Broad Themes
- Impact of forest communities and urbanization on species interactions across New England
- Effects of invasive and ornamental nonnative plants on terrestrial food webs
- Socio-ecological dynamics of residential yards and implications for biodiversity conservation
- Using plant-animal interactions to inform restoration and management
- Habitat and resource selection in natural and anthropogenic ecosystems
- Mechanistic approaches to urban ecology and global change
Impact of forest communities and urbanization on species interactions
Compared to historical assemblages, contemporary forest communities are novel in many ways, such as structure, composition, connectivity, age, diversity, and function. These differences are especially true in urban and urbanizing ecosystems where people continuously cultivate and manage plant communities for ecological, economic, and cultural services. In many forest types, losses of late-successional and foundation species can degrade forests and disrupt above- and below-ground ecological processes due to their disproportional weight in species interactions. Because of specialized relationships between plants, insects, and birds, novel forest assemblages can affect trophic relationships and spatial distributions of consumers; however, we lack a comprehensive understanding of behavioral, demographic, and community responses of wildlife to degraded tree communities.
My current research as a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow explores how changes in forest community composition and increasing urban infrastructure influences bird and insect communities at local, landscape and regional scales. Specifically, I am determining how management for Oak trees (Quercus sp.), a keystone species for Lepidoptera, may mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization on insectivorous birds. I am also exploring how urban-associated changes in forest phenology contribute to trophic mismatches in spring and fall as a proxy for future climate change. For this work I am currently focused on migratory birds that use New England forests as stopover habitat during their transcontinental journeys.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship, University of Delaware Doctoral Fellowship
Compared to historical assemblages, contemporary forest communities are novel in many ways, such as structure, composition, connectivity, age, diversity, and function. These differences are especially true in urban and urbanizing ecosystems where people continuously cultivate and manage plant communities for ecological, economic, and cultural services. In many forest types, losses of late-successional and foundation species can degrade forests and disrupt above- and below-ground ecological processes due to their disproportional weight in species interactions. Because of specialized relationships between plants, insects, and birds, novel forest assemblages can affect trophic relationships and spatial distributions of consumers; however, we lack a comprehensive understanding of behavioral, demographic, and community responses of wildlife to degraded tree communities.
My current research as a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow explores how changes in forest community composition and increasing urban infrastructure influences bird and insect communities at local, landscape and regional scales. Specifically, I am determining how management for Oak trees (Quercus sp.), a keystone species for Lepidoptera, may mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization on insectivorous birds. I am also exploring how urban-associated changes in forest phenology contribute to trophic mismatches in spring and fall as a proxy for future climate change. For this work I am currently focused on migratory birds that use New England forests as stopover habitat during their transcontinental journeys.
Relevant Publications:
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W., and Shropshire, K.J. (2020) Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species. Nature Communications, 11, 5751.
- Piel, G.*, Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L. Lepidoptera host records accurately predict tree use by foraging birds. Northeastern Naturalist, In press.
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W. Shropshire, K. Forest composition partially mitigates negative effects of urbanization on moth communities. In prep.
Funding: David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship, University of Delaware Doctoral Fellowship
A Myrtle warbler, one of our focal species to assess refueling (i.e., fat deposition), diet and stopover duration. Birds are briefly captured under federal and state permits by trained professionals.
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A popup Motus tower. We are using these temporary receivers to track stopover duration of short- and long-distance migrants tagged with radio transmitters at our banding sites.
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We are using Audiomoth automated recording units to simulateously record bird densities and auditory phenology (i.e., the 'spring soundscape').
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Prey availability is monitored using three techniques to rapidly assess contributes from different food webs: pitfall traps (the leaf litter food web), sticky traps (the aerial food web) and foliage searches (the vegetation food web).
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Effects of invasive and ornamental nonnative plants on terrestrial food webs
To protect themselves, plants have evolved special chemical defenses in their leaves to deter herbivory from insects. However, over evolutionary time, herbivorous insects have also adapted protection against certain plant defenses, resulting in insect species that are highly specialized to feed on particular plant species. One great example of this is the relationship between Monarch butterflies and Milkweed plants (genus Asclepias) --milkweed is the only plant genus that monarch caterpillars will eat with few exceptions. However, this degree of specialism is not unique to Monachs. In fact, when entomologists look across herbivorous Lepidoptera and Hemiptera, we find that most species (>90%) are specialized feeders on just one or a few different plant genera or families.
