What happens when flowers bloom early, before birds arrive back from their winter migrations to pollinate them?  How will plant communities function under higher temperature conditions? These are the types of questions that ecologists Mary (Cassie) Stoddard, Jonathan Levine, and other Princeton modelers and mathematicians are exploring.

Clean water, nutritious foods, and the regulation of disease vectors are among the many products of healthy ecosystems. At Princeton, researchers are studying species in the field and modeling environmental change to gain insights into how plants, animals and ecosystems may function in the future with implications for human health and well-being. 

“Understanding how biodiversity and ecosystems at large respond to ongoing global change is absolutely critical to preserving ecosystems and the services they provide to the world,” said Jonathan Levine, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.