Daniel Gruner
University of Maryland, MD·Ecology & Evolution
Biodiversity is declining worldwide faster than scientists can measure it. This project asks whether satellites, aircraft and drones, combined with DNA-based surveys of insects and spiders, can track how biodiversity changes and falls apart under human pressure.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Earth & Environmental Science
Biology
- Topics
biodiversity
arthropods
insects
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2027
What they work on
- Measure the spread and extent of non-native plant invasions in Hawaiian forests using satellite, helicopter, drone and ground-based imaging and lidar, across islands ranging from 0 to 5 million years old.
- Sample whole arthropod communities by DNA metabarcoding along island-age and invasion gradients, to test models of how filtering, competition and chance shape community assembly and predict its breakdown.
- Link remote sensing indicators such as leaf water, nitrogen content and plant stress to arthropod community dynamics using structural equation models and joint species distribution models across scales.
More about the research
The Hawaiian Islands offer a natural laboratory. The islands range in age from new lava flows to about 5 million years old, and their forests range from native to heavily invaded by non-native plants.
Why it matters
Land managers in Hawaii and other island regions need faster ways to detect where invasive plants are eroding native biodiversity. Testing whether remote sensing can predict insect and spider community health could provide actionable monitoring tools. These tools would be shared through the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network, with findings communicated to the public through online story maps.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Elizabeth LaRue
University of Texas at El Paso, TX·Ecology & Evolution
Test whether higher tree species richness increases belowground biodiversity and thereby promotes complementary use of water and nutrients, using North America's longest-running large-scale forest biodiversity experiment.
Matthew Troia
University of Texas at San Antonio, TX·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Measure acute cold and heat tolerance, acclimation potential, and energy budgets in three tropical and three related temperate freshwater fishes. Use these lab experiments to test whether tropical and temperate species differ in thermal physiology.
Lenore Pipes
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Computer Science·Early-career
Replace arbitrary species-assignment cut-offs in the tronko phylogenetic placement software with local thresholds based on Bayesian estimates of effective population size across the tree.
The school
University of Maryland: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 602 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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