| David Jennings Ph.D Student |
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Dave and Mrs. Norris (non-study organism)
Pink sundew (Drosera capillaris)
The wolf spider Sosippus floridanus
Piju, the newest addition to the chinchilla posse |
Contact Information Office: SCA 322 Ph.D. Biology, University of South Florida, 2007-Present |
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Research My main interests are in community and behavioral ecology, predator-prey interactions and conservation biology. For my Ph.D. thesis I am studying competition between carnivorous plants (pink sundews, Drosera capillaris) and animals (including spiders, lizards and toads). I am particularly interested in attempting to quantify any effects on fecundity and phenotypes, and in determining if competition with animals is more important for pink sundews than competition with other plant species. This research is taking place at several different field sites around the Hillsborough County area, and I am also planning to conduct greenhouse-based experiments testing similar hypotheses. For my M.S. thesis I investigated the effects of an extensive resort development on populations of juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) in Bimini, Bahamas. I found that both growth and survival rates of sharks had declined in locations close to where dredging had occurred, and that the habitat structure around the development had also been negatively impacted. To find out more about the Bimini Bay Resort and lemon shark conservation please follow the link to the Bimini Biological Field Station website further down the page. PublicationsJennings, D.E., Gruber, S.H., Franks, B.R., Kessel, S.T., Robertson, A.L. 2008. Effects of large-scale anthropogenic development on juvenile lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) populations of Bimini, Bahamas. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 83: 369-377
Presentations Jennings, D.E., Rohr, J.R. 2009. Do carnivorous plants and spiders partition resources? Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Meeting, Boston, MA Jennings, D.E., Gruber, S.H., Kessel, S.T., Franks, B.R., Robertson, A.L. 2006. Anthropogenic effects of large-scale resort development on juvenile lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) populations of Bimini. American Elasmobranch Society Meeting, New Orleans, LA Jennings, D.E., Gruber, S.H., Kessel, S.T., Franks, B.R., Robertson, A.L. 2006. Ecological effects of the extensive Bimini Bay Resort development on the juvenile lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris, Poey 1868) populations of Bimini, Bahamas. First International Symposium on Mangroves as Fish Habitat, Miami, FL News January 2009 - "Effects of large-scale anthropogenic development on juvenile lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) populations of Bimini, Bahamas" featured in The Washington Post
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