The loss of native plant species, and replacement by non-natives, reduces the availability of suitable host plants for insect herbivores because these insects are not adapted to feed on novel hosts. Non-native plants support fewer insect species than natives, which could also reduce the abundance and biomass of insects available for consumers - like insectivorous birds. This reduction in habitat quality may be particularly evident in urban and urbanizing landscapes where non-native plants are commonly used and extraordinarily abundant in landscaping because of horticultural preferences. Many ecologists had suggested that insectivorous birds may, in part, be negatively affected by non-native plants by way of reducing available food resources. For my doctoral research, I tested this hypothesis with the help of Neighborhood Nestwatch participants in Washington, D.C using Carolina chickadees as a model insectivore. I continue to explore this topic using a variety of new systems focusing on multitrophic interactions between plants, arthropods and birds.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: NSF DEB, The North American Bluebird Society, The Maryland Ornithological Society
To protect themselves, plants have evolved special chemical defenses in their leaves to deter herbivory from insects. However, over evolutionary time, herbivorous insects have also adapted protection against certain plant defenses, resulting in insect species that are highly specialized to feed on particular plant species. One great example of this is the relationship between Monarch butterflies and Milkweed plants (genus Asclepias) --milkweed is the only plant genus that monarch caterpillars will eat with few exceptions. However, this degree of specialism is not unique to Monachs. In fact, when entomologists look across herbivorous Lepidoptera and Hemiptera, we find that most species (>90%) are specialized feeders on just one or a few different plant genera or families.
The loss of native plant species, and replacement by non-natives, reduces the availability of suitable host plants for insect herbivores because these insects are not adapted to feed on novel hosts. Non-native plants support fewer insect species than natives, which could also reduce the abundance and biomass of insects available for consumers - like insectivorous birds. This reduction in habitat quality may be particularly evident in urban and urbanizing landscapes where non-native plants are commonly used and extraordinarily abundant in landscaping because of horticultural preferences. Many ecologists had suggested that insectivorous birds may, in part, be negatively affected by non-native plants by way of reducing available food resources. For my doctoral research, I tested this hypothesis with the help of Neighborhood Nestwatch participants in Washington, D.C using Carolina chickadees as a model insectivore. I continue to explore this topic using a variety of new systems focusing on multitrophic interactions between plants, arthropods and birds.
Relevant Publications:
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W. and Marra, P.P. (2017) Native plants improve breeding and foraging habitat for an insectivorous bird. Biological Conservation, 213: 42-50.
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy D.W. and Marra P.P. (2018) Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 45: 11549-11554.
- Narango, D.L. (2020) Natural History in the City: Connecting people with the ecology of their plant and animal neighbors. Invited submission for special issue: “Historia naturalis: Inspiring Ecology”. Journal of Natural History Education and Experience, 14, pp.13-17.
- Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L., Mitchell, A. Do nonnative plants contribute to insect population declines? Invited submission to special issue on “Insect Declines”. In press, Ecological Entomology.
- Narango, D.L., Carlo, T.A., Tallamy, D.W. and Marra P.P. Tracking nitrogen movement through native and nonnative plant-based food webs using a stable isotope tracer. In revision.
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W. and Marra P.P. Residential plant communities influence diet, parental effort and nestling condition of Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis). In prep.
- Narango, D.L. et al. Nonnative congeneric trees are poor quality host plants for Callosamia promethea. In prep.
Funding: NSF DEB, The North American Bluebird Society, The Maryland Ornithological Society
Socio-ecological dynamics of residential yards and implications for biodiversity conservation
Residential yards represent one of the most rapidly expanding, yet least understood, systems on earth, currently covering more than 20% of all the land in the United States. The management decisions homeowners make in their yards can have global effects on the abiotic and biotic properties of ecological systems. Residential yards present a conservation opportunity to connect the global public to the natural world, increase ecological knowledge, and support habitats for biodiversity that provide essential ecosystem services. By encouraging a new ethos of land management through a network of homeowners, conservation can make significant action that combines both human values and ecological needs. However, to revolutionize our current land ethic, ecologists must broaden the accessibility for diverse community participation, increase replicability by providing data-driven recommendations, and provide opportunities for residents to experience tangible outcomes of restoration. By emphasizing the importance of yard management decisions to the broader environmental landscape, ecologists and the public can form a partnership to transform our homes into land contributing to ecologically functional habitat.
