RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research incorporates theoretical, experimental and demographic methods to address factors that regulate plant populations and communities. Because plants are immobile and habitats are heterogeneous, the individual responses of plants to patchy resource distribution will influence the spatial distribution of community members. The local environment of individuals differs from the average environment of the population and will influence population dynamics. An important question is how individualistic responses of plants affect population, community, and ecosystem processes. I address this question by merging information on the spatial distribution of resources and the differential responses of neighboring individuals to the spatial characteristics of their environment.

Selected Publications

Miriti, M. N., S. J. Wright and H. F. Howe. 2001. The effects of neighbors on a dominant desert shrub (Ambrosia dumosa). Ecological Monographs. 71(4):491-509.

Howe, H. F. and M. N. Miriti. 2000. No question: seed dispersal matters. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 15(11):434-436.

Miriti, M.N., H. F. Howe, and S. J. Wright. 1998. Spatial patterns of mortality in a desert perennial plant community. Plant Ecology 136:41-51.