Skip Navigation LinksHome > People > Faculty > Faculty Profile

Douglas J Levey

Professor
Ph. D.   University of Wisconsin, 1986

621 Carr
(352) 392-9169

dlevey@ufl.edu 
Personal Website

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in the evolutionary ecology of plant-animal interactions, especially seed dispersal and especially in the tropics. For example, one of my research projects addresses the evolutionary ecology of chili peppers in Bolivia, where one can find chili species that are polymorphic for production of capsaicin (the compound that makes hot peppers hot). I’m also exploring the evolution of bird migration in South America and the conservation value of habitat corridors in South Carolina.

Representative Publications

Brudvig, L. A., E. I. Damschen, J. J. Tewksbury, N. M. Haddad, and D. J. Levey.  2009.  Corridors promote biodiversity through spillover.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences   106:9328-9332. 

Levey, D. J., G. A. Londoño, J. Ungvari-Martin, M. R. Hiersoux, J. E. Jankowski, J. R. Poulsen, C. M. Stracey, and S. K. Robinson.  2009. Urban mockingbirds quickly learn to identify individual humans.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  106:8959-8962.

Tewksbury, J. J., D. J. Levey, M. Huizinga, D. C. Haak, and A. Traveset. 2008.  Costs and benefits of capsaicin-mediated control of gut retention in dispersers of wild chilies.  Ecology 89:1077-117.

Tewksbury, J. J., K. M. Reagan, N. J. Machnicki, T. Carlo, D. C. Haak, A. L. Calderon-Peñaloza, and D. J. Levey.  2008. Evolutionary ecology of  pungency in wild chilies.    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  105:1180-11811.

Damschen, E. I., L. A. Brudvig, N. M. Haddad, D. J. Levey, J. L. Orrock, and J. J. Tewksbury.  2008. The movement ecology and dynamics of plant communities in fragmented landscapes.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105:1978-1983.

Levey, D. J., J. J. Tewksbury, and B. M. Bolker.  2008. Modeling and measuring long-distance dispersal in a landscape context.  Journal of Ecology 96:599-608.

Clark, C. J., J. R. Poulsen, D. J. Levey, and C. W. Osenberg.  2007. Are plant populations seed limited?  A meta-analysis and critique of seed addition experiments.  American Naturalist 170:128-142.

McCoy, M.W., K. A. McCoy, and D. J. Levey.  2007. Teaching biodiversity to students in inner-city and under-resourced schools.  American Biology Teacher.

Levey, D. J., J. J. Tewksbury, M. L. Cipollini, and T. A. Carlo. 2006. A field test of the directed deterrence hypothesis in two species of wild chilies.  Oecologia 150:61-69.  

Levey, D. J., B. M. Bolker, J. J. Tewksbury, S. Sargent, and N. M. Haddad.  2005. Effects of landscape corridors on seed dispersal by birds.  Science 309:146-148.

Current Graduate Students

NameEmailResearch Interest
Trevor Caughlin trevorcaughlin@ufl.edu 
Jill Jankowski jjankow2@ufl.eduAvian mechanisms
Gustavo Londoño galondo@ufl.eduAvian incubation behavior
Carlos Manchego cemanch@ufl.eduPlant-animal interactions and biogeography
Marvin Morales mvmorales@ufl.edu 
Julian Resasco jresasco@ufl.eduHabitat corridors
Download CV