Linda Deegan

Woodwell Climate Research Center

ldeegan@woodwellclimate.org

Woods Hole , Massachusetts 02543

Dr. Deegan is interested in the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and animal populations. As the trophic-dynamic model of whole ecosystems gained favor in the 1960's and 70's, the importance of animals in structuring ecosystems was neglected. New interest in the role of animals in ecosystems has been stimulated by work in community ecology that demonstrated that keystone species strongly influence community composition and work as "top-down" controls on productivity. We now know that grazing, predation and physical disturbance by animals can influence a host of processes at the ecosystem level. Dr. Deegan's research combines the ecosystem perspective of energy and nutrient flows with traditional population and community dynamics. Through collaboration with other scientists at the center, she is also able to assess how animals influence processes like nutrient regeneration. One of her current interests is the ways that animals, through feeding, constructing burrows, or migration can regulate or modify biogeochemical cycles.