With continued degradation of ecosystems, we need to know how to restore biodiversity, both for conservation and to ensure the provision of essential services provided by nature. To manage and restore diversity in human-modified systems, however, we need to understand the mechanisms that originally maintained biodiversity. The Ponisio lab studies the mechanisms operating in complex systems, specifically ecological communities, that underlie diversity maintenance.
First photos from the field! South Western Research Station, AZ
Press
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As biotic communities form, pollinators swap one plant for another
Press release by Mackenzie Smith A new study from UC Berkeley researchers helps create a clearer understanding of how networks of plants and pollinators form over time to create biotic communities. The results of their research, which could help scientists and conservationists rebuild communities when a species goes locally extinct, are published today in Ecology Letters. read more... |
How fire diversity promotes biodiversity
Press release by Julie Van Scoy A team of CNR researchers has found that a diversity of fires can promote the existence of more varied flowering plants and pollinators in an ecosystem, while also buffering against the negative effects of drought. read more... |
Using fire to promote biodiversity
Perspective in Science by L. T. Kelly and L. Brotons Fire profoundly influences people, climate, and ecosystems (1). The impacts of this interaction are likely to grow, with climate models forecasting widespread increases in fire frequency and intensity because of rising global temperatures (2). read more... |
Cannot see the forest for the bees
Osmia visiting phacelia. Photo by L.Ponisio
While studying the mechanisms that underly the diveristy maintaince of plant-pollinator communities in Yosemite National Park, we became part of a much larger story about fire suppresion and management in natural landscapes.
L. Ponisio guest blogs for National Geographic Deep in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, the flora and fauna in the understory form a mosaic of vibrant colors in constant motion. read more... |
Changing the face of agriculture
Diversification practices like intercropping enhance yields. Photo by C. Kremen
After their publication comparing the yields or organic and conventional agriculture, L. Ponisio and K. Mace discuss how alternative farming systems could change the face of agriculture.
L. Ponisio and K. Mace guest blog for Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Agricultural landscapes in the United States, from the Central Valley of California to the Corn Belt of the Midwest, are largely similar in that the lands encompass expanses of single crops. . read more... |
Organic farming is closing the gap
A native plant flowering hedgerow field margin. Photo by L. M’Gonigle
L. Ponisio guest writes for The Conservation
The unintended consequences of our agricultural food system – polluted air and water, dead zones in coastal seas, soil erosion – have profound implications for human health and the environment. So more sustainable agricultural practices are needed as soon as possible. Some farmers have turned to less chemically-intensive techniques to reduce the negative impact of agriculture, such as organic farming read more... |
