Ecological implications of seasonality
In most terrestrial environments on the planet, the year is defined by seasons that switch between harsh environmental conditions when food is scarce and mild conditions with an abundance of food. Within ecology, we have traditionally focused research on the later as that was when reproduction occurs. This has left us with an incomplete knowledge of the role that the other seasons may play in shaping ecosystems. During my PhD and PDF, I have focussed on expanding our understanding of how behaviour varies in response to seasonality, and what role winter plays in shaping food webs. This has included suggesting that control of food webs may not be static over time, and may instead switch between bottom-up to top-down between seasons.
Publications:
Studd EK, Bates AE, Bramburger AJ, Fernandes T, Hayden B, Henry HAL, Humphries MM, Martin R, McMeans BC, Moise ERD, O’Sullivan AM, Sharma S, Sinclair BJ, Sutton AO, Templer PH, Cooke SJ. 2021. Nine maxims for the ecology of cold climate winters. Bioscience, biab032.
Sutton AO, Studd EK, Fernandes T, Bates AE, Bramburger AJ, Cooke SJ, Hayden B, Henry HAL, Humphries MM, Martin R, McMeans BC, Moise ERD, O’Sullivan AM, Sharma S, Sinclair BJ, Templer PH. In press. Frozen out: unanswered questions about winter biology. Environmental Reviews.
Humphries MM, Studd EK, Menzies AK, Boutin S. 2017. To everything there is a season: summer-to-winter food webs and the functional traits of keystone species. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 57(5): 961-976. *cover article
Studd EK, Menzies AK, Siracusa ER, Dantzer B, Lane JE, McAdam AG, Boutin S, Humphries MM. 2020. Optimisation of energetic and reproductive gains explains behavioural responses to environmental variation across seasons and years. Ecology Letters, 23(5): 841-850. *cover article
* more publications upcoming
Studd EK, Bates AE, Bramburger AJ, Fernandes T, Hayden B, Henry HAL, Humphries MM, Martin R, McMeans BC, Moise ERD, O’Sullivan AM, Sharma S, Sinclair BJ, Sutton AO, Templer PH, Cooke SJ. 2021. Nine maxims for the ecology of cold climate winters. Bioscience, biab032.
Sutton AO, Studd EK, Fernandes T, Bates AE, Bramburger AJ, Cooke SJ, Hayden B, Henry HAL, Humphries MM, Martin R, McMeans BC, Moise ERD, O’Sullivan AM, Sharma S, Sinclair BJ, Templer PH. In press. Frozen out: unanswered questions about winter biology. Environmental Reviews.
Humphries MM, Studd EK, Menzies AK, Boutin S. 2017. To everything there is a season: summer-to-winter food webs and the functional traits of keystone species. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 57(5): 961-976. *cover article
Studd EK, Menzies AK, Siracusa ER, Dantzer B, Lane JE, McAdam AG, Boutin S, Humphries MM. 2020. Optimisation of energetic and reproductive gains explains behavioural responses to environmental variation across seasons and years. Ecology Letters, 23(5): 841-850. *cover article
* more publications upcoming