Erica Garcia

BA, PhD

• Research Interests
• Current Projects
• Fellowships
• Publications

Contact details
Email: erica.garcia@cdu.edu.au

Phone: (08) 8946 7445
Fax (08) 8946
Office: Red 1, Level 3

Research interests

I am an aquatic ecologist who uses a combination of observational and experimental approaches to study species interactions in a food web context. My dissertation research titled: "Regional coexistence and local dominance in Chaoborus: species sorting along a predation gradient", was conducted at Michigan State University and the Kellogg Biological Station (Michigan, USA). I documented how spatial variation in the intensity of fish predation determines the distribution of Chaoborus (Diptera) species across the landscape. Additionally, during my graduate study, I conducted a couple of collaborative research projects: 1) the effect of density-independent mortality on zooplankton coexistence; and 2) the effect of fish reintroductions on shifting lake community states. As a postdoc at Brown University (RI, USA), I studied how crab herbivory in combination with harsh edaphic conditions maintains naturally produced bare patches in Argentine salt marshes. In addition, I examined the effects of marine subsides on black fire ant populations both experimentally and using stable isotopes.

Currently, I am working with the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) research hub, focussing on tropical river food webs (particularly the relative roles of top-down versus bottom-up control), and will also be examining aquatic and riparian subsidies.

Current projects

• Food web dynamics in tropical river food webs.
• Relative roles of top-down and bottom-up controls in tropical river food webs.
• Subsidies between aquatic and riparian food webs.

Fellowship

National Science Foundation (NSF) Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship (9/06-7/08)

Publications

Garcia E.A. and G.G. Mittelbach. 2008. Regional coexistence and local dominance in Chaoborus: species sorting along a predation gradient. Ecology 89(6):1703–1713.

Mittelbach G.G., E.A. Garcia, and Y. Taniguchi. 2006. Fish reintroductions reveal smooth transitions between lake community states. Ecology 87(2):312-318.

Steiner C.F., T.L. Darcy-Hall, N.J. Dorn, E.A. Garcia, G.G. Mittelbach, and J.M. Wojdak. 2005. The influence of consumer diversity and indirect facilitation on trophic level biomass and stability. OIKOS 110 (3): 556-566.

Mittelbach G.G., T.L. Darcy-Hall, N.J. Dorn, E.A. Garcia, C.F. Steiner, and J.M. Wojdak. 2004. The impact of density-independent mortality on species coexistence: an experimental test with zooplankton. OIKOS 107 (2): 415-421.

Bret-Harte M.S., E.A. Garcia, V.M. Sacre, J.R. Whorley, J.L. Wagner, S.C. Lippert, and F.S. Chapin. 2004. Plant and soil responses to neighbour removal and fertilization in Alaskan tussock tundra. Journal of Ecology 92(4): 635-647.