In my postdoctoral research with Dr. Susannah Lerman from the USDA Forest Service and Dr. Peter Groffman from the City University of New York, I am analyzing bird, bee, and ground arthropod communities, environmental data, and geospatial land cover in six major metropolitan areas to determine the macroecological relationships between residential landscape management and biodiversity at local and landscape scales. This work is embedded within a larger interdisciplinary project with more than a dozen interdisciplinary collaborators from ecology, sociology, and geography working together to determine whether land sharing or land sparing tactics reduce ecological homogenization when scaled up to broader landscapes.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: NSF Macrosystems
Residential yards represent one of the most rapidly expanding, yet least understood, systems on earth, currently covering more than 20% of all the land in the United States. The management decisions homeowners make in their yards can have global effects on the abiotic and biotic properties of ecological systems. Residential yards present a conservation opportunity to connect the global public to the natural world, increase ecological knowledge, and support habitats for biodiversity that provide essential ecosystem services. By encouraging a new ethos of land management through a network of homeowners, conservation can make significant action that combines both human values and ecological needs. However, to revolutionize our current land ethic, ecologists must broaden the accessibility for diverse community participation, increase replicability by providing data-driven recommendations, and provide opportunities for residents to experience tangible outcomes of restoration. By emphasizing the importance of yard management decisions to the broader environmental landscape, ecologists and the public can form a partnership to transform our homes into land contributing to ecologically functional habitat.
In my postdoctoral research with Dr. Susannah Lerman from the USDA Forest Service and Dr. Peter Groffman from the City University of New York, I am analyzing bird, bee, and ground arthropod communities, environmental data, and geospatial land cover in six major metropolitan areas to determine the macroecological relationships between residential landscape management and biodiversity at local and landscape scales. This work is embedded within a larger interdisciplinary project with more than a dozen interdisciplinary collaborators from ecology, sociology, and geography working together to determine whether land sharing or land sparing tactics reduce ecological homogenization when scaled up to broader landscapes.
Relevant Publications:
- Cubino, P., Cavender-Bares J., Lerman, S. B., Groffman, P.M., Avolio, M.L., Trammell, T.L.E., Wheeler, M. M., Larson, K.L., Narango, D.L., Neill, C., Bratt, A.R., Hall, S. J., Hobbie, S.E. (2020) Taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional composition and homogenization of residential yard vegetation with contrasting management. Landscape and Urban Planning, 202, p.103877.
- Larson, K.L., Fleeger, M., Wheeler, M.M., Andrade, R., Brown, J., Hall, S.J., Lerman, S.B., Narango, D.L. (2020) Who’s abuzz about bees? Explaining Residents’ Attitudes in Phoenix, Arizona. Urban Ecosystems, 24: 35-48.
- Lerman, S.B. Narango, D.L., Avolio, M.L., Bratt, A.R., Engebretson, J.M., Groffman, P.M., Hall S.J., Heffernan, J.B., Hobbie, S.E., Larson, K.L., Locke, D.H., Neill, C., Nelson, K.C., Padullés Cubino, J., and Trammell, T.L.E. Macroecological patterns of local and landscape management on urban breeding bird communities; How does yard management affect community composition? Ecological Applications, in press.
- Larson K.L., Lerman, S., Nelson, K., Groffman P., Grove, M., Narango, D.L., Neil, C., Wheeler, M. Examining the potential to expand wildlife-supporting residential yards and gardens. Landscape and Urban Planning.
- Lerman, S.B., Narango, D.L., Goddard, M., Marra, P.P. Humanity for Habitat—Residential yards as an opportunity for conservation. In revision.
- Narango, D.L., 15+ additional coauthors. Urban land management and canopy cover affects ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) diversity across six US metropolitan cities. In prep.
