Dr. Bénédicte Bachelot
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Plant Biology, Ecology, and Evolution
310 Physical Sciences, Stillwater, OK 74078-3013, USA
405-744-5103
benedicte.bachelot@okstate.edu
Teaching
PBIO 1404 Plant Biology, every fall semester.
Basic concepts in the biology of plants from the perspective of structure and function, ecology and evolution, and diversity.
BIOL 3034 General Ecology, every semester
An overview of the study of organisms interacting with each other and their environment at individual, population, community, and ecosystem levels of organization. Includes human interaction with ecological systems.
Research
My research program focuses on the high tree diversity in the tropical forest. How can so many species coexist in the same forest? To address this question, I combine field observations, computer approached, and theoretical modeling. The majority of tropical tree species associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These mutualists can alter the effects of natural enemies (herbivores, pathogens, etc) on seedling dynamics. My research program investigates how natural enemies and fungi influence seedling dynamics and plant species coexistence. A second main question of my research program is to understand how plant communities are responding to climate change. I am currently collaborating on a tropical warming experiment in Puerto Rico to uncover some of the effects of warming on understory plant communities in a tropical rainforest.
Recent Publications
Liu, J., et al. Predicting the responses of subalpine forest landscape dynamics to climate change on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (in press). Global Change Biology.
Villellas J., et al. Observational data predicts genetic differentiation in reproductive but not vegetative traits in a widespread short-lived plant (in press). Ecology Letters.
Bachelot B., Alonso-Rodríguez A.M., Aldrich-Wolfe L., Cavaleri M.A., Reed S.C., and Wood T.E. (2020). Altered climate leads to positive density-dependent feedbacks in a tropical rainforest. Global Change Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15087
Howe-kerr L., Bachelot B., Wright R.M., Kendel C.D.; Bay L.K., and Correa A.M.S. (2020). Symbiont community diversity is more variable in host genets that respond poorly to stress. Global Change Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14999
Bachelot B., and C. Lee (2020). Disturbances can promote and hinder coexistence of competitors in on-going partner choice mutualism. The American Naturalist. https://doi.org/10.1086/707258
Yao Jie, Bachelot B., zhang C.; Meng L.; Qin J., and Zhao X. (2019). Abiotic niche partitioning and negative density dependence across multiple life stages in a temperate forest in northeastern China. Journal of Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13335
Hogan J., Hérault B., Bachelot B., Gorel A., Baraloto C., Jounieaux M. (2018). Understanding the recruitment response of juvenile tropical trees to logging intensity using functional traits. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1776
Bachelot B., Uriarte M., Muscarella R., Forero-Montaña J., Thompson J., McGuire K., Zimmerman J.K., Swenson N.G. and J.S. Clark. (2018). Associations among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and seedlings are predicted to change with tree successional status. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1683
Bachelot B., and C. Lee (2018). Dynamic preferential allocation to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi explains fungal succession and coexistence. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2080
Bachelot B., et al. (2017). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and natural enemies promote coexistence of tropical tree species. Ecology. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.1683/full
Taylor B., Chazdon R., Bachelot B., and D. Menge (2017). Nitrogen-fixing trees inhibit growth of regenerating Costa Rican rainforests. PNAS. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/07/25/1707094114.abstract