Megan Donahue
PhD University of California, Davis (Ecology) 2003
Assistant Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology
University of Hawaii
Kaneohe, HI 96744
phone: (808) 236-7417
donahuem@hawaii.edu
http://www.donahuelab.com

Population ecology, particularly of interspecific interactions

I am a marine community ecologist, broadly interested in spatial dynamics and connecting spatial theory with data. My research program focuses on three areas critical to understanding the effects of spatial heterogeneity in ecological systems: (i) scaling community dynamics from local interactions to regional dynamics by incorporating environmental heterogeneity, (ii) modeling behavioral responses to heterogeneous environments (e.g., habitat selection), and (iii) investigating the consequences of spatial behavior on population dynamics. Considering the challenges of demonstrating spatial mechanisms of population dynamics, I use a diversity of approaches, including statistical and theoretical methods, laboratory and field based experiments, and manipulative and observational studies.These research questions have important consequences for the spatial management of marine ecosystems.

Representative Publications

Robles CD, RA Desharnais, C Garza, MJ Donahue. 2010. Landscape patterns in boundary intensity: a case study in mussel beds. Landscape Ecology. 25:745-759.

Donahue MJ, AM Nichols, CA Santamaria, PE League-Pike, CJ Krediet, KO Perez, and MJ Shulman. 2009. Predation risk, prey abundance, and the vertical distribution of three brachyuran crabs on Gulf of Maine shores. Journal of Crustacean Biology. 29(4): 523-531.

Krediet CJ and MJ Donahue. 2009. Growth-mortality trade-offs along a depth gradient in Cancer borealis. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology. 373: 133-139.

Robles CD, RA Desharnais, C Garza, MJ Donahue, and CA Martinez. 2009. Complex equilibria in the maintenance of boundaries: Experiments with mussel beds. Ecology. 90(4): 985-995.

Eastwood, ME, MJ Donahue, and AE Fowler. 2007. Reconstructing effects of past biological invasions: invasive predators and competitors and niche shifts in the New England intertidal community. Biological Invasions 9: 297-307.

Donahue, MJ. 2006. Conspecific cueing and growth-mortality tradeoffs jointly lead to conspecific attraction. Oecologia. 149: 33-43.

Chesson P, MJ Donahue, B Melbourne, and AL Sears. 2005. Scale transition theory for understanding mechanisms in metacommunities. In M. Holyoak, M. Leibold, and R. Holt, editors. Metacommunties: spatial dynamics and ecological communities.

Melbourne B, AL Sears, MJ Donahue, and P Chesson. 2005. Applying scale
transition theory to metacommunities in the field. In M. Holyoak, M. Leibold, and R. Holt, editors. Metacommunties: spatial dynamics and ecological communities.

Donahue MJ. 2004. Size-dependent competition in a gregarious porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes (Anomura: Porcellanidae). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 267: 196-207.

Donahue MJ, M Holyoak, and C Feng. 2003. Patterns of dispersal and dynamics among habitat patches varying in quality. The American Naturalist. 162: 302-317.

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