Kailen A. MooneyAssistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology |
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Research Interests |
community ecology, evolutionary ecology, plant-insect interactions | |
| URL | Mooney Lab website | |
| Appointments | Postdoctoral Researcher, Cornell University, Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Anurag A. Agrawal Lab (www.herbivory.com), 2005-2007 | |
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Research Abstract |
I use manipulative field experiments and to study the interactions between plants, arthropods and insectivorous birds in both ecological and evolutionary contexts. Traits of plants (e.g. defensive chemistry, morphology) influence whole communities of arthropods from the ‘bottom-up’, while predators influence the same communities from the ‘top-down’. These two influences have traditionally been considered separately. Plant defense theory has been bi-trophic in nature, focusing on the pairwise plant-herbivore interaction without explicitly addressing the community context in which the interaction is embedded. At the same time, community ecology has addressed the top-down effects of predators without considering how plant traits affect food web structure. The goal of my research is to conceptually unite community and evolutionary ecology. To do this, I ask how heritable plant traits influence interaction networks among herbivores, herbivore mutualists, and predators, and in turn how such networks drive the microevolution of plant defense. Methodologically, I model the results of long-term and large-scale field experiments using a combination of quantitative genetic and multivariate statistical techniques. By incorporating complex dynamics into my experiments, I rigorously test theory while simultaneously collecting detailed natural history observations as the basis for refining and pushing forward those same theories. |
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| Publications |
In Press Van Bael, S.A., Philpott, S.M., Greenberg, R., Bichier, P. Barber, N.A., Mooney, K.A., Gruner, D.S. In Press. Birds as predators in tropical agroforestry systems. Ecology. Mooney, K.A., Agrawal, A.A. In Press. Coexisting congeners: demography, competition, and interactions with cardenolides for two milkweed-feeding aphids. Oikos. 2007 Mooney, K.A. 2007. Tritrophic effects of birds and ants on a canopy food web, tree growth and phytochemistry. Ecology 88: 2005-2014. Agrawal, A.A., Ackerly, D.D., Adler, F. Arnold, B., Caceres, C., Doak, D.F., Post, E., Hudson, P., Maron, J., Mooney, K.A., Power, M., Schemske, D., Stachowicz, J., Strauss, S., Turner, M.G., Werner, E. 2007. Filling key gaps in population and community ecology. Frotiers in Ecology and the Environment 5: 145-152 (with web appendices). Mooney, K.A., Agrawal, A.A. 2007. Phenotypic plasticity in plant-herbivore interactions. Book chapter in Evolutionary Biology of Plant and Insect Relationhsips, Kelly Tillmon Ed. Univ. California Press. 2006 Mooney, K.A., Linhart, Y.B., Geils, B. 2006. Linking parasitic plant-induced host morphology to tri-trophic interactions. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 99: 1133-1138. Mooney, K.A. 2006. The disruption of an ant-aphid mutualism increases the effects of insectivorous birds on pine herbivores. Ecology 87: 1805-1815. Mooney, K.A., Linhart, Y.B. 2006. Contrasting cascades: Insectivorous birds increase pine but not parasitic mistletoe growth. J. Animal Ecology 75: 350-357. Mooney, K.A., Haloin, J.R. 2006. Size and guarding of offspring affect Paraphidippus aurantius (Araneae, Salticidae) response to predation threat. J. Arachnology 34: 98-103. Mooney, K.A., Haloin, J.R. 2006. Nest site fidelity of Paraphidippus aurantius (Araneae, Salticidae) following disturbance. J. Arachnology 34: 241-243. 2005 Linhart, Y.B., Keefover-Ring, K., Mooney, K.A. et al. 2005. A Chemical Polymorphism in a Multi-trophic Setting: Thyme Monoterpene Composition and Food Web Structure. American Naturalist 166: 517-529. Mooney, K.A., Tillberg, C.V. 2005. Temporal and spatial variation to ant omnivory in pine canopies. Ecology 86: 1225-1235. 2003 Mooney, K.A. 2003. Promylea lunigerella glendella Dyar (Pyralidae) feeds on both conifers and parasitic dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium spp.): One example of food plant shifting between parasitic plants and their hosts. J. Lep. Soc. 57: 47-53. 2002 Mooney, K.A. 2002. Quantifying habitat use by birds in woody vegetation using track-plating. J. Field Ornithology 73:392-398. 2001 Linhart, Y.B. , Mooney, K.A., Snyder, M.A., Swoboda-Colberg, N. 2001. Phloem Chemistry: Effects of genotype and environment and implications for nutritional ecology. Int. J. Plant Sci. 162(5): 1009-1016. Mooney, K.A. 2001. The Life History of Dasypyga alternosquamella Raganot (Pyralidae) feeding on the southwestern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum) in Colorado. J. Lep. Soc. 55: 144-149. |
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Professional Societies |
Ecological Society of America Entomological Society of America Xerces Society |
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| Link to this profile | http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5484 | |
| Last updated | 11/28/2007 | |