James Dalling

 

Associate Professor

Program in Evolution Ecology & Conservation

149 Morrill MC-116
(217) 244-8914

Education

Ph.D., 1992, Cambridge University

Research Overview

My research concerns the population and community ecology of tropical trees, with a particular interest in understanding processes that determine the abundance and distribution patterns of pioneer species. Some of my current projects look at:

  1. seed dispersal, seed germination and the importance of recruitment limitation in maintaining tree diversity
  2. importance of fungal pathogens as sources of seed mortality
  3. the role of herbivores in shaping the local distribution of pioneers in relation to light
  4. habitat partitioning in relation to soil resources in lowland and montane forests.

 

Much of my research is conducted at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), and the Fortuna Forest Reserve in Panama, and at a range of large-scale forest dynamics plots in the Asian and American tropics that form part of the Center for Tropical Forest Science.

Recent Publications

Gallery, R., Dalling, J.W., and Arnold, A.E. (2007) Diversity, host affinity and distribution of seed-infecting fungi: A case-study with neotropical Cecropia. Ecology, 88:582-588.

 

John, R.C., Dalling, J.W., Harms, K.E., Yavitt, J.B., Stallard, R.F., Mirabello, M., Hubbell, S.P., Valencia, R., Navarrete, H., Vallejo, M., and Foster, R.B. (2007) Soil nutrients influence spatial distributions of tropical tree species. Proceedings National Academy of Science 104:864-869

 

Dalling, J.W., and John R. C. (2007) Recruitment limitation and Coexistence of Pioneer species. In press, in Tropical Forest Community Ecology (Eds: Carson WP and Schnitzer SA), Blackwell Science

 

Dalling, J.W., and Burslem, D.F.R.P. (2005) Role of life-history and performance trade-offs in the equalization and differentiation of tropical tree species. Pp 65-88 In: Burslem DFRP, Pinard MA and Hartley SE (eds.) Biotic Interactions in the Tropics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.