home
College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Biology

<reif.php>

Ph.D. Student - Nicholas Reif

reifnew

Nicholas Reif, Ph.D. Student

Contact Information
Email: Nicholas Reif

Marsh Life Science Building, Rm 205
Phone: (802) 656-0703
Advisor: Dr. Alison Brody

Research

As a first year PhD student in Dr. Alison Brody's lab, I moved to Vermont after working in a suite of plant communities and ecosystems-from tree islands in the central Everglades to aspen groves in subalpine sagebrush steppe. It is from these experiences that I developed a profound appreciation for the intricate (and often cryptic) interactions between plants and animals that abound the natural world. As such, the scope of my dissertation research integrates aspects of behavioral and community ecology, to unravel the direct and indirect mechanisms regulating the structure and composition of species rich plant communities.

The current study system in which I pursue these interests is in the Sandhills region of North Carolina, which supports one of the most imperiled, yet diverse ecosystems in North America: longleaf pine savanna forests. Here, I take advantage of a natural experiment - over 30 years in the making, whereby isolated populations of a non-native, nitrogen-fixing shrub (Lespedeza bicolor) were intentionally introduced throughout the landscape. Specifically, my questions address 1) whether consumer behavior underscores patterns in plant species demographics following novel shifts in resource availability, e.g., modified habitat structure and nitrogen enrichment, and 2) the degree to which local changes in resource availability persist over larger spatial scales.

Contact UVM © 2013 The University of Vermont - Burlington, VT 05405 - (802) 656-3131