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RESEARCH PROJECTS
Research in the Davis lab straddles the disciplines of physiology, functional ecology, animal behavior, disease ecology, parasitology, hematology, and natural history. Furthermore, this work is not limited to any one taxon, but spans the disciplines of ornithology, entomology (including arachnids!) and herpetology.
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We ask questions like - Why does this butterfly have bright colors? How can animals with parasites deal with predation events? How much weight can a beetle lift? Why can that spider live right next to a busy road? Some of these questions come from sheer curiosity, some have real-world conservation implications
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Below is a smattering of some of our work
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Biology of invasive joro spiders
This spider has been taking the southeast (and the internet) by storm, because they are fast-spreading, menacing-looking, and have huge webs.
Research from the lab has examined the physiology and behavior of these spiders to learn more about how they can spread so fast, and, in human-dominated landscapes.
Migration biology of monarch butterflies
This might be America's favorite insect, and Dr. Davis has been studying them for 25+ years. There have been many, many projects, but most focus on their incredible migration, including their wing morphology
More recent work has involved deciphering the long-term trends in the overall population size
Nematode parasites of beetles
A long-running project in the lab involves studying how a common nematode parasite affects the lives of a forest-dwelling beetle. This research has especially focused on how the parasite affects the ability of the hosts to respond to stressors (hint - it reduces it)
Stress physiology (and parasites) of amphibians
Some older research from the lab has focused on identifying and studying how stress can been measured in animals by assessing numbers of white blood cells from standard blood films. These projects included raising amphibians (pictured) in different densities, examining how parasites influence stress levels, and comparing amphibian responses to other animals.
More recent collaborations with other labs has focused on studying how a trypanosome blood parasite affects hellbenders in Virginia!
Effects of blood parasites on animals
Multiple projects that involved screening blood films under a microscope for blood parasites and ascertaining how they affect the animals in question.
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