.

Selected Publications

• Beckage, B., B. D. Kloeppel, J. A. Yeakley, S. F. Taylor, and D. C. Coleman. Differential effects of understory and overstory gaps on tree regeneration. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society.In Press.
• Beckage, B., B. Osborne, C. Pucko, D. G. Gavin, T. Siccama, and T. Perkins. (2008). An upward shift of forest ecotone during 40 years of warming in the Green Mountains of Vermont, USA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(11): 4197-4202.
• Beckage, B., L. Joseph, P. Belisle, D. Wolfson, and B. Platt. (2007). Bayesian change-point analyses in ecology. New Phytologist 174: 456-467.
• Slocum, M. G., W. J. Platt, B. Beckage, R. Panko, and J. B. Lushine. (2007). Decoupling natural and anthropogenic fire regimes: a case study in Everglades National Park. Natural Areas Journal 27: 41-55.
• Loretta L., Battaglia, L. L., and B. Beckage. (March 2007). Large-Scale Disturbances and Ecological Communities in the Southeast US. White Paper, Department of Defense, Southeast Region Threatened, Endangered, and At-Risk Species (TER-S) Workshop
• Platt, W. J., J. M. Huffman, M. G. Slocum, and B. Beckage. (2006). Fire Regimes and Trees in Florida Dry Prairie Landscapes. Land of Fire and Water: The Florida Dry Prairie Ecosystem. R.F. Noss (Ed.) Proceedings of the Florida Dry Prairie Conference.
• Beckage, B., and L. J. Gross. (2006). Overyielding and species diversity: What should we expect? New Phytologist 172: 140-148.
• Beckage, B., L. J. Gross, and W. J. Platt. (2006). Modelling responses of pine savannas to climate change and large-scale disturbance. Applied Vegetation Science 9: 75-82.
• Beckage, B., M. Lavine, and J. S. Clark. (2005). Survival of tree seedlings across space and time: estimates from long-term count data. Journal of Ecology 93: 1177-1184.
• Beckage, B., W. J. Platt, and B. Panko. (2005). A climate-based approach to the restoration of fire dependent ecosystems. Restoration Ecology 13: 429-431.
• Beckage, B., and J. S. Clark. (2005). Does predation contribute to tree diversity? Oecologia 143: 458-469.
• Beckage, B., J. Comiskey, and S. Duke-Sylvester. (2005). Natural fire regimes in southern Florida. Natural Areas Journal 25: 6-8.
• Rock, J., B. Beckage and L. J. Gross. (2004). Population recovery following differential harvesting of Allium tricoccum Ait. in the southern Appalachians. Biological Conservation 116(2): 227-234.
• Beckage, B., W. J. Platt, M. G. Slocum, and B. Panko. (2003). Influence of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation on fire regimes in the Florida Everglades. Ecology 84(12): 3124-3130.
• Beckage, B., and W. J. Platt. (2003). Predicting severe wildfire years in the Florida Everglades. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(3): 235-239.
• Beckage, B. and J. S. Clark. (2003). Seedling survival and growth of three southern Appalachian forest tree species: the role of spatial heterogeneity. Ecology 84(7): 1849-1861.
• HilleRisLambers, J., J. S. Clark, and B. Beckage. (2002). Density dependent mortality and the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Nature 417: 732-735.
• Platt, W., B. Beckage, B. Doren, and H. Slater. (2002). Interactions of large-scale disturbances: prior fire regimes and hurricane-induced mortality of savanna pines. Ecology 83(6): 1566-1572.
• Clark, J. S., B. Beckage, J. HilleRisLambers, I. Ibanez, S. LaDeau, J. MacLachlan, J. Mohan, and M. Rocca. (2001). The role of dispersal in plant migration. In H. A. Mooney and J. Canadell (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, Vol. 3.
• Lavine, M., B. Beckage, and J. S. Clark. (2001). Modelling seedling mortality. Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics.
• Beckage, Brian, J. S. Clark, B. Clinton, and B. Haines. (2000). A long-term study of tree seedling recruitment in Southern Appalachian forests: the effects of canopy gaps and shrub understories. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30:1617-1631.
• Beckage, B. and I. J. Stout. (2000). The Effects of Repeated Burning on Species Richness in Florida Sandhills: A Test of the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis. Journal of Vegetation Science 11: 113-122.
• Clark, J. S., B. Beckage, P. Camill, B. Cleveland, J. HilleRisLambers, J. Lichter, J. MacLachlan, J. Mohan, and P. Wyckoff. (1999). Interpreting recruitment limitation in forests. American Journal of Botany 86: 1-16.