- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His seminar will be recorded for later viewing on UCTV.
"Ecologists have long recognized that species interactions change over time, due to temporal variation in abiotic environments and in the abundance and relative life stages of interacting species," Yang says. "Despite - or perhaps because of - the ubiquitous role of time in structuring species interactions, other aspects of community complexity have often been emphasized ahead of temporal complexity. However, a growing emphasis on understanding how phenology, ontogeny, stage-structure and transient event-driven dynamics affect species interactions may signal the re-emergence of a 'temporally explicit' perspective in community ecology. A temporally explicit view of community ecology aims to understand how species interactions change over time, and the consequences of shifts in this timing."
In his talk he will suggest "how a temporally explicit view of species interactions could build upon the ubiquitous and implicit consideration of time that is already fundamental to ecology. If we step away from common simplifying assumptions about the constancy of community structure and process, what new questions emerge? This introduction to the session will attempt to identify some common themes that are emerging from a temporally explicit perspective in ecology, illustrated with examples from recent studies in multiple systems."
Yang said the key emerging themes of this synthesis are
- In systems where multiple dynamic processes operate on different timescales, it is important to consider sequential (as opposed to strictly alternative) hypotheses;
- The study of species interactions should consider both phenology and ontogeny, especially when stage-structured interactions occur throughout life histories;
- Biotic and abiotic constraints on species interactions can define windows of opportunity in time, where quantitative shifts in the timing of key events (such as physical disturbances or resource pulses) can qualitatively alter life history outcomes;
- A temporally explicit perspective seeks to explain the mechanisms of historical contingency in community assembly; and
- The continued development of a temporally explicit perspective in ecology is important for understanding how real-world species interactions are coordinated in time, and the potential implications of disrupting this coordination.
Yang's research interests include community ecology, species interactions, temporal variation, extreme events in nature, and the integration of ontogeny and phenology. Last year received a prestigious National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award of $600,000. He was one of four young UC Davis faculty members selected for the award. Yang is studying the importance of timing in interactions between plants, animals and their environment, specifically studying the monarch butterfly and milkweed. Species interactions change with the seasons and with different life stages, and climate change may disrupt these interactions, for example, if caterpillars emerge before food sources are available.
Yang earned his bachelor's degree (ecology and evolution) from Cornell University in 1999 and his doctorate from UC Davis in 2006, studying with entomology professor and ecologist Rick Karban. Yang conducted postdoctoral research at UC Santa Barbara before returning to UC Davis as a faculty member in 2009. While at UC Santa Barbara, he served as a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology.