David A. Vasseur, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Campus Address: 550 Osborn Memorial Labs 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT Mailing Address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology PO Box 208106 Yale University New Haven, CT 06520 USA Phone: 203-432-2719 Fax: 203-432-5176 Email: David.Vasseur@yale.edu Lab Website

Interests

I am interested in understanding how fluctuations in environmental conditions (e.g. temperature) influence many quantitative characteristics of populations and communities, from population variability to ecosystem biodiversity. Within this conceptual theme my research falls into three overlapping areas: i) the causes and consequences of spatial population synchrony; ii) understanding how the indirect effects of environmental fluctuations propagate through food webs; and iii) the influence of spatial and temporal scale on the expression of environmental fluctuations in population dynamics. To address questions in these areas I employ a combination of mathematical modeling, data analysis, and laboratory microcosm experiments.

Selected Publications:

David A. Vasseur and Jeremy W. Fox. Phase-locking and environmental fluctuations generate synchrony in a predator–prey community. Advance online publication, 22 July 2009, doi:10.1038/nature08208. Abstract | Article

Fox, J. W. & Vasseur, D. A. Character convergence under competition for nutritionally-essential resources: adaptive dynamics models. American Naturalist in press.

Vasseur, D. A. & Fox, J. W. 2007. Environmental fluctuations can stabilize food web dynamics by increasing synchrony. Ecology Letters 10: 1066-1074.

Vasseur, D. A., & McCann, K. S. (eds). 2007. The impact of environmental variability on ecological systems. Springer, Dordrecht, 231p.

Vasseur, D. A., & Gaedke, U. 2007. Spectral analysis unmasks synchronous and compensatory dynamics in plankton communities. Ecology 88(8): 2058-2071.

Vasseur, D. A., & McCann, K. S. 2005. A mechanistic framework for modeling temperature-dependent consumer-resource dynamics. American Naturalist 166(2): 184-198.

Vasseur, D. A., & Yodzis, P. 2004. The color of environmental noise. Ecology 85(4): 1146-1152.