The goals of Dr. Currie’s research program are: 1) to identify broad-scale patterns in the distribution, abundance and diversity of life; 2) to determine which environmental variables exert the strongest control on those patterns, and 3) to determine how human activities influence them. Recent research focuses on influences of climate, habitat conversion and pesticide use on these properties of natural systems.
Selected publications
- Currie, D. J., G. G. Mittelbach, H. V. Cornell, R. Field, J.-F. Guégan, B. A. Hawkins, D. M. Kaufman, J. T. Kerr, T. Oberdorff, E. O'Brien, J. R. G. Turner. 2004 Predictions and tests of climate-based hypotheses of broad-scale variation in taxonomic richness. Ecology Letters 7(12): 1121-1134.
- Currie, D. J. and A. Francis. 2004. Regional versus climatic effect on taxon richness in angiosperms: Reply to Qian and Ricklefs. American Naturalist 163:780-785.
- Hernandez-Acevedo, D. and Currie, D. J. 2003 Does climate determine broad-scale patterns of species richness? A test of the causal link by natural experiment. Global Ecology & Biogeography 12(6):461-473.
- Hawkins, B. A., R. Field, H. V. Cornell, D. J. Currie, J.-F. Guégan, D. M. Kauffman, J. T. Kerr, G. G. Mittelbach, T. Oberdorff, E. M. O'Brien, E. E. Porter, and J. R G. Turner 2003 Energy, water and broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness. Ecology 84:3105-3117.
- Currie, D. J. 2003. Conservation of endangered species and the patterns and propensities of biodiversity. La préservation des espèces en péril et les patterns et propensions de la biodiversité. Comptes Rendus Biologie 326 Suppl 1:98-103.
- Francis, A. and Currie, D. J. 2003. A globally consistent richness-climate relationship for angiosperms. American Naturalist 161:523-536. Lee, M., Fahrig, L., Freemark, K., and Currie, D. J. 2002. Importance of patch scale vs. landscape scale on selected forest birds. Oikos 96:110-118.
- Mackey, R. L. and Currie, D. J. 2001. The disturbance-diversity relationship: is it generally strong and peaked? Ecology 82(12): 3479-3492.
- Currie, D. J. 2001. Projected effects of climate change on patterns of vertebrate and tree species richness in the conterminous United States. Ecosystems. 4:216-225.
- Hansen, A. J., R. P. Neilson, V. Dale, C. Flather, L. Iverson, D. J. Currie, S. Shafer, R. Cook, P. J. Bartlein. 2001. Global change in forests: Responses of species, communities, and biomes. BioScience 51:765-779.
- Rivard, D. H. , J. Poitevin, D. Plasse, M. Carleton and D. J. Currie. 2000. Species richness and changes in species composition in Canada's national parks: With-in park habitat and the regional context. Conservation Biology. 14:1099-1110.
- Mackey, R. L., and D. J. Currie. 2000. A re-examination of the expected relationship between diversity and disturbance. Oikos 88:483-493.