​​​​​​​​​​The Brooks Lab
Christopher P. Brooks
Ph.D. Biology, The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
M.S. Biology, Murray State University
B.S. Biology, Kennesaw State University​
My interests focus on the integration of models and empirical data to understand the dynamics of consumer populations. ​ I am particularly interested in the role that functional heterogeneity and spatial topology among hosts influences consumer invasion, dynamics, and ultimately, persistence. Much of this work is done with both native and non-native cactophagous moths and other Lepidopterans. Students in my lab have worked on the drivers of leprosy in armadillos, the conservation ecology of mussel-fish associations in southeastern rivers, along with the aforementioned Lepidopteran work. If you have interest in joining the lab, check out the "Join Us" link above.
CV
Sauby, K.E., T.D. Marsico, G.N. Ervin and C.P. Brooks. 2012. The role of host identity in determining the
distribution of the invasive moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Florida. Fla.
Entomol. 95:561-568.
Brooks, C.P., G.N. Ervin, G. Logarzo and L. Varone. 2012. Native ecotypic variation and the role of host
identity in the spread of an invasive herbivore, Cactoblastis cactorum. Ecology 93: 402-410. doi:
10.1890/11-0541.1
Marsico, T.D., L.E. Wallace, G.N. Ervin, C.P. Brooks, J.E. McClure and M.E. Welch. 2011. Geographic patterns
of genetic diversity from the native range of Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) support the documented
history of invasion and multiple introductions for invasive populations. Biological Invasions 13:
857-868. doi: 10.1007/s10530-010-9874-9​
Brooks, C.P. and H. Zhang. 2010. A null model of community disassembly effects on vector-borne
disease risk. Journal of Theoretical Biology 264: 866-873. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.03.016
Brooks, C.P., C. Holmes, K. Kramer, B. Barnett and T.H. Keitt. 2009. The role of demography and markets
in determining deforestation rates near Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. PloS ONE 4(6):
e5783. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005783.
Brooks, C.P., J. Antonovics and T.H. Keitt. 2008. Metapopulation dynamics and persistence are explained
by temporal heterogeneity in spatial network structure. American Naturalist 172: 149 159. doi:
10.1086/589451
Brooks, C.P. 2006. Quantifying population substructure: extending the graph-theoretic approach.
Ecology 87(4):864 872. doi:10.1890/05-0860
Webb, C.T., C.P. Brooks, K.L. Gage and M.F. Antolin. 2006. Classic fleaborne transmission does not drive
plague epizootics in prairie dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103(16):623 641.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0510090103
Brooks, C.P. 2003. A scalar analysis of landscape connectivity. Oikos 102(2):4339. doi:
10.1034/j.1600-0579.2003.11511.x
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
