We study the dynamics of food webs and ecosystems.
Through analysis of interactions among predators, herbivores, plants and decomposers, we resolve the functional role of species within aboveground and belowground food webs 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, ranging from lions in Kenyan savannas, caribou in Newfoundland boreal forests, to insects and their spider predators in New England grasslands.
Lab News
- Congratulations to doctoral student Kristy Ferraro on winning a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship and the YSE Bormann Prize.
- Former doctoral student Rob Buchkowski has accepted a tenure-track faculty position at University of Western Ontario (aka Western University)
- Former doctoral student Julia Monk has accepted a tenure-track faculty position at New York University
- Congratulations to Nathalie Sommer on winning the P.E.O. Scholar Award
- Mary Burak was awarded the Voss Postdoctoral Fellowship at Brown
- Congratulations to Vivian Hawkinson for an NSF GRFP and Janey Lienau for an NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
- Dylan Feldmeier won a UK NERC independent research fellowship
- Undergraduate Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship
- Former postdoc James Lichtenstein has accepted a tenure-track faculty position at Sacred Heart University
Recent Publications
Lienau, J. R., and O. J. Schmitz. 2024. Functional traits of predators and decomposer prey determine context dependency in trophic control over ecosystems. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Orrick, K. D.,* K. M. Ferraro,* and N. R. Sommer. 2024. Individuals in focus: Individuals as the ecological and ethical center of human-wildlife conflict. Biological Conservation
Feldmeier, D. E., O. J. Schmitz, N. H. Carter, G. S. Masunga, and K. D. Orrick. 2024. Predictions & perceptions: A social-ecological analysis of human-carnivore conflict in Botswana. Biological Conservation.
Rizzuto, M., Leroux, S. J., & Schmitz, O. J. (2024). Rewiring the carbon cycle: A theoretical framework for animal-driven ecosystem carbon sequestration. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.
Orrick, K., N. Sommer, F. Rowland, and K. Ferraro. 2024. Predator–prey interactions across hunting mode, spatial domain size, and habitat complexities. Ecology
Rizzuto, M., Leroux, S.J., Schmitz, O.J., Vander Wal, E., Wiersma, Y.F., Heckford, T.R. Animal-vectored nutrient flows across resource gradients influence the nature of local and meta-ecosystem functioning. Ecological Modelling.
Anderson, C., Zuckerwise, A., Wallace, R. B., Ayala, G., Viscarra, M., & Schmitz, O. J. 2024. Small Felids Coexist in Mixed-Use Landscape in the Bolivian Amazon. Animals.
Burak, M.K.*, K.M. Ferraro* K.D. Orrick*, N.R. Sommer, D. Ellis-Soto, and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Context matters when rewilding for climate change. People and Nature.
Orrick, K., M. Dove, and O.J., Schmitz. 2024. Human–nature relationships: An introduction to social–ecological practice theory for human–wildlife interactions. Ambio.
Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, P.B. Gregorio and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Vicuña antipredator diel movement drives spatial nutrient subsidies in a high Andean ecosystem. Ecology.
Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, J.A. Smith, P.L. Perrig, A.D. Middleton, and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Predation and Biophysical Context Control Long-Term Carcass Nutrient Inputs in an Andean Ecosystem. Ecosystems.
Ferraro, K.M., L. Welker, E.B. Ward, O.J. Schmitz, and M.A. Bradford. 2023. Plant mycorrhizal associations mediate the zoogeochemical effects of calving subsidies by a forest ungulate. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Bertellotti, F., N.R. Sommer, O.J. Schmitz, and M.A. McCary. 2023. Impacts of habitat connectivity on grassland arthropod metacommunity structure: A field‐based experimental test of theory. Ecology and Evolution.
Burak, M. K., F. Broekhuis, A. Dickman, S. Ekwanga, N. Elliot, L. Frank, A. Oriol‐Cotterill, T. M. Williams, C. C. Wilmers, and O.J. Schmitz. 2023. Spatiotemporal patterns of lion (Panthera leo) space use in a human–wildlife system. Ecological Solutions and Evidence.
Schmitz, O.J., M. Sylvén, T.B. Atwood, E.S. Bakker, F. Berzaghi, J.F. Brodie, J.P.G.M. Cromsigt, A.B. Davies, S.J. Leroux, F.J. Schepers, F.A. Smith, S.Stark, J.-C. Svenning, A. Tilker, and H. Ylänne. 2023. Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. Nature Climate Change.
Ferraro, K.M., A.L. Ferraro, A.Z. Andis, and N.R. Sommer. 2023. Revisiting Two Dogmas of Conservation Science. Conservation Biology.
