Senior Lecturer and Research Associate
Mailing address:
Office phone: 615-322-2229
Lab phone: 615-343-4160
FAX: 615-343-0336
E-mail: d.althoff@vanderbilt.edu
Research interests
Our understanding of biodiversity requires research efforts at two levels: identifying the diversity of species on earth and studying the way these species interact to form communities and ecosystems. My research interests are at the interface of these two levels. I am interested in the evolution of species interactions and the consequences these interactions have for generating species diversity. I am trained as an evolutionary ecologist and address major questions important in understanding biodiversity rather than focusing on any particular taxonomic group. I have a strong interest in the evolution of antagonistic interactions and have worked with both vertebrate and invertebrate groups.
My current and future research directions center on examining
how the process of specialization in species interactions promotes
diversification. To this end, I employ a combination of field
observations, experimental studies, and molecular systematics
to address evolutionary and ecological questions at the population,
species, and higher taxonomic levels. Currently, I use the interactions
between parasitoids and their insect host species to examine how
the evolution of specialization may influence population structure
and speciation. Parasitoids are insects that complete development
on one host individual (similar to a parasite), but end up killing
the host (like a predator). Parasitoid groups include hymenopterans,
dipterans, coleopterans and members of several other insect orders
and are most familiar to us because of their importance in biological
control of insect pests. Next to phytophagous insects, parasitoids
are the second most species-rich group of organisms on earth and
we are only just beginning to unravel the mechanisms that have
generated this diversity. I believe that the same processes underlying
host specialization and diversification in phytophagous insects
are also operating in parasitoid species. Research on parasitoid
taxa provides a way to test the universality of hypotheses on
the evolution of host specialization and diversification proposed
for phytophagous insects.
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