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Dr. Eoin O'Gorman School of Biology & Environmental Science |
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Research interests:
My research aims to combine food web theory with the study of diversity, stability and ecosystem functioning. I am interested in how species interact with each other in complex ecological networks. I have developed methods for predicting and measuring the strength of species interactions in collaboration with Dr. Mark Emmerson at University College Cork. Ongoing work demonstrates that manipulating species based on the strength of their interactions differentially affects ecosystem functioning and stability. I am also interested in how species extinctions affect food web patterns and processes. My research to date indicates that high levels of species turnover maintain important patterns of size structuring, including body mass-abundance relationships, in spite of cascading changes to ecosystem functioning.
Current project:
Body size is thought to be a critical functional trait in natural systems, contributing to interaction strength, metabolic rate and diet breadth. Other functional traits of interest include mobility, habitat requirements, gape size and foraging methods. Recently, functional trait diversity has emerged as a potentially important measurement of ecosystem functioning and stability. Yet, much confusion remains over which functional traits need to be preserved, how best to measure the functional components of biodiversity and how to predict the consequences of functional diversity loss. I aim to address these issues through a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Tasman Crowe at UCD, funded by IRCSET's EMPOWER initiative. I will combine laboratory and field experimentation with theoretical modelling (in collaboration with Dr Owen Petchey, University of Sheffield) to determine criteria for predicting the effect of functional diversity loss on aquatic systems.
Publications
O'Gorman, E.J. and Emmerson, M.C. (In press). Body mass-abundance relationships are robust to cascading effects in marine food webs. Oikos.
O'Gorman, E.J., Yearsley, J.M., Crowe T.P., Emmerson, M.C., Jacob, U. and Petchey, O.L. (In press). Loss of functionally unique species may gradually undermine ecosystems. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
O'Gorman, E.J. and Emmerson, M.C. (2010). Manipulating interaction strengths and the consequences for trivariate patterns in a marine food web. Advances in Ecological Research, 42, 301-419.
Woodward, G. Benstead, J. P., Beveridge, O.S., Blanchard, J., Brey, T., Brown, L., Cross, W.F., Friberg, N., Ings, T.C., Jacob, U., Jennings, S., Ledger, M.E., Milner, A.M., Montoya, J.M., O'Gorman, E.J., Olesen, J.M., Petchey, O.L., Pichler, D.E., Reuman, D.C., Thompson, M.S., Van Veen, F.J.F., Yvon-Durocher, G. (2010). Ecological networks in a changing climate. Advances in Ecological Research, 42, 71-138.
Olesen, J.M., Dupont, Y.L., O'Gorman, E.J., Ings, T.C., Layer, K., Melian, C.J., Troujelsgaard, K., Pichler, D.E., Rasmussen, C. and Woodward, G. (2010). From Broadstone to Zackenberg: Space, time and hierarchies in ecological networks. Advances in Ecological Research, 42, 1-69.
O’Gorman, E. J., Jacob, U., Jonsson, T. & Emmerson, M. C. (2010). Interaction strength, food web topology and the relative importance of species in food webs. Journal of Animal Ecology 79, 682–692.
O'Gorman, E. J. & Emmerson, M. C. (2009). Perturbations to trophic interactions and the stability of complex food webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 13393-13398. ( Supporting information )
Griffin, J.N., O’Gorman, E.J., Emmerson, M.C., Jenkins, S.R., Klein, A.M., Loreau, M. and Symstad, A.J. (2009). Biodiversity and the stability of ecosystem functioning. In: Naeem S, Bunker D, Hector A, Loreau M, Perrings C (eds), Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning, and Human Wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 78-93.
Petchey, O.L, O’Gorman, E.J. and Flynn, D.F.B. (2009). A functional guide to functional diversity measures. In: Naeem S, Bunker D, Hector A, Loreau M, Perrings C (eds), Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning, and Human Wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 49-59.
O’Gorman E.J., Enright R.A. & Emmerson M.C. (2008). Predator diversity enhances secondary production and decreases the likelihood of trophic cascades. Oecologia, 158, 569-578.
