Associate Professor Elizabeth Borer
Graduate Faculty Memberships
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Quaternary Paleoecology
Research Interests
In my research, I examine the ways that global changes like nitrogen deposition, carbon dioxide emissions, and species invasions and extinctions interact to control the composition and function of ecological communities. My two primary areas of research include quantifying how these global changes (1) affect disease transmission and risk and (2) control biodiversity and ecosystem function. I primarily work in grasslands studying plants, insects, and disease, though my interests reach far beyond this biome.
Selected Publications
Borer, E.T., E.W. Seabloom, and D. Tilman. 2012. Plant diversity controls arthropod biomass and temporal stability. Ecology Letters. doi: 10.1111/ele.12006
Borer, E.T., J. Antonovics, L.L. Kinkel, P.J. Hudson, P. Daszak, M.J. Ferrari, K.A. Garrett, C.R. Parrish, A.F. Read, D.M. Rizzo. 2011. Bridging taxonomic and disciplinary divides in infectious disease. EcoHealth 8(3):261-267.
Adler, P.B., E.W. Seabloom, E.T. Borer (and 55 Nutrient Network coauthors). 2011. Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness. Science 333:1750-1753.
Borer, E. T., C. E. Mitchell, A. G. Power, and E. W. Seabloom. 2009. Consumers indirectly increase infection risk in grassland food webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(2):503-506.
Borer, E. T., and D. S. Gruner. 2009. Top-down and bottom-up regulation of communities. Pp. 296-304 in S. A. Levin, S. R. Carpenter, H. C. J. Godfray, A. P. Kinzig, M. Loreau, J. B. Losos, B. Walker, and D. S. Wilcove, eds. Princeton Guide to Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Borer, E. T., C. J. Briggs, and R. D. Holt. 2007. Predators, parasitoids, and pathogens: a cross-cutting examination of intraguild predation theory. Ecology 88(11): 2681-2688.
Borer, E. T., P. R. Hosseini, E. W. Seabloom, A. P. Dobson. 2007. Pathogen-induced reversal of native perennial dominance in a grassland community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(13): 5473-5478.
Borer, E. T., B. S. Halpern, and E. W. Seabloom. 2006. Asymmetry in community regulation: effects of predators and productivity. Ecology 87(11): 2813-2820.
Borer, E. T., E. W. Seabloom, J. B. Shurin, K. E. Anderson, C. A. Blanchette, B. Broitman, S. D. Cooper, B. S. Halpern. 2005. What determines the strength of a trophic cascade? Ecology 86(2):528-537.
Additional Links
Borer Lab Website
