Justin Prouty Wright

Associate Professor in the Department of Biology

Office: 
258 Biological Sciences, Durham, NC 27708
Campus Box: 
Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708-0338
Phone: 
(919) 613-8096
Email: 
justin.wright@duke.edu
My research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of patterns of biological diversity across the planet. I am particularly interested in two broad questions: 1)How does the modification of the environment by organisms affect community structure and ecosystem function? and 2) what aspects of biodiversity matter most in the regulation of ecosystem function? While much of my research has focused on wetland plant communities, I am willing to study any organism and work in any ecosystem to answer the questions that interest me. I have worked in systems ranging from tropical streams to desert shrublands. My research program combines observational and experimental approaches with modeling to develop and test hypotheses and build towards synthetic ecological theory.

Education

  • Ph.D., Cornell University 2002

  • B.A., Williams College 1996

Strayer, DL, D'Antonio, CM, Essl, F, Fowler, MS, Geist, J, Hilt, S, Jarić, I, Jöhnk, K, Jones, CG, Lambin, X, Latzka, AW, Pergl, J, Pyšek, P, Robertson, P, von Schmalensee, M, Stefansson, RA, Wright, J, and Jeschke, JM. "Boom-bust dynamics in biological invasions: towards an improved application of the concept." Ecology letters 20, no. 10 (October 2017): 1337-1350. (Review) Full Text

Lind, EM, La Pierre, KJ, Seabloom, EW, Alberti, J, Iribarne, O, Firn, J, Gruner, DS, Kay, AD, Pascal, J, Wright, JP, Yang, L, and Borer, ET. "Increased grassland arthropod production with mammalian herbivory and eutrophication: A test of mediation pathways." Ecology (September 21, 2017). Full Text

Ames, GM, Anderson, SM, Ungberg, EA, and Wright, JP. "Functional traits of the understory plant community of a pyrogenic longleaf pine forest across environmental gradients." Ecology 98, no. 8 (August 2017): 2225-. Full Text

Ames, GM, Wall, WA, Hohmann, MG, and Wright, JP. "Trait space of rare plants in a fire-dependent ecosystem." Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology 31, no. 4 (August 2017): 903-911. Full Text

Mitchell, RM, Wright, JP, and Ames, GM. "Intraspecific variability improves environmental matching, but does not increase ecological breadth along a wet-to-dry ecotone." Oikos 126, no. 7 (July 2017): 988-995. Full Text

Lee, MR, Bernhardt, ES, van Bodegom, PM, Cornelissen, JHC, Kattge, J, Laughlin, DC, Niinemets, Ü, Peñuelas, J, Reich, PB, Yguel, B, and Wright, JP. "Invasive species' leaf traits and dissimilarity from natives shape their impact on nitrogen cycling: a meta-analysis." The New phytologist 213, no. 1 (January 2017): 128-139. Full Text

Ficken, CD, and Wright, JP. "Contributions of microbial activity and ash deposition to post-fire nitrogen availability in a pine savanna." Biogeosciences 14, no. 1 (2017): 241-255. Full Text

Heckman, RW, Wright, JP, and Mitchell, CE. "Joint effects of nutrient addition and enemy exclusion on exotic plant success." Ecology 97, no. 12 (December 2016): 3337-3345. Full Text

Heinze, J, Sitte, M, Schindhelm, A, Wright, J, and Joshi, J. "Plant-soil feedbacks: a comparative study on the relative importance of soil feedbacks in the greenhouse versus the field." Oecologia 181, no. 2 (June 2016): 559-569. Full Text

Ames, GM, Anderson, SM, and Wright, JP. "Multiple environmental drivers structure plant traits at the community level in a pyrogenic ecosystem." Edited by J Baltzer. Functional Ecology 30, no. 5 (May 2016): 789-798. Full Text

Pages

Collaborative Research: Salinization of the inland coastal plain through saltwater intrusion: landscapes in transition awarded by National Science Foundation (Co-Principal Investigator). 2015 to 2019

Birds-eye view on canopy stress from saltwater intrusion: integrating drone imagery and satellite remote sensing to aid coastal wetland restoration awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Principal Investigator). 2017 to 2018

DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Synthesizing the Mass-Ratio and Novel-Traits Hypotheses to Explain Variability in the Impact of awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2014 to 2018

Collaborative Research: Testing a conceptually-driven framework to predict variability in the ecosystem awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2014 to 2018

Using Functional traits to inform plant conservation efforts awarded by U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Command (Principal Investigator). 2015 to 2017

Plant Ecophysiology under Extreme Climate Events awarded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Principal Investigator). 2016 to 2017

Collaborative Research: Will Climate Change Alter Rates of Old Field Succession Across the U.S. Eastern Deciduous Forest awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2011 to 2016

Cross-scale Assessment of Ecological Resilience to Altered Fire Regimes awarded by U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Command (Principal Investigator). 2011 to 2015

DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Effects of Climate-Induced Changes in Generalist Predators on the Structure and Function of Arcti awarded by National Science Foundation (Principal Investigator). 2012 to 2015

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