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
(847) 835-6931

Graduate Faculty Memberships

Northwestern University, Plant Biology and Conservation

Research Interests

Restoration ecology
Invasive plant species
Plant community ecology
Plant-soil feedbacks
Wetland and terrestrial ecology

Statement

Ecological management and restoration efforts often fail to produce biologically diverse communities that function like reference sites over the long term. My overall goal is to conduct research that informs restoration efforts and improves our ability to mimic nature.

Invasive plants play a special role in restoration, acting both as a major impetus for restoration and as a major obstacle to achieving restoration goals. By better understanding how invasive species change community structure and ecosystem functioning, we can develop improved strategies for controlling invasive plants and reversing their effects.

My recent research has focused on plant community and ecosystem effects of Typha x glauca (hybrid cattail) invasion in Greal Lakes coastal wetlands. This invasive cattail occurs throughout the Midwest, often forming dense monotypes that reduce plant species diversity and alter soil and environmental processes.

Upcoming projects include the following:

Testing the sensitivity of different vegetation indicator protocols for assessment of wetland condition (PBC M.S. student Betsy Riley)
Effects of Rhamnus cathartica (buckthorn) invasion and removal on carbon dynamics in the Garden's McDonald Woods (with ecologist Jim Steffen)
Investigating restoration outcomes in Chicago-area woodlands and prairies

Selected publications

Jankowski, K.J., P. Geddes, D.J. Larkin, and N.C. Tuchman. Submitted. Habitat characteristics associated with Typha x glauca invasion influence patterns in wetland denitrification potential. Wetlands.

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

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.

Zedler, J.B., C.L. Bonin, D.J. Larkin, and A. Varty. 2008. Salt marshes. Encyclopedia of Ecology, S.E. Jorgensen and B.D. Fath, eds. Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 3132-3141.

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 18:483-496.

Zedler, J.B., D.A. Falk, and D.J. Larkin. 2007. Upstart views of restoration icons. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 88:104-112.

Larkin, D.J., G. Vivian-Smith, and J.B. Zedler. 2006. Topographic heterogeneity: Theory and ecological restoration. Foundations of Restoration Ecology, D.A. Falk, M.A. Palmer, and J.B. Zedler, eds. Island Press: Washington, D.C., pp. 142-164.