Carmela M BuonoBinghamton University | SUNY Binghamton · Department of Biological Sciences
Carmela M Buono
B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources
About
7
Publications
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Introduction
I am a community ecologist and my research focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic change on natural systems and if they are resilient to that change. I mostly work in deciduous forests and study how land use change impacts ant seed dispersal (myrmecochory). I also study the impact of biological invasions on natural systems and if removal results in ecological recovery. Ultimately, I strive to integrate ecological research into the management and restoration of our natural systems.
Publications
Publications (7)
Seed-dispersal mutualisms are important ecosystem functions that, if disrupted, influence plant fitness and community structure. Anthropogenic stressors such as invasive species and climate change may independently or synergistically influence animal-mediated seed dispersal. Aphaenogaster sp. ants are the primary dispersers of myrmecochorous plants...
Urbanization is creating a new global biome, in which cities and suburbs around the world often resemble each other more than the local natural areas they replaced. But while urbanization can profoundly affect ecology at local scales, we know little about whether it disrupts large-scale ecological patterns. Here we test whether urbanization disrupt...
Urbanization can profoundly disrupt local ecology. But while urban areas now stretch across latitudes, little is known about urbanization’s effects on macroecological patterns. We used standardized experiments to test whether urbanization disrupts latitudinal gradients in seed predation, a macroecological pattern that shapes community assembly and...
Mutualistic interactions provide essential ecosystem functions that contribute to promoting and maintaining diversity in ecosystems. Understanding if functionally important mutualisms are “resilient” (i.e., able to resist or recover) to anthropogenic disturbance is essential for revealing the capacity for diversity to recover. Animal‐mediated seed...
Generalized mutualisms, such as seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory), involve guilds of mutualistic partners that exchange services. Partners within guilds vary in traits that affect the quality of mutualistic services. Research aimed at uncovering within-guild variation in partner quality primarily considers the identity of partner species. Howev...
Mutualistic interactions provide essential ecosystem functions, such as promoting and maintaining diversity. Understanding if functionally important mutualisms are resilient (able to resist and recover) to anthropogenic disturbance is important to understand the capacity for diversity to recover. Animal-mediated seed dispersal supports plant popula...
Seed dispersal by ants is an important interaction in North American eastern deciduous forests, where 30–40% of understory plants are myrmecochores, with seeds that possess lipid-rich appendages (elaiosomes) that attract seed-dispersing ants. Contemporary forests are fragmented and have regenerated from being previously cleared (secondary forests)....
