CURRENT PROJECTS:

Restoration efforts often target plant community recovery, but restoration success relies on the recovery of species interactions to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem processes. We tested how seeding practices (seeding richness and admixture seed sourcing) in prairie restoration affected multi-trophic interactions between plants, pollinators, and crab spiders (predators of pollinators). We found that seeding treatments affected floral abundance, which increased arthropod abundance and prey capture. Seeding treatments also influenced which flower species arthropods interacted with. Prioritizing restoration techniques that promote floral resources for arthropods is significant for the restoration of multi-trophic interactions, which may be important for the long-term success of prairie restoration. 

Collaborators : Lindsey Kemmerling (UMN), Sean Griffin (UT Austin), Jess Webb (UC Riverside), Ally Brown (UGA), Nick Haddad (MSU)

Read more here:

Hulting, KA, LR Kemmerling, SR Griffin, J Webb, AK Brown, and NM Haddad (2024) Seed-based restoration practices and floral resources increase multi-trophic interactions. Journal of Applied Ecology 61: 859-868. LINK