- Grijseels, N. et al. 15+ additional coauthors. Evapotranspiration of residential lawns across the United States. In review, Water Resources Research.
- Narango, D.L., 15+ additional coauthors. Nature-based yards support higher potential for biodiversity-derived ecosystem services in cities across space and time. In prep.
Funding: NSF Macrosystems
Using plant-animal interactions to inform restoration and management
Wherever people cultivate plants, species are selected based on traits that support personal needs and values. Therefore, providing quantitative data that facilitates easy comparisons of plant species based on identity, phylogeny, functional or aesthetic traits can help managers make informed decisions that maximize benefits for both people and wildlife.
I use plant-animal interactions and coevolutionary theory to understand how informed plant selection can help restore and conserve interaction diversity, biodiversity, and ecological function in highly managed ecosystems. I am particularly interested in the value of network ecology for applied conservation, for example, by identifying how interaction networks vary spatially and temporally and whether some species are disproportionately crucial for supporting food webs. My future work in this area will take advantage of multiple publically available datasets (i.e., NEON, GBIF, iNaturalist) to understand community coexistence at national and international scales.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: USDA Forest Service, University of Delaware, Mount Cuba Center
Wherever people cultivate plants, species are selected based on traits that support personal needs and values. Therefore, providing quantitative data that facilitates easy comparisons of plant species based on identity, phylogeny, functional or aesthetic traits can help managers make informed decisions that maximize benefits for both people and wildlife.
I use plant-animal interactions and coevolutionary theory to understand how informed plant selection can help restore and conserve interaction diversity, biodiversity, and ecological function in highly managed ecosystems. I am particularly interested in the value of network ecology for applied conservation, for example, by identifying how interaction networks vary spatially and temporally and whether some species are disproportionately crucial for supporting food webs. My future work in this area will take advantage of multiple publically available datasets (i.e., NEON, GBIF, iNaturalist) to understand community coexistence at national and international scales.
Relevant Publications:
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W., and Shropshire, K.J. (2020) Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species. Nature Communications, 11, 5751
- Baisden, E.C., Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L., and Boyle E.. (2018) Do cultivars of native plants support insect herbivores? HortTechnology, 28(5): 596-606.
- Piel, G.*, Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L. Lepidoptera host records accurately predict tree use by foraging birds. Northeastern Naturalist, In press.
Funding: USDA Forest Service, University of Delaware, Mount Cuba Center
Habitat and resource selection in natural, anthropogenic, and managed ecosystems
My wildlife research applies habitat and resource selection theory to shared land uses occupied by both people and wildlife to understand how best to manage for ecological service and biodiversity. My work with birds spans the full annual cycle, including breeding, wintering and migratory periods. I aim to investigate whether 'bird-friendly' management styles in living- and working-land uses (e.g., urban, agriculture, timber and energy) effectively provide benefits to local biodiversity. For example, in my postdoctoral work with City University of New York and the Residential Macrosystems project, I explored whether 'Wildlife-friendly' yards (i.e, certified by the National Wildlife Federation) successfully support local bird and insect biodiversity and animal-derived ecological service. In collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and University of Delaware, I also have ongoing research evaluating relationships between canopy and understory tree management and migratory birds in shade-grown coffee farms.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: NSF Macrosystems, Disney Worldwide Conservation
My wildlife research applies habitat and resource selection theory to shared land uses occupied by both people and wildlife to understand how best to manage for ecological service and biodiversity. My work with birds spans the full annual cycle, including breeding, wintering and migratory periods. I aim to investigate whether 'bird-friendly' management styles in living- and working-land uses (e.g., urban, agriculture, timber and energy) effectively provide benefits to local biodiversity. For example, in my postdoctoral work with City University of New York and the Residential Macrosystems project, I explored whether 'Wildlife-friendly' yards (i.e, certified by the National Wildlife Federation) successfully support local bird and insect biodiversity and animal-derived ecological service. In collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and University of Delaware, I also have ongoing research evaluating relationships between canopy and understory tree management and migratory birds in shade-grown coffee farms.
Relevant Publications:
- Narango, D.L., Tallamy, D.W., Snyder, K.J.*, and Rice, R.A. (2019) Canopy tree preference by insectivorous birds in shade‐coffee farms: Implications for migratory bird conservation. Biotropica, 51(3): 387-398.
