Ecological systems are rarely constant through time. The abundances of predators & prey and competitors & mutualists fluctuate, driven by biotic interactions and underlying variation in precipitation, nutrients, and temperature. This reality challenges our ability to study ecology and disentangle its underlying mechanisms, both empirically and theoretically. Temporal variation is more than just a nuisance: it contributes to creating and maintaining the diversity of ecological communities, as changing environmental conditions favor different species at different times. Tradeoffs limit the ability of individual species to perform optimally in every situation; as a consequence, times that are the best for some species are likely to be the worst for others. Temporal variation can also drive evolution by imposing selective pressures on the traits that allow species to succeed under particular conditions. Together, the interaction of ecological and evolutionary processes influences how many species can coexist and their identity and traits. To better understand the diversity, composition, and function of communities, I adopt a synthetic, eco-evolutionary approach to studying coexistence in temporally variable environments. I seek to understand how evolution modifies the functioning of ecological communities and under what conditions this is possible. My work includes both theoretical investigations, applying mathematical tools and approximations to the dissection, analysis, and interpretation of models, and efforts to create models that generate testable predictions.
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