Mission
Mitigating the impacts of global change on ecosystems requires a mechanistic understanding of the processes occurring in natural populations and communities that underly patterns of biodiversity. Many of these interactions are disrupted by global change, and we examine the consequences of these disruptions for plant communities and ecosystem functions. Within this context, our focus is seed dispersal and seedscape ecology. We integrate interdisciplinary empirical and quantitative approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying variation in plant movement, growth, and survival, specifically during the seed and seedling stage, and consequences for plant performance, populations, diversity, and ecosystem functions. Our aim is to conduct transdisciplinary and actionable research that contributes to solutions of socio-environmental problems, disseminate results to a broad audience, and promote an inclusive community that welcomes and respects diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Join the team! Find out more about current opportunities.
News
- December 3 New paper out led by Dr. Borah on "Interaction rewiring can buffer the reduction of long-distance dispersal of seeds when large birds go extinct: An allometric perspective" in Oikos!
- November 12 Published today: two volumes to celebrate 100 years of research on Barro Colorado Island. These volumes contain a wealth of information on the history and cutting edge research currently being conducted on the one of the most well-studied tropical systems in the world. Our team contributed two chapters focused on seed dispersal by animals and another on fruit chemistry. Studies from BCI have generated a wealth of knowledge on a diversity of biological questions in ecology, evolution, and behavior and inspired many more. Check it out here!.
- October 30 Seedscapists are heading to the NDiSTEM conference organized by SACNAS! Hope to see folks there!
- October 8 Dr. Beckman presents "Advancing Knowledge Gaps in Seed Dispersal Ecology Using Interdisciplinary Approaches" at the Dynamical Models Inspired by Biology Workshop at the Banff Interational Research Station.
- August 1 This week, check out research done by fellow seedscapists Elsa Jos and Jerry Schneider at the Ecological Society of America Meeting and Noelle Beckman at the Frugivory and Seed Dispersal meeting
- May 1 Just out! Dr. Borah led this fantastic paper on "Impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on seed dispersal by an Afrotropical bird community in an anthropogenic landscape: Insights from movement models" published in Biological Conservation
- April Dr. Sarah Bogen defended her dissertation on "Mathematical and statistical methods to harness limited data in models for ecological space use under global change" and is embarking on some exciting adventures in the very near future as a data scientist!
- February New paper out in Ecography on The differential contribution of coyotes and passerines on future biotic carbon storage through juniper seed dispersal led by Dr. Draper.
- January 23 Fruit chemistry research covered by Access Utah: Science reporting in Panama on Tuesday's Access Utah By Tom Williams
- December 30 Fruit chemistry research covered by UPR: Episode two: USU biologists uncover the mysteries of seed dispersal in the tropical forest of Barro Colorado Island By Colleen Meidt and Sheri Quinn
- November 16 Fruit chemistry research covered by UPR: A remote Panama island is home to incredible biodiversity and innovative research By Colleen Meidt and Sheri Quinn
- November New paper out in Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics on The causes and consequences of seed dispersal with Dr. Sullivan.
- May New paper out in American Journal of Botany on Compartmentalization of specialized metabolites across vegetative and reproductive tissues in two sympatric Psychotria species with Dr. Scheider, Carlson, and Jos.
- February 2 Dr. Beckman is the College of Science Graduate Mentor of the Year!
- December 16 Congrats to Dr. Binod Borah who succesfully defended his PhD in Ecology!
- October New paper out in Ecology on Short-term plant–soil feedback experiment fails to predict outcome of competition observed in long-term field experiment with Drs. Dybzinski and Tilman.
- July 22 Congrats to Sarah Bogen who succesfully defended her MS in Statistics!
- June 17 Congrats to Rosemary Hopson who succesfully defended her MS in Ecology!
