Biodiversity conservation science, from local to global...
The Davidson Lab conducts research on the ecology and conservation of biological diversity under global change. We work across scales, connecting local community processes and human–wildlife coexistence with landscape dynamics and macroecological patterns to advance both fundamental understanding and actionable conservation. Our approach integrates field studies, ecological modeling, and community-engaged research with partners and stakeholders.
A central theme of our work is understanding how ecosystem engineers and other highly influential species shape biodiversity, ecological processes, and resilience. Much of our empirical research is grounded in grassland systems and focuses on species that transform ecological structure and function, with cascading effects across communities and ecosystems. This work is rooted in community ecology and is explicitly interdisciplinary, integrating human dimensions, restoration ecology, population and disease ecology, ecosystem ecology, and climate-change ecology. Building on this foundation, the lab is expanding into riparian and wetland systems to examine parallel questions about ecosystem engineering, restoration, and coexistence in waterways and floodplains.
At broader scales, our macroecology research examines patterns and drivers of biodiversity to inform responses to major conservation challenges, including habitat loss, climate change, biodiversity decline, and extinction risk.
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Principle Investigator: Ana Desiree Davidson, Ph.D. Research Scientist III Colorado Natural Heritage Program & Joint Faculty Member Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 email: [email protected] phone: (970) 491-0814 |
