Todd M. Palmer

personal site

Assistant Professor
PhD, UC Davis, 2001

411 Carr Hall
P.O. Box 118525
Gainesville, FL
32611-8525
(352) 392-6357

tmpalmer@zoology.ufl.edu

Research Interest

I am a community ecologist with broad research interests, including species coexistence, the ecology and evolution of mutualisms, and the role of ecosystem engineers in structuring rangeland communities. Most of my work is conducted in East Africa, although I have also worked in alpine streams, meadows and prairies of the western U.S. My current projects include 1) long-term studies of species coexistence in a guild of African acacia ants, 2) costs, benefits and conditionality within a multi-species ant-plant mutualism, 3) a large-scale exclosure project examining the influence of different guilds of large African mammals on biodiversity and productivity within semi-arid rangelands, and 4) the role of termites in structuring African savannas and bushlands. These projects are funded by the National Science Foundation. More detail on these projects can be found on my personal site.

Interested Students

If you are an interested potential graduate student or post-doc, please contact me via e-mail.

Representative Publications

Palmer, T. M. 2003. Spatial habitat heterogeneity influences competition and coexistence in an African acacia ant guild. Ecology 84: 2843-2855.

Palmer, T. M. 2004. Wars of attrition: colony size determines competitive outcomes in a guild of African acacia-ants. Animal Behaviour 68: 993-1004

Palmer, T. M., M. L. Stanton, and T. P. Young. 2003. Competition and coexistence: exploring mechanisms that restrict and maintain diversity within mutualist guilds. American Naturalist 162: S63-79.

Huntzinger, P. M., R. Karban, T. P. Young, and T. M. Palmer. 2004. Relaxation of induced indirect defenses of acacias following removal of mammalian herbivores. Ecology 85: 609-614

Young, T. P., T. M. Palmer and M. E. Gadd. 2005. Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and elephants in a semi-arid range land in Laikipia, Kenya. Biological Conservation 122: 351-359.

Stanton, M. L., T. M. Palmer, T. P. Young, A. Evans, and M. L. Turner. 1999. Sterilization and canopy modification of a swollen thorn acacia tree by a plant-ant. Nature 401:578-581.