Schmitz, O.J. and M. Sylvén. 2023. Animating the carbon cycle: How wildlife conservation can be key to mitigating climate change. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development.
Sommer, N.R., Y.A. Alshwairikh, A.Z. Andis Arietta, D.S. Skelly, R.W. Buchkowski. 2023. Prey metabolic responses to predators depend on predator hunting mode and prey antipredator defenses. Oikos.
See all publications.
Orrick, K. D.,* K. M. Ferraro,* and N. R. Sommer. 2024. Individuals in focus: Individuals as the ecological and ethical center of human-wildlife conflict. Biological Conservation
Feldmeier, D. E., O. J. Schmitz, N. H. Carter, G. S. Masunga, and K. D. Orrick. 2024. Predictions & perceptions: A social-ecological analysis of human-carnivore conflict in Botswana. Biological Conservation.
Rizzuto, M., Leroux, S. J., & Schmitz, O. J. (2024). Rewiring the carbon cycle: A theoretical framework for animal-driven ecosystem carbon sequestration. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.
Orrick, K., N. Sommer, F. Rowland, and K. Ferraro. 2024. Predator–prey interactions across hunting mode, spatial domain size, and habitat complexities. Ecology
Rizzuto, M., Leroux, S.J., Schmitz, O.J., Vander Wal, E., Wiersma, Y.F., Heckford, T.R. Animal-vectored nutrient flows across resource gradients influence the nature of local and meta-ecosystem functioning. Ecological Modelling.
Anderson, C., Zuckerwise, A., Wallace, R. B., Ayala, G., Viscarra, M., & Schmitz, O. J. 2024. Small Felids Coexist in Mixed-Use Landscape in the Bolivian Amazon. Animals.
Burak, M.K.*, K.M. Ferraro* K.D. Orrick*, N.R. Sommer, D. Ellis-Soto, and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Context matters when rewilding for climate change. People and Nature.
Orrick, K., M. Dove, and O.J., Schmitz. 2024. Human–nature relationships: An introduction to social–ecological practice theory for human–wildlife interactions. Ambio.
Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, P.B. Gregorio and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Vicuña antipredator diel movement drives spatial nutrient subsidies in a high Andean ecosystem. Ecology.
Monk, J.D., E. Donadio, J.A. Smith, P.L. Perrig, A.D. Middleton, and O.J. Schmitz. 2024. Predation and Biophysical Context Control Long-Term Carcass Nutrient Inputs in an Andean Ecosystem. Ecosystems.
Ferraro, K.M., L. Welker, E.B. Ward, O.J. Schmitz, and M.A. Bradford. 2023. Plant mycorrhizal associations mediate the zoogeochemical effects of calving subsidies by a forest ungulate. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Bertellotti, F., N.R. Sommer, O.J. Schmitz, and M.A. McCary. 2023. Impacts of habitat connectivity on grassland arthropod metacommunity structure: A field‐based experimental test of theory. Ecology and Evolution.
Burak, M. K., F. Broekhuis, A. Dickman, S. Ekwanga, N. Elliot, L. Frank, A. Oriol‐Cotterill, T. M. Williams, C. C. Wilmers, and O.J. Schmitz. 2023. Spatiotemporal patterns of lion (Panthera leo) space use in a human–wildlife system. Ecological Solutions and Evidence.
Schmitz, O.J., M. Sylvén, T.B. Atwood, E.S. Bakker, F. Berzaghi, J.F. Brodie, J.P.G.M. Cromsigt, A.B. Davies, S.J. Leroux, F.J. Schepers, F.A. Smith, S.Stark, J.-C. Svenning, A. Tilker, and H. Ylänne. 2023. Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. Nature Climate Change.
Ferraro, K.M., A.L. Ferraro, A.Z. Andis, and N.R. Sommer. 2023. Revisiting Two Dogmas of Conservation Science. Conservation Biology.
Schmitz, O.J. and M. Sylvén. 2023. Animating the carbon cycle: How wildlife conservation can be key to mitigating climate change. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development.
Sommer, N.R., Y.A. Alshwairikh, A.Z. Andis Arietta, D.S. Skelly, R.W. Buchkowski. 2023. Prey metabolic responses to predators depend on predator hunting mode and prey antipredator defenses. Oikos.
See all publications.
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Contact Us
Schmitz Lab
Yale School of the Environment 370 Prospect Street Greeley Laboratory, Room 119 New Haven, CT 06511 USA Phone: (203) 436-5276 oswald.schmitz [at] yale.edu |
