GARNAS LAB HOMEPAGE
Insects and pathogens play a major role in structuring forests. The steady accumulation of non-native insects and microbes that are introduced and establish as a consequence of global trade can have direct and sometimes massive effects on forest ecosystems (e.g., Chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, Phytophthora species, Emerald ash borer, many others). Less well understood is how novel interactions among native and non-native insects and microbes influence population dynamics (including propensity to outbreak and/or cause economic damage), host or geographic range, and evolutionary trajectories of the players involved. This lab group focuses broadly on better understanding the diversity, frequency, and consequences of novel interactions in forest ecosystems that occur as species ranges shift with biological invasion and climate change.