Community assembly and structure 

​Identifying what factors and processes (both ecological and evolutionary) drive patterns of community assembly and structure is fundamental to test hypotheses on patterns of species coexistence and maintenance of biodiversity. Such an objective is also critical for understanding mechanisms driving species extinctions, especially given the current extinction crisis. We are particularly interested in questions elucidating whether competition, facilitation, environmental filtering, neutral processes, or a combination of these processes determine the structure of ecological communities. We sought to address this aim by focusing on mammal, bird, and plant communities in Madagascar’s tropical systems as model systems.

Related recent publications:

• Razafindratsima, O.H., Raoelinjanakolona, N.N., Heriniaina, R.R., Nantenaina, R.H., Ratolojanahary, T.H., and Dunham, A.E. (2021) Simplified communities of seed-dispersers limit the composition and flow of seeds in edge habitat. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9:655441
• Park, D.S. and Razafindratsima, O.H. (2019) Anthropogenic threats can have cascading homogenizing effects on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of tropical forests. (ǂ equal contributions). Ecography 42:148-161.