Gary R. Huxel

GARY R. HUXEL, Ph. D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Biological Sciences

University of Arkansas

Ph. D., University of Tennessee, 1995
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California - Davis, 1995-2000
Research Associate, University of California - Davis, 2000-2001

Assistant Professor, University of South Florida, 2001-2005

Research Interests and Current Projects

Colleagues and I study a range of topics in ecology and conservation biology. Currently there are two major projects that we are working on. First is the continuation of research began by Gary A. Polis on islands in the Gulf of California. The major hypothesis of this work is that high densities of plants and consumers on the islands relative to the mainland is due to inputs from the marine environment. This project requires a broad understanding of the ecology of Sonoran desert systems, island biogeography, environmental variability, population biology, and food web dynamics.

Pictures from Bahía de los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico

I am also part of a NSF funded Biocomplexity grant entitled “BE/CBC: Ecosystem Response to Elevated Arsenic Concentrations” with collaborators: PI – Thomas Pichler, Co-PIs – James Garey, Gary Huxel, Pam Muller, Jan Amend. In this study, the major questions are how does arsenic influence biological diversity, in what ways do food web structures differ among high arsenic, low arsenic, and control sites; and how do differences in food web structure influence ecosystem processes and functioning. The first sampling occurred in November of 2003 and the second in May of 2005. Early results show that significant differences occur in the identity and number of species along a gradient of arsenic concentrations. Food web models are being constructed based upon initial data. Here is the link to the project website: http://www.biocomplexity.usf.edu/index.htm.

Pictures from Papua New Guinea

Other Projects

Community ecology

Biological invasions

Habitat fragmentation

Teaching

Community Ecology – Spring 2006

Biometry (Special Problems) – Fall 2005

Mathematical Biology

Recent publications:

Talley, D.M. G.R. Huxel, and M. A. Holyoak. In Press. Habitat connectivity at the land-water interface. In: Sanjayan M. and Crooks K. (Eds.), Connectivity in Conservation. Cambridge University Press.

Polis, G. A., M. E. Power and G. R. Huxel, editors. 2004. Food webs at the landscape level. University of Chicago Press.

Huxel, G. R., R. D. Holt, and G. A. Polis. 2004. Spatial linkage of habitats via transport of resources. In: Food webs dynamics at the landscape level (G. A. Polis, M. E. Power and G. R. Huxel, editors).

Vanni, M. J., D. L. DeAngelis, D. E. Schindler, and G. R. Huxel. 2004. Fluxes of nutrients and detritus across habitats. Pages 3-11 in Food webs at the landscape level (G. A. Polis, M. E. Power, and G. R. Huxel, editors). University of Chicago Press.

Huxel, G. R., K. McCann and G. A. Polis. 2002. The effect of partitioning of allochthonous and autochthonous resources on food web stability. Ecological Research 17: 419-435.

Lee, C., E. Clark, J. Diehl, W. Gilliland, M. Hoopes, G. R. Huxel, K. McCann, J. Umbanhowar, and A. Mogliner. 2001. Nonlocal concepts and models in biology. Journal of Theoretical Biology 210:201-219.

Huxel, G. R. 2000. The effect of the Argentine ant on the threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle. Biological Invasions 2: 81-84.

Polis, G. A., A. L. W. Sears, G. R. Huxel, D. R. Strong and J. Maron. 2000. When is a trophic cascade a trophic cascade? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15: 473-475.

Harrison, S., J. Maron and G. R. Huxel. 2000.Local extinction, colonization and regional patterns of fluctuation in five plants confined to serpentine seeps. Conservation Biology 14: 1-12.

Huxel, G. R. and A. Hastings.1999. The influence of restoration on species persistence in fragmented habitats. Restoration Ecology 7: 1-7.

Huxel, G. R. 1999. The role of food quality in consumer-resource interactions. Ecology Letters 2: 256-261.

Huxel, G. R. 1999. Rapid displacement of native species by invasive species: effects of hybridization. Biological Conservation 89: 143-152.

McCann, K., A. Hastings and Huxel, G. R.1998.Weak trophic interactions and the balance of nature. Nature 395:794-798.

Huxel, G. R. and K. McCann. 1998. Food web stability: the influence of trophic flows across habitats. The American Naturalist 152: 460-469.

Huxel, G. R. and A. Hastings. 1998. Density dependence, competitive coexistence and habitat destruction. Journal of Animal Ecology 67: 446-453.

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