Studying the processes shaping tropical plant communities
at local, regional, and global scales
at local, regional, and global scales
photos by Christian Ziegler
Latest news from the lab
March 2022 - Congrats to Megan Sullivan on the publication of her first dissertation chapter entitled A decade of diversity and forest structure: Post-logging patterns across life stages in an Afrotropical forest.
December 2021 - Things are getting a little less woody in the lab.... New review paper out led by postdoc Michelle Spicer on Herbaceous plant diversity in forest ecosystems: patterns, mechanisms, and threats and our NSF workshop grant on Diversity and dynamics of herbaceous plant communities in forest ecosystems just got funded!
September 2021 - Welcome to our newest PhD student, Alma Trujillo Miranda. Alma has her Masters degree from Instituto de Ecología A. C. in México, where she conducted research on the effectiveness of active versus passive restoration strategies in tropical montane cloud forest.
July 2021 - New paper out in Global Change Biology by postdoc Luke Browne looks at the impact of the extreme 2015-16 El Niño-related drought on tree seedling mortality at multiple sites along a rainfall gradient in Panama. Check it out here.
May 2021 - Liza named co-director of the new Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture.
March 2021 - We are excited to welcome two new postdocs to the lab: Dr. Michelle Spicer and Dr. Jason Vleminckx. Click on their names to learn more about their exciting research projects!
February 2021 - We weren't sure it was going to be possible this year, but thanks to our amazing field team in Panama, we were able do the annual seedling census at our eight long-term sites in central Panama*. Thanks to Lourdes, Roni, Luis, Guillermo, Bianco, and Moises - you are seedling superstars!
*Under strict covid-19 safety protocols to keep everyone healthy!
September 2020 - New review paper out: Natural Enemies and the Maintenance of Tropical Tree Diversity: Recent Insights and Implications for the Future of Biodiversity in a Changing World
June 2020 - New paper on Shifts in taxonomic and functional composition of trees along rainfall and phosphorus gradients in central Panama, led by former Comita lab postdoc Dr. María Natalia Umaña, is now online early in Journal of Ecology.
May 2020 - Comita lab postdoc, Dr. Sergio Estrada Villegas, gave a fantastic talk on biodiversity and plant-animal interactions for the new virtual public outreach program 'Ask a Yale Environmental Expert'.
May 2020 - Congratulations to graduating PhD students, Dr. Juan Carlos Penagos Zuluaga and Dr. Andrew Muehleisen! Good luck in your new postdoc positions. We will miss you!
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April 2020 - We may all be stuck at home, but that won't stop us from talking about plant-soil feedback in tropical forests. Akshay wins the prize for best virtual background during Zoom lab meetings!
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March 2020 - Check out our new paper in Journal of Ecology on long-term changes in the relative abundance of lianas in the seedling layer of the Barro Colorado Island forest in Panama.
January 2020 - Back in Panama to recensus seedlings at sites spanning a rainfall gradient from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast as part of a new NSF CAREER grant. Special thanks to Lourdes, Roni, Luis, Guillermo, Mitzila, Thomas, Luke, and Akshay for the long (but fun) days in the field!
December 2019 - New paper published in the December issue of Ecological Applications on edge effects on α‐diversity and β‐diversity in fragmented tropical forest, led by Dr. Meghna Krishnadas.
Contact
Yale School of the Environment
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
USA
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
USA