Loretta Battaglia

Assistant Professor
 
Ph.D. 1998, University of Georgia
 
Wetland Ecology
 
Office and Lab: Life Science II, Room 411
Office and Lab Phone: 618-453-3216
email: LB
Lab web page

Research Interests

My research focuses on the mechanisms that drive spatiotemporal patterns in wetland plant communities and the ecological processes that link these communities with the surrounding landscape. The effects of large-scale phenomena, such as exotic species invasions and hurricane disturbances, on spatial pattern formation and community dynamics are of particular interest to me. I am also interested in restoration ecology of wetlands. In my research, I have used a combination of observational and experimental approaches in the field and greenhouse to address these research areas, which bridge landscape and community ecology. My current research projects include: 1) development of models to predict invasion of coastal wetland ecosystems by the exotic tree Triadica sebifera, 2) succession, recruitment limitation, and reestablishment of wetland forest in abandoned agricultural fields, and 3) development of indicators of ecological integrity for floodplain forest communities.

Selected Publications

  1. Battaglia, L. L. and R. R. Sharitz.  2006.  Response of floodplain forest species to spatially condensed gradients: a test of the flood-shade tolerance tradeoff hypothesis.  Oecologia, 147:  108-118.
  2. Battaglia, L. L. and R. R. Sharitz.  2005.  Effects of natural disturbance on bottomland hardwood regeneration.  In: Ecology and Management of Bottomland Hardwood Systems: The State of Our Understanding. L. H. Fredrickson, S. L. King and R. M. Kaminski, editors. University of Missouri-Columbia. Gaylord Memorial Laboratory Special Publication No. 10. Puxico.
  3. Battaglia, L. L., Collins, B. S. and Weisenhorn, P. B.  2004.  Quercus michauxii regeneration in and around aging canopy gaps.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34:1359-1364. 
  4. Battaglia, L. L., Collins, B. S. and Sharitz, R. R.  2004.  Do published tolerance ratings and dispersal factors predict species distributions in bottomland hardwoods?  Forest Ecology and Management 198:15-30.
  5. Denslow, J. S. and L. L. Battaglia. 2002. Stand composition and structure across a changing hydrologic gradient: Jean Lafitte National Park. Wetlands 22: 738-752.
  6. Battaglia, L. L., Minchin, P. R. and D. W. Pritchett. 2002. Sixteen years of old-field succession and reestablishment of a bottomland hardwood forest in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Wetlands 22: 1-17.
  7. Collins, B. S. and L. L. Battaglia. 2002. Microenvironmental heterogeneity and Quercus michauxii regeneration in experimental canopy gaps. Forest Ecology and Management 155: 281-292.
  8. Battaglia, L. L. Foré, S. A. & R. R. Sharitz. 2000. Seedling emergence, survival and size in relation to light and water availability in two bottomland hardwood species. Journal of Ecology 88: 1041-1050.

SIUC / College of Science / Plant Biology
URL: http://www.science.siu.edu/plant-biology/BioPages/Battalgia.bio.html
Last updated: 29-Aug-07 / dln