Dr. Joshua J. Tewksbury

My current research interests fall into the following programs:

• The first examines the evolution and ecology of plant-animal interactions, with particular emphasis in fruit-frugivore interactions, and the consequences of these interactions for fruit-trait evolution. Much of this research has focused on the adaptive significance of secondary metabolites in ripe fruit, and the ecological and evolutionary interplay between fruit and seed traits and microbial, invertebrate, and vertebrate consumers of the fruits. For the past 5 years, I have been using wild chiltepine peppers (Capsicum spp.) as model systems for this work in Bolivia, Arizona and Mexico. More info



• A second research program focuses on effects of habitat fragmentation and patch isolation on the behaviors of animals, and the resulting effects on processes determining plant and animal population dynamics. This work has included projects in avian ecology, linking landscape structure, nest predation, brood parasitism, and the behavioral trade-offs faced by breeding birds, as well as large scale experiments testing landscape structure and patch connectivity effects on the mutualisms enabling genetic exchange among plant populations-pollination and seed dispersal.



• My lab has recently been working on efforts to bring these first two interests together through an effort to understand the importance of landscape pattern on ecological processes such as seed dispersal and pollination. This work has led to the development of new tools to track rare dispersal events using stable isotopes, and the exploration of the importance of landscape context and interspecific plant neighborhoods on the dispersal and recruitment of seeds.



• In addition to these programs, my lab group now has an active program testing theories relating to the origin and maintenance of latitudinal gradients in species diversity, starting with a synthetic examination of potential causes, and working toward field-based tests of mechanisms.



• Related to this last program, we have also begun to work on the impacts of climate change. By measuring and collecting basic aspects of physiological performance as a function of temperature across a wide range of ectotherms, we are now able to show how increases in temperature may translate into impacts on organismal performance, and how these impacts vary throughout the globe.

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Contact information

tewksjj@u.washington.edu(email)