- April 12 Dr. Beckman virtually presents "Mechanisms underlying seed dispersal and consequences for the seedscape" at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- March 28 Dr. Draper's publication is out! Frugivory and Seed Dispersal by Carnivorans
- February 17 Moveable Feast: USU Ecologists Explore Changing Chemistry of Plant-Animal Seed Dispersal in Utah State Today
- January 18 Dr. Beckman interviewed on National Public Radio
- January 14 Dr. Beckman interviewed on Morning Edition on National Public Radio
- September The newest from this wonderful interdisciplinary team led by Dr. Freeman Landscape Engineering Impacts the Long-Term Stability of Agricultural Populations
- August John Draper investigates the mesopredator frugivory in, Mesopredator frugivory has no effect on seed viability and emergence under experimental conditions
- July Binod Borah led this fantastic paper, Studying seed dispersal through the lens of movement ecology
- June Excited to share our first publication from this excellent team: Fruits, frugivores, and the evolution of phytochemical diversity!
- March Congratulations to Rosemary Hopson who was awarded a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to study manakin-mediated seed dispersal in fragmented landscapes!
- February Drs. Beckman and Tiansawat explore a trait-based approach in selecting tree species for aerial seeding in Automated Forest Restoration: Could Robots Revive Rain Forests?
- October New paper out in The American Naturalist on Resistance Genes Affect How Pathogens Maintain Plant Abundance and Diversity led by Dr. Simon Stump
- August 11-13 Register for the Mathematical Biosciences Institute Workshop "Life on Planet Earth: Above and Below" organized by Drs. Noelle Beckman, Adrian Lam, and Jim Fowler
- August 3-6 Seedscape ecologists Eric Sodja, Jerry Schneider, Noelle Beckman, and Sarah Bogen present their research at the ESA Virtual Annual Meeting!
- August 3 3:30-4:00 PM EST Join Sarah Bogen, Noelle Beckman, Joy Zhou, Trevor Drees, and Elizabeth Crone for a virtual Q&A session for our Symposium: Biodiversity Loss in the Face of Global Change: Models and Data
- July 20 Dr. Beckman, Dybzinski, and Whitehead received a collaborative award from the National Science Foundation's Division of Integrative Orgnanismal Sytems to study the evolution of the chemical diversity of fruits in Panama!
- July 3 New paper out in PLOS ONE on Investigating the direct and indirect effects of forest fragmentation on plant functional diversity led by Dr. Jenny Zambrano
- June 6 New paper out in Journal of Archeaological Science on The global ecology of human population density and interpreting changes in paleo-population density led by Dr. Jacob Freeman
- June 5 New paper out in AoB Plants on Individual variation in dispersal and fecundity increases rates of spatial spread led by Dr. Sebastian Scrheiber
- April 5 New paper out in Journal of Vegetation Science on the The scale dependency of trait‐based tree neighborhood models led by Dr. Jenny Zambrano
- March 23-26 Dr. Beckman and Bogen are meeting back up with the math-bio team at NIMBioS! We will be developing approaches for "Biodiversity loss in the face of global change: Models & data"
- March 13 Introduction to the Special Issue: The role of seed dispersal in plant populations: perspectives and advances in a changing world led by Dr. Noelle Beckman just published in AoB Plants
- March 2-6 Dr. Beckman is presenting insights from the recent Special Issue at the Frugivory and Seed Dispersal Symposium.
- Feb 5 Dr. Beckman presents “Seed dispersal ecology under global change” in UBC's Biodiversity Research Seminar Series
- December 14 New paper out in AoB Plants on Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal are diverse and pervasive led by Dr. Eugene Schupp
- November 4 Eric Sodja successfully defends his MS thesis! He is currently a PhD student at the University of Utah.
- Oct 23 Dr. Beckman presents “Advancing an Interdisciplinary Framework for Seed Dispersal Ecology” in USU's Biology Seminar Series
- October 7 New paper out in Ecology describing the seed-to-seedling transition with Dr. Marchand!
- September 27 Dr. Beckman presents new research at the 1st Annual Meeting for the Northern States Section of SIAM
- September 25 The Seedscape Group presents their research at the MacArthur Academy at USU!
- September 13 New paper out in Oecologia on the The effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on plant functional traits and functional diversity: what do we know so far? led by Dr. Jenny Zambrano
- September 3 New paper out in AoB Plants on The total dispersal kernel: a review and future directions led by Dr. Haldre Rogers
- August 19 New paper out in AoB Plants on Advancing an interdisciplinary framework to study seed dispersal ecology led by Dr. Noelle Beckman
- August 15 Dr. Simon Stump presents new research on Susceptibility to specialist natural enemies may be both the cause and consequence of rarity at the Annual Ecological Society of America Meeting in Louisville
- August 1 Dr. Schneider joins the Seedscape Group!
