Department Research

Specialty Area: Biocomplexity


rainforest

Ecosystems

Purdue field scientists hike trails to inspect patterns of forest growth, probe digital imagery furnished by satellites, and collaborate with colleagues across the globe to address the biggest of biological pictures, ecosystems. Their studies take them from Indiana’s nearby Ross Biological Reserve to the rainforests of Costa Rica as they explore startling similarities in the challenges faced by each of these seemingly unrelated habitats. In particular, the thoroughly studied Ross Reserve is yielding critical insight into the ability of ecosystems to bounce back from human exposure.

Animal Behavior and Communication

Chickadees as one of humankinds closest relatives? Linguistically, it’s on the level. Because our closest ancestors don’t go in much for spoken communication, researchers are turning to the surprisingly sophisticated calls of Carolina chickadees in the quest for the roots of language. Old-fashioned field work blends with advanced digital analysis of each call. Ecology faculty member and Executive Editor of the Animal Behavior Society, Jeff Lucas, explains. “Chickadees who encounter birds from other regions quickly begin to show changes in their calls as they pick up the newcomer’s dialect. Sometimes whole flocks of birds will learn a new language from visitors – using a new library of sounds to convey the same meaning as before. Yes, they still mean to say ‘Alert! Danger!’ but they no longer say it the same way. We’re seeing deep into the fundamentals of the concept of language development here.” Other insights into cognition and behavior have followed. Recently, Lucas was the first to show that circannual rhythms, or internal cues, prompted chickadees to store food at higher rates during the fall and winter seasons.