Welcome to the savanna ecology lab at Duke

Our research explores how interactions between plants, animals, and environmental drivers (e.g. rainfall and soils) impact ecosystem processes across savanna landscapes. We draw on the fields of disease, consumer, and community ecology to determine the impact of predators and disease on fire-herbivore-vegetation interactions across abiotic gradients. The majority of this work involves combining the use of landscape-scale experiments with modelling techniques to identify the mechanisms driving fire-herbivore-vegetation feedbacks and explore how external disturbances can alter these interactions.

We currently have research projects based in South Africa and Tanzania. Please explore our work and learn more about who we are.  Feel free to contact us if you want to get involved.