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email:   amarasek@eeb.ucla.edu
phone:  206-1366
office:  Botany Building 320
lab:  
homepage:  http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/amarasekare

research interests:  Mechanisms of diversity maintenance in variable environments

Research Interests

My research focuses on mechanisms that maintain biological diversity in variable environments. I approach this issue from both an ecological and an evolutionary perspective, and explore it using a combination of observation, experimentation and mathematical modelling. Through investigations of host-parasitoid and other multi-trophic interactions in variable environments, my research encompasses both basic and applied issues in Ecology. My research on diversity maintenance follows two main directions. On one side of my research I investigate how the interplay between life history trade-offs and temporal variation influences diversity. On the other side of my research I investigate how the interplay between dispersal and spatial variation influences diversity. My home page (http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/amarasekare) gives a more detailed description of these two complementary areas of research. My approach to training students to a large degree parallels my approach to research. The real training for students, particularly at the graduate level, comes from identifying interesting questions and learning how to go about answering them. Once the solutions are at hand, it is time to step back and look at how one's results fit into the larger scheme of things. This duality of approach encourages both depth of analysis and breadth of perspective; it also encourages a degree of introspection about the quality and utility of one's science that would otherwise not be possible. I do not require students to study particular conceptual issues or particular taxa. What I look for is a passion for biology, and willingness for quantitative reasoning.

Selected Publications

Amarasekare, P.. 2006. Productivity, dispersal and the coexistence of intraguild predators and prey Journal of Theoretical Biology 243: 121-133 .

Amarasekare, P. 2004. Spatial Dynamics of mutualistic interactions Journal of Animal Ecology 73: 128-142 .

Amarasekare, P. 2004. The role of density-dependent dispersal in source-sink dynamics Journal of Theoretical Biology 226: 159-168 .

Amarasekare, P. 2004. Spatial variation and density-dependent dispersal in competitive coexistence Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 271: 1497-1506 .

Amarasekare, P., M. Hoopes, N. Mouquet, and M. Holyoak. 2004. Mechanisms of coexistence in competitive metacommunities American Naturalist 164: 310-326 .

Amarasekare, P. 2003. Diversity-stability relationships in multi-trophic systems: an empirical exploration Journal of Animal Ecology 72: 713-724 .

Amarasekare, P. 2003. Competitive coexistence in spatially structured environments: a synthesis Ecology Letters 6: 1109-1122 .

Amarasekare, P. 2002. Interference competition and species coexistence Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 269: 2541-2550 .

Amarasekare, P. and H. Possingham. 2001. Patch dynamics and metapopulation theory: the case of successional species Journal of Theoretical Biology 209: 333-344 .

Amarasekare, P. and R. Nisbet. 2001. Spatial heterogeneity, source-sink dynamics and the local coexistence of competing species American Naturalist 158: 572-584 .