https://www.multimutualism.org/news daily 0.75 2021-05-11 https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-cx6ej monthly 0.5 2025-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/46781a83-2fd0-4260-a34f-106a53d6fd2d/Roots.jpg News - New paper addresses the impacts of mutualism and global change on fine roots - John Mosiany taking photos from the minirhizotrons Photo by Patrick Milligan https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-87f87 monthly 0.5 2024-09-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/4985a9ea-a80b-42f6-a384-3d7896b42de3/IMG_0339.jpeg News - Changes, changes One of our new study sites in the Great Basin desert north of Reno, on a calm cloudy summer day https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-ea8hd monthly 0.5 2023-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/055f6c1a-7594-41ec-96cc-6eab19530721/Labeling+tent+with+team News - New paper out in Plant Ecology The team and the labeling tent, March 2020 https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-cm3sc monthly 0.5 2024-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/a96dc13a-3363-473c-a439-a4435395da24/Diethelm.jpeg News - Dr. Aramee Diethelm successfully defended her dissertation! https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-3zm9l monthly 0.5 2023-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/472dabe3-9ed3-46ba-a005-574d3c9f0711/DSC_0889.JPG News - Research on biocontrol of alfalfa aphids featured by WIPM Photo by Aramee Diethelm https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-dhrxj monthly 0.5 2022-08-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/5da5a736-0e73-446d-b77f-d5a28c525f22/IMG_6283+copy.jpg News - New paper out in Ecosphere Photo by Aramee Diethelm https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-kem42 monthly 0.5 2022-06-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/0105c4b7-4158-419f-9e6e-904c24245ccc/Nevada-Wolf-Pack-football-logo.jpeg News - Award-winning undergraduate researchers https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-nmczb monthly 0.5 2022-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1650648639436-KX0G5J6QC93ZFLLRX4P0/unsplash-image-_XTY6lD8jgM.jpg News - Graduate students in the lab win multiple awards https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-nz9fl monthly 0.5 2022-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1650647839298-6V749IYZI5REZ0ZC72YV/unsplash-image-FLU-CCrhNZg.jpg News - NSF CAREER award to fund "Feedbacks from drought on the phytochemical landscape" https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-h8cyb monthly 0.5 2021-12-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/34e27ac8-dc4f-4f78-8f24-9a376a090918/OPCMIO_T013_L035_2021.09.01_153135_001_PDM.jpg News - New paper out in Journal of Ecology Photo by Patrick Milligan https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-f69n9 monthly 0.5 2021-11-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/a4c424f2-29a6-419a-8baf-7e53712864cc/IMG_2414_2.jpg News - Fall 2021 conferences! Scale insects (Coccidae) and mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) in an ant domatium of Cordia alliodora https://www.multimutualism.org/news/blog-post-template-76cjw monthly 0.5 2021-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1630431245630-FCONO40T7LRGVHNYI2OC/Monarch_chrysalis_smoke News - Field work through the smoke of the western wildfires Photo by Shannon Campbell https://www.multimutualism.org/news/nevada-field-work monthly 0.5 2021-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624424444541-Y9H19C4N4DDDEBWUVEOB/IMG_6122.JPG News - Off to the races with Nevada field work Photo by Aramee Diethelm https://www.multimutualism.org/news/congratulations-to-stephanie-coronado monthly 0.5 2021-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624426044742-L4P0TKRMALWIBUD30TBK/Cecropia_wAztecaQueens2019.jpeg News - Congratulations to Stephanie Coronado for winning a Fulbright to Costa Rica - Make it stand out Photo by Stephanie Coronado https://www.multimutualism.org/news/ask-a-biologist-2021 monthly 0.5 2021-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624393225743-0J4H1AKA1QKDW92C1WWX/peeking-into-ant-plant-pacts.png News - Our work featured by ASU's Ask a Biologist https://www.multimutualism.org/people daily 0.75 2025-10-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622229517606-SWLRDPYCVUPIYNA558DV/pringle-elizabeth-bio-profile.jpeg People https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622825588113-EG5J8KTIFIJE95M3SYHP/Pluses.png People - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622229700148-VCW1JV8HURGV4T38KOEJ/unsplash-image-Lv0Z7x-jKkI.jpg People https://www.multimutualism.org/research daily 0.75 2024-10-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620774769796-3Y9ONT5SO3K2KNUKSLY6/unsplash-image-7iD-FdIp0vU.jpg Research - Scale We explore the effects of species interactions at community and ecosystem scales, and how ecological processes, like community assembly and carbon storage, depend on scale. Our goal is to determine whether local interactions have large-scale consequences. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620774427962-XP9BNKIWV9WDITGNFQD7/unsplash-image-4miBe6zg5r0.jpg Research - Phytochemical landscapes We explore the causes and consequences of variations in plant chemistry across the landscape. Our goal is to link plant chemistry to variation in tri-trophic mutualisms and biogeochemical cycles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620774215127-ODDLXLQ7CET7CRZ97R1S/unsplash-image-8VSpWgU-87s.jpg Research - Mutualisms We explore the mechanisms underlying mutually beneficial interactions, as well as the contexts upon which they depend. Our goal is to understand how positive interactions structure communities and ecosystems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624469774583-X283E0UOVDCLHUL8F3SL/unsplash-image-M8YxtyWSGl0.jpg Research - Maximizing mutualisms to control agricultural pests Alfalfa is a dominant cash crop in Nevada that suffers damage from numerous herbivorous pest species, including aphids. We study whether the below-ground mutualism between alfalfa and the nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria affects pest densities. We are also studying whether greater plant diversity in the landscape can minimize predator dispersal and encourage the persistence of biological control through the season. Ultimately, we are interested in how we might maximize plant mutualisms in an agricultural context, via changes in plant chemistry within the field or in the surrounding agricultural matrix. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1621457729419-FG969JBTSX7VHB4JTT38/unsplash-image-ofTrWlQhGRw.jpg Research - Exploring feedbacks between plant chemistry and mutualisms in a drought-stressed landscape When plants are stressed by herbivores, they are less equipped to respond to additional threats like drought. We study drought-adapted milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) in the Great Basin desert to understand the feedbacks between plant chemistry and tri-trophic mutualisms (e.g. milkweed-monarch-predator, or milkweed-aphid-ant). Our results suggest that herbivory can dampen plant chemical responses to water limitation. We are now investigating whether plant chemical responses to multiple stressors will dampen feedbacks between plant chemistry and trophic interactions at community scales. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624462453754-VT9SMLY14WBIKCCC6WLG/P1010288.jpg Research - Studying how a mutualism, and its breakdown, affect the carbon cycle Most trees need animals (or microbes) to help with defense and nutrients. These service providers, called tree mutualists, are rewarded with carbon by the tree. This relationship likely has impacts on the carbon cycle, but those impacts have rarely been quantified. By studying the mutualism between trees and defensive ants in Kenya, we can determine how much tree carbon is invested in mutualists, where that carbon comes from, and whether tree-carbon investment changes when mutualisms are disrupted by human-driven change, like the decline of large mammals (i.e. elephants) and the spread of invasive ant species. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624394752885-5JV0XO97PLW5FYNFPUXK/image0013s.jpg Research - Insect-plant interaction We study how plant-animal mutualisms are mediated by plant chemistry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620770083914-BLJZ407FJXAOFPB55CXM/unsplash-image-HGNtPpNQBcI.jpg Research - Plant chemistry We are interested in whether we can explain context dependence in plant-animal mutualisms by understanding changes in plant allocation and resulting chemistry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620770568225-F5M0PVRXS82LL96NC2D4/unsplash-image-9LOYNb3EFow.jpg Research - Landscape-level variation We seek to understand how interactions are engaged in feedbacks with larger scale processes like community assembly and carbon cycling. We also want to know how accounting for context-dependent mutualisms changes our thoughts about the generation and persistence of biodiversity and the accuracy of global climate models. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624462635569-8Y4OTDJCF28COJ1H0ZBI/PeaAphid1.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622231817864-7YM3K9B4MAR1CYVL5TRO/unsplash-image-eunUS9w56rE.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622231694597-Q0P5H3DVOOEMVOF7EZRC/unsplash-image-OeD4SjY-gMI.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1620853560164-NBK0B1B3ODNP5JVP43I2/unsplash-image-smR0DoLaTV8.jpg Research https://www.multimutualism.org/join-the-lab daily 0.75 2024-07-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622230473398-5T10QPG2SCDLSLGPP1HW/Pluses.png Join the Lab - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402371001-0NMKAN2UFCD7RRXATHG4/Aramee_Austin_Asclepias_erosa_2019.jpg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402382565-G48NKAACIFIYJ3RDXHWE/Chamela_2018team.jpeg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402402539-67MVDCV95D66DBW7PKVE/DSC09245.jpg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402811836-6R0OT1T94I5L79D5W8RX/IMG_20200716_105743_824.jpg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402470932-WBYOFOGRZ3YC143J0A0Q/Willow_Canyon_Crew_2018.jpg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402444417-O0KNTHFFV9SKFIGTHBXM/Pat_aspirator.jpg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624402453080-Y256WGGZR8DKR2FRF8II/Steph_field2018.jpeg Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1660166620769-VL5VRG8DK1F1Z7RJ0B4B/NoahJordan_2022.JPG Join the Lab https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622232781426-JO07XIFDMRS3JPFUND0J/Pluses.png Join the Lab - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624587545493-0SO3YY3FLC20QEVLM63K/Join+the+lab.png Join the Lab - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622575899556-T3X5OOTSBVZ5YENHEV72/olena-sergienko-Wiq_zZA6UOw-unsplash.jpg Join the Lab https://www.multimutualism.org/publications daily 0.75 2025-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622039243339-0ONO8Z08H5VZZJN5LUUW/Elephant-acacia.png Publications https://www.multimutualism.org/home-1 daily 1.0 2023-09-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624587172727-3T62E2Y6XJ0VQXCWOIPE/Home+page.png Home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1621292995789-RLMKUSKESCSHMC049I5M/image-asset.png Home - People Our lab is made up of a group of curious and friendly folks who like to grapple with complexity in our science. Meet the team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1622036471265-C2OFWSGC1YI3YXLX04I4/close-up-red-ant+copy.png Home https://www.multimutualism.org/past-lab-members daily 0.75 2025-10-21 https://www.multimutualism.org/contact daily 0.75 2021-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609af8eef64c5356b5b82eb5/1624404074042-8KJ5XU1W7SCAN7F7Z2E3/campus-fpo-hero-md.jpeg Contact - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.