Mark A. McPeek

Research Projects

We usually attempt to understand the structure of natural communities by studying the dynamics of multispecies interactions.  While the dynamics of multispecies interactions define the proximate mechanisms structuring species assemblages existing today, evolutionary and biogeographic processes operating in component taxa also substantially influence the assembly and organization of ecological communities.  I believe a complete understanding of the processes structuring communities requires the integration of mechanistic studies of species interactions to identify critical structural linkages and species dynamics, microevolutionary and macroevolutionary studies of component taxa to explore how community structure may have developed via taxon adaptation and diversification, and biogeographic studies of community structure to investigate how changes in major environmental parameters (e.g., climate, geology) can influence community development and organization.

The Macroevolutionary Ecology of Damselflies

Since my dissertation work at the Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, I have been exploring the ecological and evolutionary processes that have shaped the communities of organisms inhabiting freshwater ponds and lakes. I originally chose to work on this system because characteristic assemblages of organisms exist in different pond and lake types, and patterns of species associations are repeatable across space and through time. I have focused much of my work on the Coenagrionidae damselflies because this diverse group of closely related species displays a fascinating distribution pattern among these ponds and lakes. One set of species in the genus Enallagma is found as larvae only in ponds and lakes that also support fish as the top predator, while the remaining Enallagma species are found as larvae only in ponds and lakes that do not support fish populations but do support large dragonflies as the top predators. In contrast to Enallagma, larvae of Ischnura species thrive in both lake types. My research explores the mechanisms generating such distributional patterns from three different perspectives: (1) the food web structure that maintains these patterns today, (2) the microevolutionary processes that have shaped the abilities of species to engage in interactions with other members of the food webs and with their abiotic environment, (3) the macroevolutionary processes that generated these assemblages of species, and (4) the mechanisms by which males and females discriminate conspecifics from heterospecifics for mating. For more information on these projects, follow these links:

• Food Web Structure
• Adaptive Evolution
• Diversification and Macroevolution
• Evolution of Mate Recognition

Other Projects

• Demography In Variable Environments
• Evolution of Dispersal
• Darwinian Evolution in Disciplines Outside Biology

Other Issues

• A personal statement about Intelligent Design