Gonthier, David

Gonthier Agroecology Lab- Research activities

Research in the Gonthier Agroecology Lab focuses on evaluating ecological and socio-economic tradeoffs of agroecological practices at small (field, farm) scales and at larger (e.g., landscape) scales in order to optimize on-farm sustainability, productivity, and profitability.

Research in the lab includes looking at the services and disservices provided by wild birds to agriculture, and how these services and disservices, as well as the bird communities that deliver them, may vary depending on landscape complexity (i.e., the proportion of surrounding semi-natural habitat in the landscape) and varying levels of local diversification practices.

Other research in the lab includes the implementation and evaluation of physical barriers (e.g., netting) as a non-chemical alternative form of pest control across a variety of crops including blueberries, raspberries, leafy greens, and squash. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of such barriers on limiting detrimental insect pests, and also seeks to identify potential barriers of adoption by growers.

Finally, we are also evaluating the integration of poultry within a vegetable rotating system in order to evaluate potential trade-offs such as increased vegetable and poultry performance, poultry-mediated control of insect pests, soil health, and food safety risks.

Occupancy of bird communities in agricultural landscapes:

This project aims to determine how landscape-level factors (e.g., the proportion of semi-natural habitat in the landscape) and farm-level factors (e.g., local diversification practices) shape avian communities in a network of organic strawberry farms in the Central California Coast.

Personnel:

Karina Garcia, Added 06/29/2021

Computational Methods:

Computational methods: Bayesian data analysis will be computed using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms provided by JAGS. Methods are all currently available.

Software:

R, JAGS

UK and non-UK collaborators:

Leithen M’Gonigle- Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University, Department of Biological Sciences

Elissa Olimpi- Post-doctoral researcher at Virginia Tech University

Daniel S. Karp- Assistant Professor at UC Davis, Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation

Grants:

Publications: