Kathryn A. Yurkonis Contact Dr. Kathryn Yurkonis: kathryn.yurkonis@email.und.edu; 701 777-4676
Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S. 2003, Carroll University
M.S. 2005, Eastern Illinois University
Ph.D. 2010, Iowa State University
Post-doctoral fellow 2010, University of Guelph
National Academies Education Fellow in Life Sciences - 2011
Courses:
BIOL 151 General Biology II
BIOL 336 Systematic Botany
BIOL 439 Conservation Biology
Research Interests:
Plant community and restoration ecology
Spatial ecology
Plant-fungal interactions and species invasions
Grassland restoration, reconstruction, and management
My research program combines aspects of plant community and restoration ecology. I am broadly interested in how plant communities assemble and change through time and my research focuses on addressing this question though a variety of experimental approaches.
Thus far, research in my laboratory has focused on studying temporal and spatial vegetation dynamics in deciduous forests and grasslands. This research involves using novel approaches to assess controls over and effects of species invasions from the perspective of the community and the invader. Current projects ask how initial plant pattern affects subsequent invasion in restored grasslands and how the presence of symbiotic fungi in grasses affects invasion and subsequent community structure and function.
Findings from this research have advanced our understanding of grassland dynamics and shed light on how we might improve upon current grassland restoration practices. Members of my laboratory work with federal, state, and non-profit agencies to apply findings from these and additional studies to help inform grassland reconstruction and management practices in the Northern Great Plains.
Graduate Students
Stephen Rossiter
Tom McKenna
Undergraduate Students
Nickolas Dunham
Sally Markegard
Emily Drystek (U of G)
Representative Publications
Yurkonis, K. A. , B. J. Wilsey & K. A. Moloney. In press . Initial plant arrangement affects invasion resistance in experimental grassland plots. Journal of Vegetation Science .
Yurkonis, K. A. , B. J. Wilsey, K. A. Moloney, P. Drobney, and D. L. Larson. 2010. Seeding method influences warm-season grass abundance and distribution but not local diversity in grassland restoration. Restoration Ecology , 18, 344-353.
Yurkonis, K. A. , B. J. Wilsey, K. A. Moloney, and A. G. van der Valk. 2010. The impact of seeding method on diversity and plant distribution in two restored grasslands. Restoration Ecology , 18, 311-321.
Isbell, F. I., D. A. Losure, Yurkonis, K. A. and B. J. Wilsey. 2008. Diversity-productivity relationships in two ecologically realistic rarity-extinction scenarios. Oikos , 117, 996-1005.
Yurkonis, K. A. and S. J. Meiners. 2006. Drought impacts and recovery are driven by local variation in species turnover. Plant Ecology, 184, 325-336.
Yurkonis, K. A. , S. J. Meiners and B.W. Wachholder. 2005. Invasion impacts diversity through altered community dynamics. Journal of Ecology , 93, 1053-1061.
Yurkonis, K. A. and S. J. Meiners. 2004. Invasion impacts local species turnover in a successional system. Ecology Letters , 7, 764-769.
Yurkonis, K. A. , B. J. Wilsey, K. A. Moloney, P. Drobney, and D. L. Larson. In revision . Native plant richness, evenness, and arrangement as predictors of grassland invader abundance. Oikos .
Yurkonis, K. A., K.A. Bolton, H. Maherali, and J.A. Newman. In prep. The source population dictates invasion and invasion impact in the Neotyphodium coenophialum - Festuca arundinacea model system. Journal of Applied Ecology .
Links
Biology Department, UND
Biology Department Graduate Programs
Contact Dr. Kathryn Yurkonis: kathryn.yurkonis@email.und.edu
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