College of Chemical & Life Sciences

Daniel Gruner-Ecologist

I am a terrestrial community ecologist with active projects in diverse ecological field systems, using a variety of analytical and synthetic tools. Generally, I research the dynamics of multispecies interactions within food webs and the maintenance of biodiversity in ecological communities and ecosystems. I seek to understand spatial patterns of community structure, the factors that promote or impair local persistence and species coexistence, and the interplay among food web trophic structure and ecosystem processes such as nutrient limitation and cycling. I research these topics primarily using arthropods in terrestrial ecosystems, but I work in soils and in treetops, with organisms from nematodes to birds to herbaceous plants, and in both temperate and tropical regions. Finally, I believe it is important to apply basic science to address problems concerning biological invasions, pest management, and conservation.

 

Daniel Gruner
Assistant Professor
Department of Entomology
University of Maryland

Email: dsgruner _at_ umd.edu
Phone: 301 405 3957
Fax: 301 314 9290

 

"If you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days."
--- Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

 

Postal address:

Department of Entomology
4112 Plant Sciences Bldg
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Physical address:

4142 Plant Sciences (office)
4149 Plant Sciences (lab)

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