Jarrett Byrnes assistant professor, UMass Boston

FOOD WEBS IN A CHANGING WORLD
global change and food web structure linking web structure and function drivers of food web dynamics


Overview

A species is but one part of a much larger food web. My research asks many basic questions about the structure and function of food webs in nature. What are the factors controlling the structure of a food web? What controls how energy and nutrients are channeled to different key players? Does the structure of a web itself influence its productivity and stability?

As global environmental change impacts life on earth, these questions are increasingly important. Human driven extinctions and invasions have and will continue to reshape the structure of food webs across the globe. By studying the emergent properties of food webs, I hope to be able to understand how human impacts will change the way they function in the future.