D. Alexander Wait's Laboratory               

Lab Images: Wait;Baja-rainbow;ChuckieChuckwalla;BiologicalRockCrust; StudentResearch

• Research Interests: I am a plant physiological ecologist with interests in arid plant ecophysiology, arid community interactions, fire ecology in oak/hickory forests and plant/animal interactions. My research addresses questions related to species diversity and plant productivity in arid regions affected by allochthonous inputs (e.g., seabird guano, algae, seaspray), how resource supply (e.g., CO₂, nitrogen) affects arthropod damage via changes in plant chemistry and leaf development, and how prescribed burns in oak/hickory forests affect soil respiration, plant gas exchange, and feeding by herbivores. This research addresses questions related to the conservation of island systems and oak/hickory savannahs, and how changes in resource supply and ratios affect amounts of herbivore damage in natural,  managed and agricultural systems.

• Openings for Graduate Students: Research opportunities exist for students interested in plant ecology, plant/animal interactions, plant responses to environmental variability and other related areas (see below for past and present graduate projects). Funding for the school year (including tuition waiver) is provided through teaching assistantships or research assistantships. Summer funding is generally available. Contact me at AlexanderWait@Missouristate.edu or (417) 836-5802.

• Summer Field Courses at Bull Shoals Field Station

•  CV
• Recent Publications, Grants, and Presentations
• pdf versions of recent publications: Oecologia (1999);  Ecology Letters (2001; 4:292-294); Journal of Ecology (2001; 89:670-680); Oecologia (2002; 132:175-180); Environmental Entomology (2002; 31(5):836-843); Journal of Biogeography (2003; 30: 1575-1581); National Park Service (2003); Journal of Arid Environments (2005; 60:681-695.); Oikos (2005; 109:145-153); Oecologia (2005; 145:541-548); Biology and Fertility of Soils (2006; 43:263-266); Missouriensis (2006; 25:7-21); American Journal of Botany (2006; 93:978-987)

• Teaching:

• BIO 122. General Biology II. Diversity; Animal and Plant Form and Function; Ecology
• BIO 436/636. Plant Ecology
• BIO 544. Plant Physiology (with Dr. Einhellig)
• BIO 533. Wetlands (with Dr. Havel)
• BIO 567. Physiological Ecology (with Drs. Einhellig and Tomasi)
• BIO 579. Conservation Biology
• BIO 628. Graduate Seminar (Selected Topics)

• Current Projects:

• Growth and reproductive compensation to herbivory in Abutilon (Velvet Leaf)
• Productivity and Biodiversity in Managed and Unmanaged Ozark Forests
• Physiological and ecological mechanisms determining plant species composition on islands in Baja California, Mexico (Recent ESA Poster)

• Graduate and Undergraduate Student Research:

        Completed Theses:

Pam Brown (May 2005): "Foliar herbivory on understory oaks as a function of forest type and prescribed burning" (word.doc)

Doug Aubrey (August 2004): "Savanna restoration through prescribed fire: demographic and physiological responses of oak and hickory seedlings and saplings to a changing light environment" (pdf)

Cynthia Andre (May 2003): "Biology of the rare woodland perennial Trillium pusillum Micheaux (Lilaceae) in southwest Missouri" (word.doc)

Kyle Barrett (August 2002):  "The effect of spatial subsidies on the diet, density, and species richness of insular lizards in the Gulf of California" (pdf for journal articles, JB, Oikos)

        Graduate Theses for the entire Department

• Ecology and Biology Links (Societies, Research, Teaching, Resources)

• Visit the Missouri State Bull Shoals Field Station Web Page for research opportunities, and biology in the Ozarks

• Visit the Missouri State Biology Department and University Web Page

Last revised on 25 May, 2007

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For further information contact Dr. Wait, (417) 836-5802 webmaster