Populations and communities ecology examines how species interact with their environments and with one another across groups of individuals and across multiple species.
Population ecology focuses on the dynamics of particular species, including patterns of abundance, persistence, biodiversity, and extinction.
Community ecology expands this perspective to explore interactions among species and populations, including topics such as species richness, predation, competition, and food webs. Together, these approaches help researchers understand how ecological communities are structured, how they change over time, and how they respond to environmental pressures.
Related Faculty
Jared Ali
- Associate Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
- Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology
Behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions, including plant responses to below-ground herbivory and. . .
Daniel Allen
- Assistant Professor of Aquatic Ecology
The relationship between community structure and ecosystem processes in rivers and streams, and factors which influence this. . .
Ottar Bjornstad
- Huck Chair of Epidemiology
- Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Biology
Population ecology and population dynamics with particular emphasis on mathematical and computational aspects
Hayden Bock
- Assistant Professor of Agricultural Sciences
The ecology of belowground ecosystems and how humans impact them
Franny Buderman
- Assistant Professor of Quantitative Wildlife Ecology
Quantitative ecology, with a focus on the demography, space-use, and movement of wildlife.
Isabella Cattadori
- Professor of Biology
Immuno-epidemiology of co-infection, how host immunity modulates parasite interactions and transmission and how host. . .
Duane Diefenbach
- Adjunct Professor of Wildlife Ecology
Wildlife ecology, estimation of population parameters, and harvest management of game populations.
Matthew Ferrari
- Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics
- Huck Career Development Professor
Public Health, Quantitative Epidemiology, Population Ecology, Statistics, Computational and Mathematical Biology
Kara Fikrig
- Assistant Professor of Vector Ecology
The intersection of entomology and public health, with a focus on understanding the drivers and barriers of mosquito. . .
Sarah Goslee
- Adjunct Associate Professor of Agronomy, USDA-ARS
Landscape diversity in agricultural areas; Taxonomic and functional diversity and grassland management; Multivariate and. . .
Heather Grab
- Assistant Professor of Applied Systems Ecology
The ecological drivers of insect populations on working lands and application of those principles to reduce conflicts between. . .
Jill Hamilton
- Director of the Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics
- Associate Director, Plant Institute
Genomic basis of climate adaptation, conservation, and restoration genetics.
Kevin Hockett
- Huck Early Career Chair
- Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology
Biological Control, Biology and Ecology of Plant-Microbe and Plant-Environment Interactions, Microbial Ecology and Population. . .
Peter Hudson
- Former Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
- Willaman Professor of Biology
Population dynamics of infectious diseases in wildlife and the dynamics of parasite community structure.
David Hughes
- Huck Chair in Global Food Security
- Professor of Entomology and of Biology
Parasite manipulation of host behavior
Hidetoshi Inamine
- Assistant Research Professor
Effects of changing environment (e.g., disturbance) on ecological communities and invasion; theoretical ecology; microcosm. . .
Margot Kaye
- Professor of Forest Ecology
Vegetation dynamics; global change ecology; interactions among vegetation, climate and human land use; dendrochronology;. . .
Jason Keagy
- Assistant Research Professor of Wildlife Behavioral Ecology
Cognitive ecology (with studies at genome, individual, and species levels). I am particularly interested in applications for. . .
Jesse Lasky
- Professor of Biology
- Director, Penn State (PAC) Herbarium
Ecological and evolutionary genomics, genetic and ecophysiological basis of adaptation to environmental stress, evolutionary. . .
Laura Leites
- Research Professor of Quantitative Forest Ecology
Adaptation to climate in forest trees, seed movement under a changing climate, forest ecosystem modeling.
Margarita Lopez-Uribe
- Associate Professor of Entomology
How environmental change and human management shape bee health and long-term persistence of their populations in agricultural. . .
Jennifer Macalady
- Director of the Ecology Institute
- Professor of Geosciences
Microbial interactions with earth materials: soils, sediments, solutes, atmospheric gases, minerals, and rocks. Early. . .
Erika Machtinger
- Associate Professor of Entomology
Veterinary entomology, including vector-borne diseases. Focus is on ecology and behavior associated with host-parasite. . .
Carolyn Mahan
- Professor of Biology (Altoona)
The study of biodiversity in threatened ecosystems, the effects of human-modified landscapes on wildlife, and behavioral. . .
David Miller
- Professor of Wildlife Population Ecology
Population ecology, quantitative ecology, avian and amphibian ecology, conservation decision analysis, life-history. . .
Rob Mitchell
- Associate Professor of Chemical Ecology
Entomology, chemical ecology, and chemoreception.
Autumn Sabo
- Associate Professor of Biology (Beaver)
How anthropogenic stressors affect plant communities, conservation, and restoration options. Recent work has focused on how. . .
Katriona Shea
- Professor of Biology
- Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences
The use of ecological theory in population management.