- July 15-19 Beckman and Bogen head to BIRS for the Focussed Research Group on developing "Novel mathematical and statistical approaches to predicting species' movement under climate change"
- June 24 - July 2 Beckman participates in the workshop "Cocha Cashu Vision 2050: charting a 21st century agenda for a premier tropical research station"
- AprilCole Carlson presents in the Spring Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium
- April 11 Justin Tirrell presents his research ideas in the Student Research Symposium
- April 6 Eric Sodja presents his thesis work at the SIAM student conference at USU
- March 21 New paper out in AoB Plants on Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change led by Drs. Rebecca Snell and Noelle Beckman
- February 7 New paper out in AoB Plants on Employing plant functional groups to advance seed dispersal ecology and conservation led by Dr. Clare Aslan
- Janurary 29 Eric Sodja presents "Effects of Siol-Borne Pathogens on Seedling Establishment Patterns in Diverse Tropical Forest Systems" in the Biology Seminar Series at USU
- Dec 19 Our proposal for a Focussed Research Group on developing "Novel mathematical and statistical approaches to predicting species' movement under climate change" has been accepted! Dr. Beckman and doctoral student Sarah Bogen will be heading to Banff International Research Station in July!
- Dec 6 Justin Tirrell presents a poster on seedscape research at the Fall Student Research Symposium
- Nov 29 Dr. Beckman presents in the Applied Math Seminar at Utah State University
- Nov 28 Cole Carlson presents a poster on seedscape research at the Fall Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium
- Oct 17 Dr. Beckman presents "Seed dispersal ecology under global change" in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Arizona
- Sept 10 Drs. Krishnadas, Beckman, Comita et al published new paper on "Environment and past land-use together predict functional diversity in a temperate forest" in Ecological Applications.
- August 5-10 Dr. Beckman, Dr. Philippe Marchand, and Eric Sodja present new research from the Seedscape Ecology Group at the Annual Ecological Society of America Meeting in New Orleans
- July 22 Beckman and colleagues receive a research grant from ForestGEO to investigate "Adaptive Significance of Secondary Metabolites in Ripe, Fleshy Fruits"!
- July 2 Rachel Hager interviews Dr. Beckman on Utah Public Radio on the recently published article in Journal of Ecology
- June 18 Drs. Beckman, Bullock, & Salguero-Gómez find that species with fast life‐history strategies disperse their seeds further than slow‐living plants and published their results in Journal of Ecology.
- June 11-13 Dr. Beckman participates as a Distinguished Presenter at SESYNC's International Symposium on Boundary Spanning: Advances in in Socio-Environmental Systems Research
- April The group welcomes new graduate students Sarah Bogen, Binod Borah, and Elsa Jos!
- April 19 Justin & Cole present their seedscape research at USU's Department of Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium
- April 12 Eric Sodja presents his proposed MS research at USU's Student Research Symposium
- February 28 Dr. Beckman presents "Extinction risk of plant species under global change" in the WILD Seminar Series at Utah State University
- December 6 Dr. Beckman presents "Extinction risk of plant species under global change" in the Biological Engineering Graduate Seminar Series at Utah State University
- November 16 Dr. Beckman presents "Extinction risk of plant species under global change" in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar at the University of Connecticut.
- October 19-21 Session on 'The Long Journey Home: Ecology and Evolution in the City' organized by Drs. Beckman, Warwick & Adler at the SACNAS National Conference
- September 26-29 Workshop on 'Cross-Disciplinary Statistical Applications in the Anthropocene' organized by Drs. Trisos, Beckman, & Maher supported by SESYNC
- August 27 Welcome Eric Sodja to the Beckman Research Group!
