Ecologist
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
P.O. Box 28
Edgewater, Maryland 21037
Research Interests
Animal-plant interactions; insect-plant interactions in estuarine and forested ecosystems; the role of insects, in particular wood-boring insects, in forested ecosystems; effects of resource availability on animal-plant dynamics; within-stand nutrient cycling and adaptations for nutrient conservation in forested ecosystems; mangrove ecology; coastal and estuarine ecosystems; physiological ecology; conservation ecology; environmental education.
Current Research Projects
Effects of nutrient availability and spatial heterogeneity on food web complexity in mangrove ecosystems
Impact of nutrient loading on hurricane damage and recovery in mangrove ecosystems
Current or Projected Exhibits
http://www.serc.si.edu/labs/animal_plant_interaction/Trail/VirtualTour.html
Recent Publications
1. Feller, I.C. & A.H. Chamberlain. In press. Herbivore responses to nutrient enrichment and landscape heterogeneity in a mangrove ecosystem. Oecologia.
2. Feller I.C., C.E. Lovelock, & K.L. McKee. In press. Nutrient addition differentially affects ecological processes of Avicennia germinans in nitrogen vs. phosphorus limited mangrove ecosystems. Ecosystems.
3. McKee, K.L, J.E. Rooth, & I.C. Feller. In press. Mangrove recruitment after forest disturbance is facilitated by herbaceous species common to the Caribbean region. Ecological Application.
4. McKee, K.L, D. Cahoon, & I.C. Feller. In press. Caribbean mangroves adjust to rising sea-level through biotic controls on soil elevation change. Global Ecology and Biogeography.
5. Lovelock, C.E., I.C. Feller, J. Ellis, A.M. Schwarz, N. Hancock, & Brian Sorrell. In press. Mangrove growth in New Zealand estuaries: The role of nutrient enrichment at sites with contrasting rates of sedimentation. Oecologia.
6. Rodriguez, W., R.M. Wright, D.W. Urish, & I.C. Feller. In press. Relationships between tidal exposure (drying) frequency and normalized difference in vegetation index (NDVI) in a mangrove island ecosystem, Belize, Central America. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.
7. Erickson, A.A., I.C. Feller, V.J. Paul, L.M. Kwiatkowski, & W. Lee. In press. Selection of an omnivorous diet by the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii. Journal of Sea Research.
8. Lovelock, C.E., M.C. Ball, B. Choat, B.M.J. Engelbrecht, N.M. Holbrook & I.C. Feller. 2006a. Linking physiological processes with mangrove forest structure: phosphorus deficiency limits canopy development, hydraulic conductivity and photosynthetic carbon gain in dwarf Rhizophora mangle. Plant, Cell and Environment 29: 793–802.
9. Lovelock, C.E., M.C. Ball, I.C. Feller, B.M.J. Engelbrecht & M.L. Ewe. 2006b. Variation in hydraulic conductivity of mangroves: Influence of species, salinity, and nitrogen and phosphorus availability. Physiologia Plantarum 127: 457- 464.
10. Lovelock, C.E., I.C. Feller, M. C. Ball, B. M. J. Engelbrecht & M.L. Ewe. 2006c. Differences in plant function in phosphorus and nitrogen limited mangrove ecosystems. New Phytologist 172: 514-522.
Updated -11/13/07
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