Ecological consequences of climate fluctuations and change in mountain ecosystems

我实验室的研究考察了自然界中可观察到的生物多样性模式产生的过程。这些模式反映了数千年来气候变化的影响。近年来，快速的人为气候变化加速了其他人类压力因素导致的生物多样性的持续变化。许多科学家认为，全球气候变化是全球范围内物种数量减少的第二大原因（仅次于土地利用变化）。然而，在局部范围内的结果是难以预测的，并且非常具体。我和我的学生进行实验和观察研究，以更好地了解局部尺度过程的运作。特别是，我们目前试图了解气候变化如何以温度升高、生长期降水减少和雪量改变的形式导致不列颠哥伦比亚省山区生物多样性模式的变化。

Research in my lab examines the processes giving rise to the patterns of biodiversity observable in nature. These patterns reflect the impacts of changing climate over millennia. Recently, rapid anthropogenic climate changes have accelerated on-going changes in biodiversity attributable to other human stressors. A global extinction crisis, in which many scientists believe global climate change to be the second-largest contributor (after land use change), is decreasing the number of species at a global scale. Results at local scales, however, are less predictable and very context-specific. My students and I conduct experimental and observational studies to better understand the workings of local-scale processes. In particular, we currently seek to understand how changing climate, in the form of temperature increases, growing season precipitation decreases, and altered snow amounts leads to changes in patterns of biodiversity in mountain regions of British Columbia.