I am a terrestrial ecologist with interests in how landscape changes by human activities influence biodiversity, species interactions and ecosystem services. Our research lab focuses on insects and their interactions with plants, soils, and other animals. Recent research has focused on ecosystem services provided by diverse insect communities, including pollination, biological control, and cultural services. A long-term experimental study in the Miami Natural Areas is aimed at understanding how litter-dwelling invertebrates are influenced by the interactions among deer, an invasive understory shrub, and exotic earthworms. Past research projects have spanned a wide range of spatial scales from experimental to landscape studies, and habitats including conservation grasslands, forests, and agroecosystems. In the laboratory, we use several quantitative tools including statistical modeling, spatial analysis, and geographic information systems.
Mahon, M, HJ Penn, KU Campbell and TO Crist. 2023. Differential patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity for two groups of canopy arthropods across spatial scales. Ecosphere 14: e4700.
VanGorder AE, MB Mahon, HJ Penn, and TO Crist. 2021. Indirect effects of deer on insect pests and soybean plants. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 23: 41-48.
Cunningham-Minnick MJ, VE Peters and TO Crist. 2020. Bee communities exploit invasive shrub floral resources along forest-crop edges: implications for pollination services. Ecological Applications 30: e02078.
Mahon MB, MC Fisk, and TO Crist. 2020. Interactive effects of white-tailed deer, and invasive shrub, and exotic earthworms on leaf litter decomposition. Ecosystems 2020: 1-18.
Cunningham-Minnick MJ and TO Crist. 2020. Floral resources of an invasive shrub alter native bee communities at different vertical strata of forest edge habitat. Biological Invasions 22: 2283-2298.
Mahon MB, KU Campbell and TO Crist. 2019. Experimental effects of white-tailed deer and an invasive shrub on forest ant communities. Oecologia 191: 633-644.
Cunningham-Minnick MJ, VE Peters and TO Crist. 2019. Nesting habitat enhancement for wild bees within soybean fields increases crop production. Apidologie 50: 833-844.
Mahon MB and TO Crist. 2019. Invasive earthworm and soil litter responses to the experimental removal of white-tailed deer and an invasive shrub. Ecology 100: e02688.
Lloyd, G, MB Mahon and TO Crist. 2019. Invasive shrub cover and tree species composition influence exotic earthworms. Forest Ecology and Management 447: 53-59.
Penn HJ and TO Crist. 2018. From dispersal to predation: a global synthesis of ant-seed interactions. Ecology and Evolution 8: 9122-9138
Crist, TO and KU Campbell. 2017. Ant biodiversity and functional roles in fragmented forest and grassland ecosystems of the agricultural Midwest, North America. Pages 3-25 in PS Oliveira and S Koptur, editors. Ant-Plant Interactions: Impacts of Humans on Terrestrial Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press.
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Chateau de Differdange
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