Research Projects/ Interests:

I am interested in the impacts and interactions between multiple consumers, and between these consumers and their environment.  I am currently investigating the importance of an overlooked marsh grazer, the purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum), in the widespread die-off of marsh grass and shift in foundation species assemblages in the southeastern United States.  Additionally, I have been evaluating a potential mutualism among dominant salt marsh consumers; field observations and feeding preference trials suggest that the Sesarma may preferentially consume blades of Spartina alterniflora, or cordgrass, which have been grazed by the fungal-farming snail, Littoraria irrorata.  Cordgrass has experienced tremendous fluctuations in productivity over the past decade due to the interactive effects of consumers, climate, and fungal disease.  I am most interested in the incorporation of fungal disease into multiple consumer impacts on salt marshes.  A number of studies have cited the importance of fungal disease in controlling primary production; however it is currently unknown how multiple herbivores and fungal disease interact in a community.  I implemented a field experiment in July 2009 on Sapelo Island, GA and plan to supplement my work with detailed projects to further understand the dynamics between fungus, snails, Sesarma, and cordgrass primary productivity

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Hensel

Contact Information:

409 Carr Hall

Univ. of Florida

Gainesville, FL 32611

Email: mhensel@ufl.edu