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.