- Newell, F.L., Haiman, A.K., Narango, D.L., Means, J., Leonhard, L.D., Philhower-Gillen, J., Johnson, A.M., Rodewald, A.D. (2013) Polygyny and Double Brooding in the Eastern Wood-Pewee. Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 125(2):251-259.
- Keilsohn W., Narango, D.L., and Tallamy D.W. (2018) Roadside habitat impacts insect traffic mortality. Journal of Insect Conservation, 22(2): 183-188
- Lerman, S.B, Narango, D.L., Andrande, R., Warren, P.W., Grade, A., Straley, K. Book Chapter: Wildlife in the city: human drivers and human consequences. In: Urban Ecology: Its Nature and Challenge.
- Narango, D.L. Book Chapter: Habitat selection in human-dominated landscapes. In: Songbird behavior and conservation in the Anthropocene. In press.
- Lerman, S.B. Narango, D.L., Avolio, M.L., Bratt, A.R., Engebretson, J.M., Groffman, P.M., Hall S.J., Heffernan, J.B., Hobbie, S.E., Larson, K.L., Locke, D.H., Neill, C., Nelson, K.C., Padullés Cubino, J., and Trammell, T.L.E. Macroecological patterns of local and landscape management on urban breeding bird communities; How does yard management affect community composition? Ecological Applications, in press.
- Narango, D. L., Brandao, M.*, Tallamy, D.W., Rice, R.A. Foraging niche and tree preferences of Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia) differs with sex and age in a Bird-friendly® shadecoffee farm. Journal of Field Ornithology, in revision.
- Narango, D.L., 15+ additional coauthors. Urban land management and canopy cover affects ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) diversity across six US metropolitan cities. In prep.
Funding: NSF Macrosystems, Disney Worldwide Conservation
Mechanistic approaches to urban ecology and global change
As landscapes become increasingly developed, numerous abiotic and biotic properties are altered, resulting in urban-associated patterns of abundance and diversity across wildlife taxa. Thus, 'urban ecosystems' are not one thing but a mosaic of different human-associated drivers. Experimental and observational studies of the specific mechanisms that contribute to these patterns can help identify which urbanization features can be successfully managed to facilitate wildlife habitat. In my work, I have frequently focused on the impacts of sensory pollution on avian behavior and population demography. Specifically, I have studied the impact of anthropogenic noise on bird songs and artificial light on migratory bird habitat use. Going forward, I am keenly interested in conducting complementary experiments in natural settings in conjunction with longer-term observational data comparing natural and urban ecosystems to provide results relevant to applied management and ecological theory.
Relevant Publications:
Funding: NSF DEB, University of Delaware Undergraduate Research Fellowship
As landscapes become increasingly developed, numerous abiotic and biotic properties are altered, resulting in urban-associated patterns of abundance and diversity across wildlife taxa. Thus, 'urban ecosystems' are not one thing but a mosaic of different human-associated drivers. Experimental and observational studies of the specific mechanisms that contribute to these patterns can help identify which urbanization features can be successfully managed to facilitate wildlife habitat. In my work, I have frequently focused on the impacts of sensory pollution on avian behavior and population demography. Specifically, I have studied the impact of anthropogenic noise on bird songs and artificial light on migratory bird habitat use. Going forward, I am keenly interested in conducting complementary experiments in natural settings in conjunction with longer-term observational data comparing natural and urban ecosystems to provide results relevant to applied management and ecological theory.
Relevant Publications:
- Narango, D.L. and Rodewald, A.D. (2017) Signal information of bird song changes in human-dominated landscapes. Urban Ecosystems, 21(1): 41-50.
- Narango, D.L., and Rodewald, A.D. (2016) Urban-associated drivers of song variation along a rural–urban gradient." Behavioral Ecology 27.2 (2016): 608-616.
- Keilsohn W.*, Narango, D.L., and Tallamy D.W. (2018) Roadside habitat impacts insect traffic mortality. Journal of Insect Conservation, 22(2): 183-188
Funding: NSF DEB, University of Delaware Undergraduate Research Fellowship
* indicates undergraduate mentee