- August 6-11 Session on 'Consequences of Individual Variation in Dispersal for Recruitment, Populations, and Communities' organized by Drs. Beckman, Snell, Loiselle, Fricke & Schupp at the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting
- July 17-20 Minisymposia 'Confronting Biological Models with Data: Dealing with Complexity and Sparsity I & II' organized by Drs. Beckman & Schugart at the Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting
- July 3 Paper led by Dr. Tiansawat published in Biotropica on the effects of pre-dispersal seed predators and fungi on fruit and seeds of Luehea seemannii in Panama
- July 1 Dr. Beckman joins the Biology Department and Ecology Center at Utah State University
- April 27 Dr. Beckman presents "The Journey of a Seed in a Changing World" at Cafe Scientifique in Annapolis
- April 21-23 Earth Optimism Summit and Make for the Planet Competition
- Feb. 28 Dr. Beckman presents SESYNC Seminar
- Feb. 1-4 Phylogenetic and Functional Trait Analyses for Ecology in R at SESYNC
- Jan. 30-31 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Behavioral Economics at SESYNC
- Dec. 14-16 Environmental Policy Immersion Program at SESYNC
- Nov. 14-18 Dr. Beckman will be presenting in the workshop, Population Models in the 21st Century at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute
- Nov. 7 Dr. Beckman presenting Seed Dispersal Under Global Change in the Biology Seminar at University of Central Florida
- Oct. 31 Dr. Beckman presenting Seed Dispersal Under Global Change in the Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Seminar at University of Maryland
- Oct. 13-15 Dr. Beckman is presenting at The National Diversity in STEM Conference, SACNAS.
- Sept. 18-23 Dr. Beckman will be participating in the BIRS workshop, Integrodifference Equations in Ecology: 30 years and counting.
- Contact us before Sept. 13 if interested. Call for speakers for #ESA2017 in Portland! We are proposing an Organized Oral Session on variation in dispersal.
- Aug. 7-12 Dr. Beckman presents SESYNC research on dispersal and life history strategies at the Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
- July 19-22 Short Course: Teaching Socio-Environmental Synthesis with Case Studies
- June 19-23 Dr. Beckman presents on "Spatial patterns of seed predation by a specialized invertebrate" at Annual Meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation.
- May 9-13 Seed Dispersal Workshop at SESYNC
- April 12-15 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Change in Socio-Environmental Systems at SESYNC
- March 17-18 Dr. Beckman is a short-term visitor at NIMBioS
- Feb. 29 - March 3 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Antropology at SESYNC
- Jan. 25th Deadline. Seeking early career scientists for a seed dispersal workshop at SESYNC. Read more
- Jan. 11-14 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Sociology at SESYNC
- Dec. 13-16 Dr. Beckman presents collaborative work with Drs. Dybzinski and Tilman at British Ecological Society Annual Meeting
- Dec. 4 Dr. Beckman presents in Applied Mathematics Colloquium at University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Nov. 27 Dr. Beckman's research on seed dispersal featured on Friday's episode of Yale Climate Connections.
- Nov. 13 Dr. Beckman presents Biology Seminar at Washington and Lee University
- Nov. 2-4 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Economics at SESYNC
- Oct. 28-31 Beckman participates in Automated Forest Restoration workshop hosted by Forest Restoration Research Unit in Chiang Mai
- Oct. 26 Dr. Beckman presents Environmental Science Seminar at Chiang Mai University
- Aug. 31- Sept. 3 Immersion Distinguished Scholar Workshop: Ecology at SESYNC
- August. 19-28 Short course in Bayesian Modeling for Socio-Environmental Data at SESYNC
- July 1 Dr. Beckman starts a postdoc at SESYNC
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Selected Publications
- Beckman, N. G. and L. L. Sullivan. 2023. The causes and consequences of seed dispersal. Annual Reviews in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102320-104739
- Whitehead, S., G. Schneider, R. Dybzinski, A. Nelson, M. Gelambi, E. Jos, N. G. Beckman. 2022. Fruits, frugivores, and the evolution of phytochemical diversity. Oikos. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08332
- Borah, B. and N. G. Beckman. 2022. Studying seed dispersal through the lens of movement ecology. Oikos 2022(2): e08310. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08310
- Special Issue: The Role of Seed Dispersal in Plant Populations: Perspectives and Advances in a Changing World. 2020. AoB Plants.
- Beckman, N.G. and H.S. Rogers. 2013. Consequences of seed dispersal for plant recruitment in tropical forests: interactions within the seedscape. Biotropica DOI: 10.1111/btp.12071
Communication and Outreach
"Verde Elemental es una publicación digital de análisis y divulgación de investigación en ecología y ambiente en y para Latinoamérica. Dirigida por Carol Garzón López..."
