McGill University
Postdoctoral fellow candidate
Supervisor: Pedro Peres-Neto
Start: 2015-01-05
End: 2016-06-30
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Project

Integrating ecological and evolutionary models
I use information on species' evolutionary history and functional traits to understand what structures ecological communities. Past ecological interactions affect the evolution of species, and I see no reason not to examine ecological and evolutionary interactions at the same time. I am broadly interested in ecology and evolutionary biology, and enjoy developing new methods that help answer an interesting question. My program phyloGenerator automates phylogeny creation for ecologists, and my R package pez helps with community phylogenetic models. Please get in touch - I like talking to people!

Keywords

community ecology, community phylogenetics, phylogeny, eco-evolutionary dynamics, evolution, ecosystem services

Publications

1- Using landscape history to predict biodiversity patterns in fragmented landscapes
Ewers, Robert M., Raphael K. Didham, William D. Pearse, Véronique Lefebvre, Isabel M. D. Rosa, João M. B. Carreiras, Richard M. Lucas, Daniel C. Reuman,
2013 Ecology Letters

2- Functional traits, the phylogeny of function, and ecosystem service vulnerability
Díaz, Sandra, Andy Purvis, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen, Georgina M. Mace, Michael J. Donoghue, Robert M. Ewers, Pedro Jordano, William D. Pearse
2013 Ecology and Evolution

3- phyloGenerator: an automated phylogeny generation tool for ecologists
Pearse, William D., Andy Purvis,
2013 Methods in Ecology and Evolution

4- pez: phylogenetics for the environmental sciences
Pearse, W. D., M. W. Cadotte, J. Cavender-Bares, A. R. Ives, C. M. Tucker, S. C. Walker, M. R. Helmus
2015 Bioinformatics

5- Using ecological thresholds to evaluate the costs and benefits of set-asides in a biodiversity hotspot
Banks-Leite, C., R. Pardini, L. R. Tambosi, W. D. Pearse, A. A. Bueno, R. T. Bruscagin, T. H. Condez, M. Dixo, A. T. Igari, A. C. Martensen, J. P. Metzger
2014 Science

6- Barro Colorado Island's phylogenetic assemblage structure across fine spatial scales and among clades of different ages
Pearse, William D., F. Andrew Jones, Andy Purvis
2013 Ecology