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Tyler Schartel

M.S. Biology, Southern Illinois University

B.S. Biology, Ursinus College

My research primarily focuses on 1) identifying abiotic and biotic factors that generate variation in host or resource quality and 2) quantifying how this heterogeneity among hosts influences the fitness and distributions of native and invasive, oligophagous consumers. I am particularly interested in quantifying the extent of spatiotemporal variation in prickly-pear cacti macronutrient content (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) and how heterogeneity in host Opuntia macronutrient content may influence cactus moth-Opuntia associations. I am currently sampling Opuntia throughout their distribution in the southeastern United States and generating an index of existing variation in macronutrient content. I then aim to identify those abiotic and biotic factors that generate variation in host quality and generate predictive models of host quality. I also intend to manipulate the macronutrient content of an experimental diet derived from Opuntia tissues so as to investigate how heterogeneity in host Opuntia quality may influence cactus moth fitness. I will then integrate our large-scale understanding of variation in host Opuntia with small-scale understanding of the effects of this host variation on consumer fitness to develop predictive models of the distributions of native and invasive cactus moths.

CV

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