As head of the department, I coordinate and facilitate departmental research, extension and instructional programs addressing LSU AgCenter and College of Agriculture missions. I respond to, and forward, requests for information about departmental activities and our undergraduate and graduate programs.
Current Research Interest:
I am continuing long-term studies of canopy arthropod responses to hurricanes and other disturbances in forest ecosystems. I now have fourteen years of data for post-Hugo (1989) and post-Georges (1998) recovery of canopy arthropod communities in tropical rainforests at the Luquillo Experimental Forest Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site in Puerto Rico. I am collaborating with colleagues at Oregon State University, National Taiwan University, and the Taiwan Forest Research Institute on comparison of the data from Puerto Rico with comparable data following typhoon disturbances in sub-tropical forests in Taiwan. Following Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Gustav (2008), I initiated studies in lowland hardwood forests in southeastern Louisiana. The combination of these databases from different forest types will improve our prediction of canopy arthropod responses to canopy-opening disturbances.
Research Databases:
http://cms.lsuagcenter.net/en/our_offices/departments/Entomology/Research/
http://luq.lternet.edu/data/lterdb96/metadata/lterdb96.htm
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Publications:
Refereed Journal Papers (since 2000)
Schowalter, T.D. 2008. INSECT herbivore responses to management practices in conifer forests in North America. Journal of SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY 26: 204-222.
Fonte, S.J. and T.D. Schowalter. 2005. The influence of a neotropical herbivore (Lamponius portoricensis) on nutrient cycling and soil processes. Oecologia 146: 423-431.
Schowalter, T.D. and Y.L. Zhang. 2005. Canopy arthropod assemblages in four overstory and three understory plant species in mixed-conifer old-growth forest in California. Forest Science 51: 233-242.
Schowalter, T.D., Y.L. Zhang and R.A. Progar. 2005. Canopy arthropod response to density and distribution of green trees retained after partial harvest. Ecological Applications 15: 1594-1603.
Fonte, S.J. and T.D. Schowalter. 2004. Decomposition of greenfall vs. senescent foliage in relation to herbivory and disturbance in a forest ecosystem. Biotropica 36: 374-382.
Schowalter, T.D., Y.L. Zhang and J.J. Rykken. 2003. Litter invertebrate responses to variable density thinning in western Washington forest. Ecological Applications 13: 1204-1211.
Progar, R.A. and T.D. Schowalter. 2002. Canopy arthropod assemblages along a precipitation and latitudinal gradient among Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii forests in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Ecography 25: 129-138.
Schowalter, T.D. and J.J. Morrell. 2002. Nutritional quality of Douglas-fir wood: effect of vertical and horizontal position on nutrient levels. Wood and Fiber Science 34: 158-164.
Schowalter, T.D. and J. Withgott. 2001. Rethinking insects: what would an ecosystem approach look like? Conservation Biology in Practice 2: 10-16.
Smith, J.P. and T.D. Schowalter. 2001. Aphid-induced reduction in shoot and root growth of Douglas-fir seedlings. Ecological Entomology 26: 411-416.
Progar, R., T.D. Schowalter, J.J. Morrell and C.M. Freitag. 2000. Respiration from coarse woody debris as affected by moisture and saprotroph functional diversity in western Oregon. Oecologia 124: 426-431.
Books and Book Chapters (since 2000)
Schowalter, T.D. 2007. Ecosystems: concepts, analyses and practical implications, Pp. 411-430, In: M. Kogan and P. Jepson, eds., Perspectives in Ecological Theory and Integrated Pest Management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Schowalter, T.D. 2006. Insect Ecology: an Ecosystem Approach, 2 nd Ed. Elsevier/Academic, San Diego, CA.
Fonte, S.J. and T.D. Schowalter. 2004. Decomposition in forest canopies. pp. 413-422, In: M.D. Lowman and B. Rinker, eds., Forest Canopies. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Schowalter, T.D. and L.M. Ganio. 2003. Diel, seasonal and disturbance-induced variation in invertebrate assemblages. pp. 315-328, In: Y. Basset, V. Navotny, S. Miller and R. Kitching, eds., Arthropods of Tropical Forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Christensen, N.L., Jr., S.V. Gregory, P.R. Hagenstein, T.A. Heberlein, J.C. Hendee, J.T. Olson, J.M. Peek, D.A. Perry, T.D. Schowalter, K. Sullivan, G.D. Tilman and K.A. Vogt. 2000. Environmental Issues in Pacific Northwest Forest Management. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
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