Stefan Schnitzer
Marquette University, WI·Ecology & Evolution
Tropical forests hold a remarkable number of tree species. A long-standing puzzle in ecology is why the strongest competitors don't simply crowd out weaker ones and reduce that diversity.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Plant Science & Agriculture
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
lianas
woody vines
tropical forests
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Sep 2026
What they work on
- Test whether lianas (woody vines) act as a keystone guild that keeps dominant tree species from crowding out weaker ones, using a large-scale liana-removal experiment in a tropical forest running since 2008.
- Compare changes in tree species richness, diversity and composition between liana-removal and control plots to see whether removing lianas lowers tree diversity.
- Test whether lianas suppress shade-tolerant tree populations more than shade-intolerant ones, shaping the competitive balance among tropical tree species.
More about the research
One possible answer is the keystone idea: some species have outsized effects that keep dominant competitors in check. This idea has been tested mainly with predators in simple marine communities. It has rarely been extended to guilds, groups of species with similar life strategies, or to complex communities like tropical forests. This project tests whether lianas, woody vines that climb trees, act as a keystone guild that maintains tree diversity in a tropical forest.
Why it matters
Species diversity shapes how ecosystems function, which in turn affects human and global health. Knowing whether lianas help maintain tree diversity could inform how highly diverse tropical forests are managed, for example whether liana removal is appropriate. It also tests whether the keystone species concept extends to whole groups of organisms in complex ecosystems.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jonathan Myers
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Ecology & Evolution
Determine how leaf secondary chemistry, the defense compounds that are not needed for basic growth, shapes local interactions among neighboring trees, by combining leaf metabolomics with growth and survival data from mapped forest plots.
Frank Jones
Oregon State University, OR·Ecology & Evolution
Test whether feedback between adult trees and same-species seedlings shifts from negative to positive as drought and nutrient stress increase, mediated by fungal pathogens and mutualists.
Elizabeth LaRue
University of Texas at El Paso, TX·Ecology & Evolution
Test whether higher tree species richness increases belowground biodiversity and thereby promotes complementary use of water and nutrients, using North America's longest-running large-scale forest biodiversity experiment.
The school
Marquette University: 4 labs on PI Pages, $49M a year on research, 69 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.