Dr. Patrick R. Stephens
Postdoctoral Associate
Odum School of Ecology
140 E. Green St., University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
e-mail: prsteph@uga.edu
phone: (706) 542-3971
My research uses phylogenetic methods to address questions that lie at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. The primary areas in which my past research has been focused include (1) the origins of regional patterns of species richness, (2) phylogenetic niche conservatism and the origins of large scale patterns of community structure, and (3) the evolutionary ecology of amphibians and reptiles, particularly emydid turtles.
Here at the Odum school of Ecology, I have broadened my focus to global ecological and evolutionary patterns in mammals. Using resources such as published species level mammal supertrees, IUCN data on mammal geographic ranges, and compiled data on mammalian behavioral, morphological, and ecological data in PanTHERIA it is now possible to address key questions in evolutionary ecology at unprecedented scales. Topics that I am currently engaged in include (1) the effects of niche conservatism on the phylogenetic heritability of geographic range distributions in mammals, (2) the factors that affect patterns of parasite community similarity between mammal species, and (3) the the biological correlates of variation in nucleotide substitution rates among major mammal clades.
