Gregory S. Gilbert Research Group
Environmental Studies Department, University of California Santa Cruz
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Daniella Schweizer Ph.D. Student, Environmental Studies
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Tropical Restoration Ecology |
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Species interactions are important drivers in community assembly and may affect shifts in community composition and structure through time. Therefore, an understanding of this aspect of community assembly can allow us to better select which plant species may be most effective to facilitate the recovery of ecosystems. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis provides a framework for analyzing species interactions by predicting that host-specific pathogens lead to higher disease-induced seedling mortality in offspring that are located nearer to conspecific mature trees. A more current set of literature has looked at phylogenetic ecology and assessed that in addition to within-species disease transmission, closely related plant species are more likely to share pathogens than are more distantly related species, so that plants may be similarly affected by microbially mediated species interactions with neighboring congenerics or confamilials. This effect of deleterious symbionts on plant species may also affect which plant species are able to successfully recruit naturally under a overstory of trees. Such effects of symbionts complement an existing solid understanding of the abiotic factors that influence seedling performance. Therefore, in this research I propose to test whether there is a phylogenetic pattern in the way that established tree species facilitate or inhibit the subsequent establishment of secondary species depending on their evolutionary relationships. In addition, I assess whether that phylogenetic pattern is maintained across variation in abiotic conditions like light and soil nutrients. This research is being conducted within a pre-existing large-scale reforestation initiative that aims to test the viability of planting a variety of native tree species across a range of climatic and edaphic conditions within Panama (Prorena project). more research interests... |
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Snail-mail: Daniella Schweizer, Environmental Studies, 1156 High St., University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae
Daniella Schweizer
Research interests
Restoration ecology, Species interactions, Phylogenetic ecology, Community sustainable development
Education
University of California Santa Cruz (Ph.D. Student 2006-present)
Maryland Univiersity (M.A., Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, 2005)
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela (B.S. in Biology, 2001)
Honors
Stipendium aus Baselandschaft, Switzerland., 1993-1999; 2003-2005.
Deutsche Stiftung für Entwicklung (DSE), 2000
Fulbright Faculty Development Scholarship, 2003-2005
Regents Fellowship 2006
STEPS Institute Graduate Research Grant, 2006
Smithsonian Short term grant, summer 2008
Select Recent Publications
Schweizer, D., R. Armstrong and J. Posada. 2005. Remote sensing characterization of benthic habitats and submerged vegetation
biomass in Los Roques Archipelago National Park, Venezuela. International Journal of Remote Sensing: 1-12.
Yallonardo, M., J. Posada and D. Schweizer. 2002. Current status of the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, fishery in Los Roques
Archipelago National Park. Marine and Freshwater Resources (52): 1615-22
Yallonardo, M, D. Schweizer y J. Posada. Evaluación del estado poblacional y la pesquería de las langostas espinosas,
P. argus, P. guttatus y P.laevicauda, en el Parque Nacional Morrocoy. Informe final convenio Intecmar-Inparques-Banco Mundial.
Schweizer, D and J. Posada. 2006 Distribution, density and abundance of the Queen Conch, Strombus gigas, in Los Roques
Archipelago National Park, Venezuela. Bulletin Of Marine Science 79 (2): 243-257.
Schweizer, D, M. Yallonardo y J. Posada. Estructura de la pesca artesanal en el Parque Nacional Morrocoy, Venezuela.
Holl, K., Bonilla, M., Carle, R., Carvill, S., Concilio, A., Gabbe, A., Hulvey, K., Kolden, E., Krawack, M.L., Schweizer,
D. and Vasey M. 2007. Foundations of Restoration Ecology – Edited by Donald A. Falk, Margaret A. Palmer, and Joy B. Zedler.
Restoration Ecology 15 (3) , 592–593
Gilbert, G.S, E. Howard, B. Ayala-Orozco, M. Bonilla-Moheno, J. Cummings, S. Langridge, I.M. Parker, J. Pasari, D. Schweizer, and S. Swope.
In
press. Beyond the tropics: forest structure in a temperate forest mapped plot. Journal of Vegetation Science.
Select professional experience
2001-2002. Research assistant at the Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela. Field researcher in marine ecology and fisheries.
2002-2003. Adjunct faculty at the Universidad del Tachira, Venezuela. Professor in the Botanical Garden for the extension program of Environmental Sciences for Military students.
2004-2006. Staff in the Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland.
2005-2006. Biodiversity Fellow in the United Nations Foundation, Wahsington, D.C.
Select teaching experience
Sep-Dec 2007. Teaching assistant in the GIS course, UCSC.
Aug. 2005. Teacher, Summer Enrichment Program, Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland.
June 2002-Aug 2003, Professor, Environmental Stewardship Program, Universidad del Táchira, San Cristóbal, Venezuela.
| Expanded Research Interests. Species interactions are important drivers in community assembly and may affect shifts in community composition and structure through time. Therefore, an understanding of this aspect of community assembly can allow us to better select which plant species may be most effective to facilitate the recovery of ecosystems. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis provides a framework for analyzing species interactions by predicting that host-specific pathogens lead to higher disease-induced seedling mortality in offspring that are located nearer to conspecific mature trees. A more current set of literature has looked at phylogenetic ecology and assessed that in addition to within-species disease transmission, closely related plant species are more likely to share pathogens than are more distantly related species, so that plants may be similarly affected by microbially mediated species interactions with neighboring congenerics or confamilials. This effect of deleterious symbionts on plant species may also affect which plant species are able to successfully recruit naturally under a overstory of trees. Such effects of symbionts complement an existing solid understanding of the abiotic factors that influence seedling performance. Therefore, in this research I propose to test whether there is a phylogenetic pattern in the way that established tree species facilitate or inhibit the subsequent establishment of secondary species depending on their evolutionary relationships. In addition, I assess whether that phylogenetic pattern is maintained across variation in abiotic conditions like light and soil nutrients. This research is being conducted within a pre-existing large-scale reforestation initiative that aims to test the viability of planting a variety of native tree species across a range of climatic and edaphic conditions within Panama (Prorena project). |
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| The goals of my research will be achieved, first, through a planting experiment that will assess the growth and survival of tree seedlings and evaluate whether there is a phylogenetic signal in the pathogens that are shared between a subset of the seedlings planted and the overstory trees. I expect that seedlings will grow and survive less under closely related trees, and that the more related species are the greater the likelihood that they will share pathogens. Second, the phylogenetic signal in natural community recruitment will be evaluated by assessing the density of herbs, shrubs and tree seedlings that have colonized the understory naturally. Here I expect overdispersion in the species phylogeny that is the result of biotic interactions, such as the presence of deleterious symbionts. Results from this research can inform managers and researchers working in tropical regions about how to plan a multi-species restoration plantation based on the phylogenetic relationships among the tree species. |  |