QUEST FOR UNDERSTANDING
Despite more than a hundred years, thousands of experiments, and endless walks in the woods, it seems we're not any closer to answering the simplest question in ecology: why communities of plants and animals are the way they are.
That's what I work on. I tinker with nature to figure out why things like plants, microbes or animals are here but not there. Mostly, this means big experiments done at the largest scale I can manage. I have lots of friends that work with me--collaborators are the best kind of friend--and together we inspire new ideas and push the boundaries of theory. I've worked on everything from the nastiest weeds in North America, to one of the world's rarest butterflies, but the thing that ties it all together is a quest to understand what makes our natural world tick.
The great joy of this work is meeting new people--whether they're students, colleagues, or mentors. Ecology may be about nature, but science is about people. If you're looking for a new place to do ecology, shoot me an email--we don't take ourselves too seriously around here. We save that for our science.
SELECTED PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
This is a partial list of my peer-reviewed publications. For a more comprehensive look, you can check out my CV
Aschehoug, E.T., Atwater, D.Z., Brooker, R.W., Maron, J., Callaway, R.M. 2016. The mechanisms and importance of interspecific competition among plants. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. PDF
Aschehoug, E.T. and Callaway, R.M. 2015. Diversity increases indirect interactions, attenuates the intensity of competition, and promotes coexistence. American Naturalist 186(4): 452-459.PDF
Aschehoug, E.T. and R.M. Callaway. 2014. Morphological variability in tree root architecture indirectly affects coexistence among competitors in the understory. Ecology 95(7): 1731-1736. PDF
Aschehoug, E.T., Metlen, K.L., Callaway, R.M. and G. Newcombe. 2012. Fungal endophytes increase the competitive effects of an invasive plant. Ecology 93(1): 3-8. PDF
Aschehoug, E.T., Callaway, R.M., Newcombe, G, Tharayil, N, and S. Chen. 2014. Fungal endophytes increase the allelopathic effects of an invasive plant. Oecologia. 175:285-291. PDF
Xiao, S., Callaway, R. M., Newcombe, G., and E.T. Aschehoug. 2012. Models of experimental competitive intensities predict home and away differences in invasive impact and the effects of an endophytic mutualist. American Naturalist 180:707-718. PDF
Callaway, R.M. and E.T. Aschehoug. 2000. Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion. Science 290:521-523. PDF
Aschehoug, E.T. and R.M. Callaway. 2012. Plasticity and trait-mediated indirect interactions among plants. In: Trait-Mediated Indirect Interactions: Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives. (eds. Ohgushi, T, Schmitz, O. and Holt, R. D.) University Press, Berkeley, CA. PDF
Callaway R.M., R.W. Brooker, P. Choler, Z. Kikvidze, C.J. Lortie, R. Michalet, L. Paolini, F. I. Pugnaire, B. Newingham, E.T. Aschehoug, C. Armas, D. Kikodze and B.J. Cook. 2002. Positive interactions among alpine plants increase with stress. Nature 417: 844-848. PDF
Aschehoug, E.T., Sivakoff F.S., Cayton, H.L., Morris, W.F., Haddad, N.M. 2015. Habitat restoration affects immature stages of a wetland butterfly only through indirect effects on predation. Ecology 96(7): 1761-1767. PDF
