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<span class="facmedtitle">Research Interests</span>
<p align="justify">
To view a VIDEO CLIP outlining some of my research projects and field 
sites, click <a href="http://research.uchicago.edu/highlights/resources/media/pfister_wootton_512k.mov" class="style2">here</a>.</p>

<h4><a href="http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/faculty/Wootton"><span class="style1">Click here for LAB WEB PAGE</span>.</a></h4>


<!-- p align="justify">
To view a video clip outlining some of my research projects and field 
sites, click <a href="http://research.uchicago.edu/highlights/resources/media/pfister_wootton_512k.mov">here</a>.
</p>
<p>
<h4><a href="http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/faculty/Wootton">Lab Web Page.</a></h4>
</p -->
<p align="justify">

My research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary consequences of interactions among organisms. My work centers on how multi-species systems function and on evaluating methods that might predict how such systems will respond to environmental change, particularly in regard to species extinctions and introductions. I am also interested in related areas in evolutionary ecology. I work in several different systems, and study a range of taxa. My general approach tests questions or models of broad theoretical interest, using field experiments, observations of large-scale species introductions, and between-system comparisons. Currently, my research focuses on rocky intertidal marine communities and rivers, which serve as model experimental systems for ecology. Specific research includes: 1) Developing and testing dynamic models of food webs that synthesize species interactions, productivity rates and disturbance regime. 2) Identifying observational and experimental approaches that predict the strength of species interactions in natural communities. 3) Testing forest simulator-type models in experimentally-tractable intertidal systems. 4) Exploring experimentally the importance of genetic and demographic factors on extinction risk in small populations. 5) Studying whole-ecosystem response to large-scale management programs derived by focusing on single species, particularly in salmon-bearing rivers of western North America, 6) Investigating character displacement in competing species following the invasion of house finches across the eastern U.S.
</p>
<p align="justify">

I expect my students to develop a broad perspective on ecology and evolution, to engage in research rooted solidly in empiricism but with an eye toward its wider theoretical and practical implications, and to maintain a healthy knowledge of natural history. I particularly encourage applications from students with interests in marine or aquatic ecology. 
</p>
<!-- p>
	My research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary consequences
of interactions among organisms.  My work centers on how multi-species
systems function and on evaluating methods that might predict how such
systems will respond to environmental change, particularly in regard to
species extinctions and introductions.  I am also interested in related
areas in evolutionary ecology.  I work in several different systems, and
study a range of taxa.  My general approach tests questions or models of
broad theoretical interest, using field experiments, observations of
large-scale species introductions, and between-system comparisons.
Currently, my research focuses on rocky intertidal marine communities and
rivers, which serve as model experimental systems for ecology.  Specific
research includes:  1) Developing and testing dynamic models of food webs
that synthesize species interactions, productivity rates and disturbance
regime.  2) Identifying observational and experimental approaches that
predict the strength of species interactions in natural communities.  3)
Testing forest simulator-type models in experimentally-tractable intertidal
systems.  4) Exploring experimentally the importance of genetic and
demographic factors on extinction risk in small populations.  5)
Investigating character displacement in competing species following the
invasion of house finches across the eastern U.S.
</p>
<p align="justify">

	I expect my students to develop a broad perspective on ecology and
evolution, to engage in research rooted solidly in empiricism but with an
eye toward its wider theoretical and practical implications, and to
maintain a healthy knowledge of natural history.  I particularly encourage
applications from students with interests in marine or aquatic ecology.
</p-->
<p>
<hr />
</p>

<p>
<span class="facmedtitle">Recent Publications</span>
</p>
<dl>
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1987.
<dd />Interspecific competition between introduced House Finch populations and two associated passerine species <i>Oecologia (Berlin)</i> 71:325-331.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1987.
<dd />The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction.  <i>Evolution</i> 41:732-749.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1992.
<dd />Indirect effects, prey susceptibility, and habitat selection: impacts of birds on limpets and algae. <i>Ecology</i> 73:981-991.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., and D. A. Bell, 1992.
<dd />A metapopulation model of the Peregrine Falcon in California: viability and management strategies.  <i>Ecological Applications</i> 2:307-321.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., and M. P. Oemke, 1992.
<dd />Latitudinal differences in fish community trophic structure and the role of fish herbivory in a Costa Rican stream.  <i>Environmental Biology of Fishes</i> 35:311-319.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1993.
<dd />Indirect effects and habitat use in an intertidal community: interaction chains and interaction modifications.  <i>American Naturalist</i> 141:71-89.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., and M. E. Power, 1993.
<dd />Productivity, consumers, and the structure of a river food chain. <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</i> 90:1384-1387.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1994.
<dd />Predicting direct and indirect effects: an integrated approach using experiments and path analysis.  <i>Ecology</i> 75:151-165.
<dt />Wootton, J. T.,  1994.  
<dd />The nature and consequences of indirect effects.  <i>Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics</i> 25:443-466.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., M. E. Power, and M. S. Parker,  1996.  
<dd />Effects of disturbance on river food webs.  <i>Science</i> 273:1558-1561.
<dt />Wootton, J. T., 1998.
<dd />Effects of disturbance on species diversity:  a multi-trophic
perspective.  <i>American Naturalist</i> 152:803-825.




<dt />Wootton, J. T., 2001.  
<dd />Prediction in complex communities:  analysis of empirically-derived Markov models. 
<i>Ecology</i> 82:580-598.

<dt />J. T. Wootton, J. T., 2001.
<dd />Local interactions predict large-scale pattern in an empirically-derived cellular automata.  
<i>Nature</i> 413:841-843.

<dt />Wootton, J. T.  2004. 
<dd />Markov chain models predict the consequences of experimental extinctions.  
<i>Ecology Letters</i> 7:653-660.

<dt />Tsao, J. I., J. T. Wootton, J. Bunikis, M. G. Luna, D. Fish, and A. G. Barbour.  2004.
<dd />An ecological approach to preventing human infection:  vaccinating wild mouse reservoirs intervenes in the Lyme disease cycle. <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</i> 52:18159-18164.

<dt />Wootton, J. T.  2005. 
<dd />Field-parameterization and experimental test of the neutral theory of biodiversity. <i>Nature</i> 433:309-312


<dt />Wootton, J. T., and M. Emmerson.  2005. 
<dd />Measurement of interaction strength in nature. <i>Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics</i> 36:In Press. 
</dl>


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