Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Science — OUR SCIENTISTS

Daniel Larkin, Ph.D.

Conservation Scientist, Community Ecology
David Byron Smith Family Curator of Native Habitats

Ph.D., Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2006


PUBLICATIONS
phone (847) 835-6931
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Graduate Faculty Memberships

  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Plant Biology and Conservation, Northwestern University
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology

Research Interests

  • Restoration ecology
  • Community ecology
  • Wetland ecology
  • Invasion biology
  • Ecosystem services

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Statement

Ecological restoration, "the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed" (Society for Ecological Restoration International), is a vital conservation strategy that is difficult to do well. I am interested in what factors constrain the recovery of degraded habitats, and the extent to which different restoration approaches can overcome those constraints.

For example, invasive plant species can profoundly alter the habitats they invade, decreasing local diversity of plants and animals and changing aspects of the physical and chemical environment, nutrient cycling, and other processes. Restoration is not just a matter of removing the invasive species itself, but of dealing with the legacy invasion leaves behind.

My students and I conduct research to better understand the process of ecological recovery, the factors that limit restoration effectiveness, and the ability of restored sites to perform key functions and services such as biodiversity support, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling.

Ongoing projects include the following:

  • Biodiversity patterns of native bee communities and bee responses to grassland restoration (Ph.D. student Becky Tonietto)
  • Restoration of degraded plant communities in the Colorado Plateau (with Andrea Kramer, Jeremie Fant, and Krissa Skogen)
  • Wetland denitrification following vegetation change and restoration (Ph.D. student Paul Hartzog)
  • Restoration of woodland legumes (M.S. student Byron Tsang and Jim Steffen)
  • Effects of plant-community structure and restoration on use of wetlands by secretive marsh birds (M.S. student Wesley Glisson)

Selected publications

Larkin, D.J. 2011. Lengths and correlates of lag phases in upper-Midwest plant invasions. Biological Invasions DOI:10.1007/s10530-011-0119-3.

Mitchell, M.E., S.C. Lishawa, P. Geddes, D.J. Larkin, D. Treering, and N.C. Tuchman. 2011. Time-dependent impacts of cattail invasion in a Great Lakes coastal wetland complex. Wetlands DOI:10.1007/s13157-011-0225-0.

Tonietto, R., J. Fant, J. Ascher, K. Ellis, and D. Larkin. 2011. A comparison of bee communities of Chicago green roofs, parks and prairies. Landscape and Urban Planning DOI:10.1016/j.landurbanplan.2011.07.004.

Larkin, D.J., M.J. Freyman, S.C. Lishawa, P. Geddes, and N.C. Tuchman. 2011. Mechanisms of dominance by the invasive hybrid cattail Typha x glauca. Biological Invasions DOI:10.1007/s10530-011-0059-y.

Tuchman, N.C., D.J. Larkin, P. Geddes, R. Wildova, K.J. Jankowski, and D.E. Goldberg. 2009. Patterns of environmental change associated with Typha x glauca invasion in a Great Lakes coastal wetland. Wetlands 29:964-975.

Larkin, D.J., J.M. West, and J.B. Zedler. 2009. Created pools increase food availability for fishes in a restored salt marsh. Ecological Engineering 35:65-74.

Larkin, D.J., S.P. Madon, J.M. West, and J.B. Zedler. 2008. Topographic heterogeneity influences fish use of an experimentally restored tidal marsh. Ecological Applications 18:483.


Current Graduate Students

Jennifer Alyah (M.S.)
Wesley Glisson (M.S.)
Paul Hartzog (Ph.D. candidate)
Rebecca Tonietto (Ph.D. candidate)
Byron Tsang (M.S.)
Erin Vander Stelt (M.S.)