Faculty by Research Areas
Todd M. Palmer
Assistant Professor
PhD, UC Davis, 2001
411 Carr Hall
P.O. Box 118525
Gainesville, FL
32611-8525
(352) 392-6357
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., M. L. Stanton, T. P. Young, J. R. Goheen, R. Pringle and R. Karban. 2008. Breakdown of an ant-plant mutualism follows the loss of large herbivores from an African savanna. Science 319:192-195
Palmer, T. M. and A. K. Brody. 2007. Mutualism as reciprocal exploitation: African plant-ants defend foliar but not reproductive structures. Ecology 3004-3011.
Goheen, J. R., T. P. Young, F. Keesing and T. M. Palmer. 2007. Consequences of herbivory by large mammals to reproductive fitness of a savanna tree. Journal of Ecology 95:129-138.
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.
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.
