We study the dynamics of food webs and ecosystems.

Through analysis of predator-prey or plant-herbivore interactions, we resolve the functional role of species within communities and how those roles determine attendant ecosystem functioning. We combine empirical research with mathematical modeling and deal with a variety of ecosystems and study species on 4 continents, ranging from livestock and tigers in Indian jungles to monkeys in Panamanian tropical forests to insects and their spider predators in Connecticut grasslands.

Lab News

• Congrats to Kevin and KT, who were awarded the prestigious NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program!
• Judith and Henry have graduated from the Master's program - we will miss you!
• PhD student João Carlos Barbosa da Silva from Universidade Estadual de Maringá visited the lab in April
  
• Colin has departed for summer fieldwork in Greece. Read his blog to follow his adventures!
  
• Congrats to Kevin for winning the Ecology and Evolution Biology Graduation section of the Sigma Si Student Research Showcase!
  
• Watch the JoVE video describing how spider predation risks effects cascade down to the microbial level!
  
• Welcome to visiting scholar Dr. Wang Deli, grassland ecologist from Northeast Normal University in China, who will be working with the Schmitz Lab through July

Lab Projects

Most Recent Publications

Schmitz, O.J., M. A. Bradford, M.S. Strickland and D. Hawlena. 2013.  Linking predation risk, herbivore physiological stress and microbial decomposition of plant litter. Journal of Visualized Experiments 73: e50061. doi:10.3791/50061.

Balog, A. and O.J. Schmitz. 2013. Predation drives stable coexistence ratios between red and green pea aphid morphs. Journal of Evolutionary Ecology: 8 Jan 2013. doi: 10.1111/jeb.12070.

Schmitz, O.J. 2013. Terrestrial food webs and vulnerability of the structure and functioning of ecosystems to climate.  In R. Pielke Sr., T. Seastedt and K. Suding (Eds). Climate Vulnerability, Elsevier Publishing.

Contact Us

Schmitz Lab
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
370 Prospect Street
Greeley Laboratory, Room 112
New Haven, CT 06511 USA
Phone: (203) 432-5110
Fax: (203) 432-3929
oswald.schmitz [at] yale.edu