Institution: Dartmouth College
Department: Department of Biological Sciences
Hanover, NH 03755
Hubbard Brook Role: Investigator

Email: Matt.Ayres@dartmouth.edu
ORCID: 0000-0001-6120-9068
Ayres.2022

Research Interests

Population dynamics are a prominent emergent property of biological systems. We study spatiotemporal variation in the abundance of forest insects, including those that can be “pests”. Our research questions include: (1) why are some populations stable in space and time while others fluctuate greatly; (2) what are the causes and consequences of spatial patterning in population fluctuations; (3) how do demographic processes operating at different spatial scales interact to influence landscape patterns in abundance; (4) how do community interactions and abiotic factors combine to influence animal population dynamics; and (5) how, if at all, does climate change influence forest animals. Current projects at Hubbard Brook include: effects of nutrient availability to trees on animals that eat trees (chiefly caterpillars) and the animals that eat them (chiefly birds and wasps); effects of variable phenology (e.g., timing of leaf-out in spring) on species interactions and food webs; effects of the incipient elimination of ash trees from forests on biodiversity, food webs, and ecosystem processes.

Hubbard Brook Publications by this Author

Garnas, J. R., Houston, D. R., Twery, M. J., Ayres, M. P., & Evans, C. (2013). Inferring controls on the epidemiology of beech bark disease from spatial patterning of disease organisms. Agricultural and Forst Entomology. 15: 146-156., 15, 146-1http://56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-9563.2012.00595.x
Marini, L., Ayres, M. P., & Jactel, H. (2022). Impact of Stand and Landscape Management on Forest Pest Damage. Annual Review of Entomology, 67(1), 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-062321-065511
Symes, L. B., Kittelberger, K. D., Stone, S. M., Holmes, R. T., Jones, J. S., Castaneda Ruvalcaba, I. P., Webster, M. S., & Ayres, M. P. (2022). Analytical approaches for evaluating passive acoustic monitoring data: A case study of avian vocalizations. Ecology and Evolution, 12(4), e8797. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8797
Lany, N. K., Ayres, M. P., Stange, E. E., Sillett, T. S., Rodenhouse, N. L., & Holmes, R. T. (2015). Breeding timed to maximize reproductive success for a migratory songbird: the importance of phenological asynchrony. Oikos, n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.02412
Contosta, A. R., Casson, N. J., Garlick, S., Nelson, S. J., Ayres, M. P., Burakowski, E. A., Campbell, J., Creed, I., Eimers, C., Evans, C., Fernandez, I., Fuss, C., Huntington, T., Patel, K., Sanders‐DeMott, R., Son, K., Templer, P., & Thornbrugh, C. (2019). Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities. Ecological Applications, 29(7), e01974. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1974
Reynolds, L. V., Ayres, M. P., Siccama, T. G., & Holmes, R. T. (2007). Climatic effects on caterpillar fluctuations in northern hardwood forests. Can. J. For. Res, 37, 481–491.
Rubenstein, D. R., Chamberlain, C. P., Holmes, R. T., Ayres, M. P., Waldbauer, J. R., Graves, G. R., & Tuross, N. C. (2002). Linking breeding and wintering ranges of a migratory songbird using stable isotopes. Science, 295, 1062–1065.
Lang, A. K., Jevon, F. V., Vietorisz, C. R., Ayres, M. P., & Matthes, J. H. (2021). Fine roots and mycorrhizal fungi accelerate leaf litter decomposition in a northern hardwood forest regardless of dominant tree mycorrhizal associations. New Phytologist, 230(1), 316–326. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17155
Jevon, F. V., D’Amato, A. W., Woodall, C. W., Evans, K., Ayres, M. P., & Matthes, J. H. (2019). Tree basal area and conifer abundance predict soil carbon stocks and concentrations in an actively managed forest of northern New Hampshire, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 451, 117534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117534
Lang, A. K., Jevon, F. V., Ayres, M. P., & Hatala Matthes, J. (2019). Higher Soil Respiration Rate Beneath Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Trees in a Northern Hardwood Forest is Driven by Associated Soil Properties. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00466-7
Mech, A. M., Thomas, K. A., Marsico, T. D., Herms, D. A., Allen, C. R., Ayres, M. P., Gandhi, K. J. K., Gurevitch, J., Havill, N. P., Hufbauer, R. A., Liebhold, A. M., Raffa, K. F., Schulz, A. N., Uden, D. R., & Tobin, P. C. (2019). Evolutionary history predicts high-impact invasions by herbivorous insects. Ecology and Evolution, 9(21), 12216–12230. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5709
Stange, E. E., Ayres, M. P., & Bess, J. A. (2011). Concordant population dynamics of Lepidoptera herbivores in a forest ecosystem. Ecography, 34(5), 772–779. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06940.x
Dukes, J. S., Pontius, J., Orwig, D., Garnas, J. R., Rodgers, V. L., Brazee, N., Cooke, B., Theoharides, K. A., Stange, E. E., Harrington, R., Ehrenfeld, J., Gurevitch, J., Lerdau, M., Stinson, K., Wick, R., & Ayres, M. (2009). Responses of insect pests, pathogens, and invasive plant species to climate change in the forests of northeastern North America: What can we predict? Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere, 39(2), 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1139/x08-171
Schulz, A. N., Mech, A. M., Allen, C. R., Ayres, M. P., Gandhi, K. J. K., Gurevitch, J., Havill, N. P., Herms, D. A., Hufbauer, R. A., Liebhold, A. M., Raffa, K. F., Raupp, M. J., Thomas, K. A., Tobin, P. C., & Marsico, T. D. (2020). The impact is in the details: evaluating a standardized protocol and scale for determining non-native insect impact. NeoBiota, 55, 61–83. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.55.38981
Ayres, M. P., & Lombardero, M. J. (2017). Forest pests and their management in the Anthropocene. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 48(3), 292–301. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2017-0033