Stacy M. Philpott

Research Interests

My research interests fall in three areas: insect community ecology, understanding the role of biodiversity and habitat complexity in trophic interactions and ecosystem services, and investigating linkages between agroecology and conservation. My research activities include strong field components in both agricultural and natural systems, primarily in tropical regions. I will accept qualified students working in these thematic areas both in the tropics and temperate regions.

One of my major interests is examining food web interactions between ants, their competitors, predators, parasites, and prey across a range of coffee management systems. To understand basic biology of both dominant and twig-nesting arboreal ant communities, I study aspects of interspecific competition, foraging behavior, and spatial distribution patterns. I also am interested in nesting patterns of twig-nesting ants and with an experimental approach determined that nest-site limitation is one mechanism causing loss of ant diversity with coffee agriculture intensification. I have begun a now extensive project examining the effects of parasitic phorid flies on ant behavior and insect communities the coffee agroecosystem.

I also study how trophic interactions are affected by biodiversity and habitat complexity. I work to evaluate whether simplification of coffee management systems influences the effects of predators such as ants and birds on arthropod communities, herbivory, and coffee yields. By simulating pest outbreaks and by collecting ant prey items I studied if common ant genera have similar diets or complement one another in their effects on potential coffee pests. I also am interested in effects incorporating multiple predators. Namely, I study how the predatory effects of birds and ants interact to shape arthropod assemblages under a range of conditions. Finally, I also have carried out studies to examine correlations between pollinator diversity and coffee fruit set and fruit weights to elucidate additional ecosystem services provided by associated biodiversity.

Over 50% of land area is currently covered with agriculture and understanding the ecological processes within and conservation potential of different agricultural habitats is a key. Furthermore, although many conservation biologists choose to work primarily or only in natural systems, incorporating both the relevance of the agricultural matrix and the economic needs of stakeholders living at the edges of protected areas are critical to success of conservation efforts. For this reason, I am very interested in addressing the role of agricultural systems in conservation. In recent research, I have followed an interdisciplinary approach by investigating the potential of different coffee certification programs (organic, shade-grown, and fair-trade) and secure land tenure to conserve biodiversity while simultaneously providing economic sustainability to farmers.

In the future, I will continue to work in ecological communities and processes in natural and agricultural areas. I hope to most strongly focus on interactions across and within trophic levels and investigate the role of diversity in species interactions and ecological function. I will continue to focus on ants, other insects, and birds as ecological indicators, and as model organisms for studying ecological processes. I also strive to apply these broad ecological interactions towards conservation and agricultural sustainability.