D. Dudley Williams
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D. Dudley Williams |
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| Office: | S-549 | Phone: | (416) 287-7423 |
| Lab: | S-544 | Phone: | (416) 287-7420 |
My training is as an aquatic invertebrate ecologist and my interests centre around the ecology of rivers and streams. My research programme is diverse but has the overall, longterm objective of attempting to understand the ecological processes that control the distribution, formation, structure and dynamics of running water communities. As control is believed to act hierarchically, this research involves study at the levels of community, population and individual. My immediate interest concerns environmental heterogeneity and its effect on species richness and abundance. This is currently a focal point of research in ecology and nowhere is spatial-temporal variation greater than in running waters. The communities of invertebrates that have evolved in concert with the unique patterns of physico-chemical variability typical of these habitats exhibit a range of traits that is most useful in testing modern ecological paradigms. For example, invertebrates in these habitats have evolved highly diverse life histories that are linked to environmental stability and adversity. Members of my laboratory are currently examining the role of these traits in community formation in a range of freshwater situations.
Current Projects
[see Personal Home Page - click on name above]