Research presentations:
O'Gorman, E.J., Yearsley, J.M., Crowe T.P., Emmerson, M.C., Jacob, U. and Petchey, O.L. (2010). Loss of functionally unique species may gradually undermine ecosystems. British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2010, University of Leeds, UK.
O'Gorman, E.J., Yearsley, J.M., Crowe T.P., Emmerson, M.C., Jacob, U. and Petchey, O.L. (2010). Loss of functionally unique species may gradually undermine ecosystems. 3rd International SIZEMIC Workshop, Institute of Marine Sciences, Barcelona, Spain.
O'Gorman, E.J. (2010). The importance of interaction strength for ecosystem functioning and stability. University College Dublin, School of Biology & Environmental Science Seminar Series.
O'Gorman, E.J. (2009). Consequences of interaction strength manipulations for food web structure and stability. University of Sheffield, Animal & Plant Sciences Seminar Series.
O'Gorman, E.J. & Emmerson, M.C. (2009). Perturbations to trophic interactions and the stability of complex food webs. 2nd DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference, Cape Town, South Africa.
O'Gorman, E.J. & Emmerson, M.C. (2009). Perturbations to trophic interactions and the stability of complex food webs. 2nd International SIZEMIC Workshop, Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Strömstad, Sweden.
O'Gorman, E.J., Jacob, U. & Emmerson, M.C. (2008). Interaction strength, food web topology and the relative importance of species in food webs. 43rd European Marine Biological Symposium 2008, University of the Azores, San Miguel Island, Azores (Portugal).
O'Gorman, E.J., Jacob, U. & Emmerson, M.C. (2008). Interaction strength, food web topology and the relative importance of species in food webs. British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2008, Imperial College London, UK.
O'Gorman, E.J. & Emmerson, M.C. (2007). Indirect effects in a marine food web. British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2007, University of Glasgow, UK.
O'Gorman, E.J., Enright, R.A. & Emmerson, M.C. (2007). Predator diversity increases the magnitude of a trophic cascade through trait mediated indirect interactions. Marine Biological Association Meeting, April 2007, University of Liverpool, UK.
O'Gorman, E.J., Enright, R.A. & Emmerson, M.C. (2007). Predator diversity increases the magnitude of a trophic cascade through trait mediated indirect interactions. Postgraduate Ecology Forum, March 2007, University College Dublin, Ireland.
O'Gorman, E.J. & Emmerson, M.C. (2006). The importance of intermediate predators for food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Marine Biological Association Meeting, May 2006, University College Dublin, Ireland.
O'Gorman, E.J. & Emmerson, M.C. (2006). The importance of intermediate predators for food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Postgraduate Ecology Forum, February 2006, University College Cork, Ireland.
Workshop participation:
Centre for Population Biology Network Meeting 2: Climate change & ecological networks: sentinel systems on the razor's edge. Silwood Park, Imperial College London, England, 2010. Dr. Guy Woodward organiser.
Network Imaging Workshop. University of Sheffield, England, 2009. Dr. Owen Petchey organiser.
Centre for Population Biology Network Meeting 1: Climate change & ecological networks: sentinel systems on the razor's edge. Silwood Park, Imperial College London, England, 2009. Dr. Guy Woodward organiser.
2nd International SIZEMIC Workshop. Strömstad, Sweden. 2009. Andrea Belgrano organiser.
Body Size and Redundancy: Across System Comparisons. Hathersage, England, 2009. Dr. Owen Petchey and Dr. Ute Jacob organisers.
BioMERGE (Biotic Mechanisms of Ecosystem Regulation in the Global Environment) Adaptive Synthesis Workshop IV. Ascona, Switzerland, 2006. Dr. Shahid Naeem and Dr. Daniel Bunker organisers.
InterACT (International Advancement of Community Ecology Theory) Workshop. Cork, Ireland, 2005. Dr. Mark Emmerson organiser.