Robert F. Denno, PhD.
Professor

E-mail: rdenno@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-3912
Fax: 301-314-9290
Web: http://www.dennolab.umd.edu
Mail: University of Maryland * Entomology Department * Plant Sciences Building * College Park, MD 20742
 
 
Research Interests
My overall programmatic goal is to create an internationally recognized program in population and community ecology with both basic and applied components. To accomplish this objective I have tried to develop a balanced approach which blends excellence and visibility of research with enthusiasm toward instruction and the rigorous training of students at all levels (undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral associates). It is with the academic lineage of students and postdoctoral associates that I feel the impact of my program will persist and have widespread consequences for the scientific community. Toward this end, I continue my total dedication to producing and placing top-quality students and postdocs in academic and government positions, publishing in the very best scientific journals, and creating an atmosphere in my laboratory where it is easy for students and postdoctoral associates to learn, interact, and simply enjoy doing rigorous science.
Current areas of ecological endeavor in my laboratory include: (1) population dynamics with a focus on top-down (natural enemies) versus bottom-up (host plant heterogeneity) control of herbivorous insect populations, (2) predator subsidies and the spatial dynamics of predator-prey interactions (NSF funded), (3) plant-mediated predator-prey interactions, (4) high-order interactions among predators (intraguild predation and interference) and their consequences for herbivore suppression, trophic cascades, and biological control, (5) the ecological stoichiometry of multi-trophic interactions (6) biodiversity at higher trophic levels and its relationship to ecosystem functioning, (7) plant stress (drought and salt) and its role in the outbreak dynamics of herbivorous insects, (8) plant-mediated interspecific competition (direct and delayed) and induced resistance as important organizing forces in phytophagous insect communities and their applied consequences for pest management (USDA funded), and (9) the ecological causes and population-genetic consequences of dispersal in the context of life history evolution. The most recent research emphasis in the lab concerns how the flow of resources (nutrients) and organisms (predators and other invaders) influence food-web structure and community dynamics. Collectively, these research initiatives have important implications for pest suppression in agricultural habitats via predator refuges, for biological control at large, for the preservation of stable food-web dynamics across natural landscapes, and for restoration ecology.
 
 
Education
B.S. (1967) University of California, Davis, California
Ph.D. (1973) University of California, Davis, California

 
 
Representative Publications
Copyright Notice:This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
 

Denno, R.F., M.A. Peterson, C. Gratton, J. Cheng, G.A. Langellotto, A.F. Huberty, and D.L. Finke. 2000. Feeding-induced changes in plant quality mediate interspecific competition between sap-feeding herbivores. Ecology 81: 1814-1827.
 

Elser, J.J., W.F. Fagan, R.F. Denno, D.R. Dobberfuhl, A. Folarin, A.F. Huberty, S. Interlandi, S.S. Kilham, E. McCauley, K.L. Schultz, E.H. Siemann, and R.W. Sterner. 2000. Nutritional constraints in terrestrial and freshwater food webs. Nature 408: 578-580.
 

Eubanks, M.D. and Robert F. Denno. 2000. Host plants mediate omnivore-herbivore interactions and influence prey suppression. Ecology 81: 936-947.
 

Denno, R.F., C. Gratton, M.A. Peterson, G.A. Langellotto, D.L. Finke, and A.F. Huberty. 2002. Bottom-up forces mediate natural-enemy impact in a phytophagous insect community. Ecology 83: 1443-1458.
 

Denno, R.F., C. Gratton, H. Döbel, and D.L. Finke. 2003. Predation risk affects relative strength of top-down and bottom-up impacts on insect herbivores. Ecology 84: 1032-1044.
 

Denno, R.F. and W.F. Fagan. 2003. Might nitrogen limitation promote omnivory among carnivorous arthropods. Ecology 84: 2522-2531.
 

Eubanks, M.D., J.D. Styrsky, and R.F. Denno. 2003. The evolution of omnivory in heteropteran insects. Ecology 84: 2549-2556.
 

Gratton, C. and R.F. Denno. 2003. Inter-year carryover effects of a nutrient pulse on Spartina plants, herbivores, and natural enemies. Ecology 84: 2692-2707.
 

Langellotto, G.A. and R.F. Denno. 2004. Responses of invertebrate natural enemies to complex-structured habitats: A meta-analytical synthesis. Oecologia 139: 1-10.
 

Finke, D.L. and R.F. Denno. 2004. Predator diversity dampens trophic cascades. Nature 429: 407-410.
 

Huberty, A.F. and R.F. Denno. 2004. Plant water stress and its consequences for herbivorous insects: A new synthesis. Ecology 85: 1383-1398.
 

Matsumura, M., G.M. Trafelet-Smith, C. Gratton, D.L. Finke, D.L. Finke, W.F. Fagan, and R.F. Denno. 2004. Does intraguild predation enhance predator performance? A stoichiometric perspective. Ecology 89: 2601-2615.
 

Denno, R.F., M.S. Mitter, G.A. Langellotto, C. Gratton, and D.L. Finke. 2004. Interactions between a hunting spider and a web-builder: consequences of intraguild predation and cannibalism for prey suppression. Ecological Entomology 29: 566-577.
 

Finke, D.L. and R.F. Denno. 2005. Predator diversity and the functioning of ecosystems: the role of intraguild predation in dampening trophic cascades. Ecology Letters 8: 1299-1306.
 

Denno, R.F., D.L. Finke, and G.A. Langellotto. 2005. Direct and indirect effects of vegetation structure and habitat complexity on predator-prey and predator-predator interactions. Pages 211-239 In P. Barbosa and I. Castellanos, eds. Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions. Oxford University Press, London, UK.
 

Denno, R.F., D. Lewis, and C. Gratton. 2005. Spatial variation in the relative strength of top-down and bottom-up forces: causes and consequences for phytophagous insect populations. Ann. Zool. Fennisi 42: 295-311.
 

Gratton, C. and R.F. Denno. In press. Arthropod food web restoration following removal of an invasive wetland plant. Ecological Applications
 

Hines, J., J.P. Megonigal, and R.F. Denno. In press. Nutrient subsidies to belowground microbes impact aboveground food-web interactions. Ecology
 

Huberty, A.H. and R.F. Denno. In press. Trade-off in investment between dispersal and ingestion capability in phytophagous insects and its ecological implications. Oecologia
 

Lynch, M.E., I. Kaplan, G.P. Dively, and R.F. Denno. In press. Host plant-mediated competition between pest herbivores on potatoes. Ecological Applications
 

Denno, R.F. and I. Kaplan. In press. Plant-mediated interactions in herbivorous insects: mechanisms, symmetry, and challenging the paradigms of competition past. Pages xxx-xxx In T. Ohgushi, T.A. Craig, and P.W. Price, eds. Ecological communities: plant mediation in indirect interaction webs. Cambridge University Press, London, UK.
 

Denno, R.F. and D.L. Finke. In press. Multiple predator interactions and food-web connectance: implications for biological control. Pages xxx-xxx In J. Brodeur and G. Boivin, eds. Trophic interactions in biological control. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.
 

 

Awards and Recognition

Award for Excellence in Research; Division of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maryland (1990)

Award for Excellence in Pest Management; Entomological Soc. America (1996)

College of Life Sciences Faculty Research Award; University of Maryland (2000)

Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award; University of Maryland (2000-2001)

 

Teaching

Insect Ecology, ENTM 612

Topic seminars in: Plant-herbivore interactions, Predator-prey and multitrophic interactions, Metapopulation Dynamics, Life-history evolution ENTM 798

 

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