How can we study insect populations over entire landscapes?

Professor, Entomology

A long-term goal is to develop an understanding of the dynamics of insect populations at regional scales and their regulation by landscape characteristics, meteorological factors, disturbance and natural enemies. I have adopted the principles of landscape ecology to further this goal and to extend my knowledge about regional ecosystem geography. I direct the Computational Ecology and Bioinformatics Laboratory where faculty and students apply various spatial analytical technologies to access biological phenomena. We have developed several research projects that include investigation of the spatial dynamics of endemic and introduced insects at different spatial scales. These include statewide analysis of gypsy moth and landscape scale studies of agricultural insects including ladybird and ground beetles. We are also characterizing ecological and geographical factors associated with agriculture in the north central US as well as addressing human dimensions associated with land use. I teach principles of computational ecology in a course entitled Biological Information Systems. I am developing

and teaching, with a team of faculty, two trans-disciplinary courses in Earth System Science. As a Co-PI on the Kellogg NSF Long Term Ecological Research project, our research focus is on quantifying the role of insects in landscapes dominated by agriculture. I recently worked with a group of faculty to develop a GIS based land transformation simulation model. As a member of the governing board for the Alliance for Aerobiology Research, I am involved in quantifying the flow of biomass in the atmosphere. Recently, I spent a sabbatical at the San Diego Supercomputer Center where I investigated application of computer visualization for regional simulation modeling.

Clark, M.S., S.H. Gage and J.R. Spence. 1997. Habitats and management associated with common ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a Michigan agricultural landscape. Environ. Entomol. (Community and Ecosystem Ecology) 26:519-527.

Colunga-Garcia, M., S.H. Gage and D.A. Landis. 1997. The response of an assemblage of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) to a diverse agricultural landscape. Environ. Entomol. 26: 797-804.

Gage, S.H. and M. Colunga-Garcia. 1999. Perspectives on long-term assessment of arthropod populations at regional scales. Ann. Rev. Entomol. In Press.