Arthropod Habitat Relationships
Just like other animals, invertebrate arthropods are wildlife too, and their populations form the foundation for vast food webs of consumers like songbirds and squirrels. Recent studies have documented global declines in the abundance and diversity of many invertebrate groups (and the animals that eat them) underscoring the immediate need for more research that drives data-driven conservation of invertebrates. In much of my work, I study how habitat heterogeneity drives variation in invertebrate communities at both local and landscape scales to help inform which management strategies may be most beneficial to sustain biodiversity.
For the American Residential Macrosystems project, I am analyzing bee and ground arthropod community data collected from residential and natural areas within six major metropolitan cities in the United States. Insects were collected from four different yard types that differ in the degree of managment and anthropogenic inputs like fertilizer and water, as well as intact and fragmented natural areas. Our objective is to determine how insect diversity if related to yard management regimes at a macroscale.
I am also helping to analyze moth community data to determine if there adult lepidoptera diversity is related to the identities of trees in forest fragments.
Publications:
In prep:
For the American Residential Macrosystems project, I am analyzing bee and ground arthropod community data collected from residential and natural areas within six major metropolitan cities in the United States. Insects were collected from four different yard types that differ in the degree of managment and anthropogenic inputs like fertilizer and water, as well as intact and fragmented natural areas. Our objective is to determine how insect diversity if related to yard management regimes at a macroscale.
I am also helping to analyze moth community data to determine if there adult lepidoptera diversity is related to the identities of trees in forest fragments.
Publications:
- Keilsohn W.*, Narango, D.L. and Tallamy D.W. (2018) Roadside habitat impacts insect traffic mortality. Journal of Insect Conservation, 22(2): 183-188. (PDF)
- Baisden, E.C., Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L. and Boyle E. Do cultivars of native plants support insect herbivores? HortTechnology, 28(5): 596-606. (PDF)
- Milam, J., Johnson, D.E., Andersen, J.C., Fassler, A., Narango, D.L., and Elkington J.S. Defining morphological characteristics to reliably distinguish among three commonly misidentified species of Bombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Insects, 11(10), 669 (PDF)
- Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D. L. and Mitchell A. Do non-native plants contribute to insect population declines? Invited submission for special issue: "Insect Declines". Ecological Entomology, In press. [PDF]
In prep:
- Piel, G. *, Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W. How does host plant quality and season affect caterpillar predation pressure? In prep.
- Tallamy, D.W., Shropshire, K., Narango, D.L. Host plant quality and habitat fragmentation influence declines in moth abundance diversity, and biomass in Mid-atlantic forests. In prep.
