Riley Gridzak
PhD candidate
I am interested in understanding the mechanisms that drive positively skewed size distributions (many small plants, and few large plants in a community). In particular, my MSc project investigates the role of species size variation in competitive interactions by examining how fertilization impacts species' size distributions. My work is co-supervised by Brandon Schamp at Algoma University, and in collaboration with Nutrient Network (NutNet).
Kelly Balfour
Phd candidate
Extensive research in forest ecosystems asserts that tolerance of low light levels contributes to plant survival. But despite comparable light capture by vegetation canopies in both forest and herbaceous ecosystems, this "shade tolerance" is severely understudied in old fields and grasslands. By measuring and analyzing data for suites of traits commonly associated with shade tolerance, my work investigates whether smaller species in herbaceous vegetation are more shade tolerant than larger species in the same communities.