Bill Nelson - Assistant Professor

Research: I am interested in the interaction between ecological and short-term evolutionary dynamics, and how this influences the patterns of diversity we see in nature. My research uses freshwater zooplankton as a study system, and aims to link the life-histories of individuals to the biological dynamics of populations and communities through a combination of mathematical modeling, laboratory experiments, and controlled mesocosm experiments.

 

 

»» Lab Website »« email: nelsonw@queensu.ca »« telephone: 613-533-6130 ««

Some Recent Publications:

•  Olijnyk, A.M. & Nelson, W.A. (In press) Positive phenotypic correlations among life history traits remain in the absence of differential resource ingestion. Functional Ecology.
• Yamanaka, T., Nelson, W.A., Uchimura, K. & Bjørnstad, O.N. (2012) Generation separation in simple structured life-cycles: models and 48 years of field data on a tea tortrix moth. American Naturalist 179: 95-109.
• Mideo, N., Nelson, W.A., Reece, S.E., Bell, A.S., Read, A. & Day, T. (2011) Bridging scales in the evolution of infectious disease life histories: Application. Evolution 24: 2410–2422.
• Huijben, S., Sim, D., Nelson, W.A. & Read, A. (2011) The fitness of drug-resistant malaria parasites in a rodent model: multiplicity of infection. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 2410-2422.
• Ananthasubramaniam, B., Nisbet, R.M., Nelson, W.A., McCauley, E. & Gurney, W.S.C. (2011) Stochastic growth reduces population fluctuations in Daphnia–algal systems. Ecology 92: 362-372.
• Huijben, S., Nelson, W.A., Wargo, A., Sim, D., Drew, D. & Read, A. (2010) Chemotherapy, within-host ecology and the fitness of drug resistant malaria parasites. Evolution 64: 2952-2968.
• Fox, J.W., Nelson, W.A.  & McCauley, E. (2010) Coexistence mechanisms and the paradox of the plankton: quantifying selection from noisy data. Ecology 91: 1774-1786.
• McCauley, E., Nelson, W.A. & Nisbet, R.M. (2008) Small amplitude predator-prey emerge from stage-structured interactions in Daphnia-algal systems. Nature 455: 1240-1243.
• Nelson, W.A., McCauley, E. & Nisbet, R.M. (2007) Stage-structured cycles generate strong fitness-equalizing mechanisms. Evolutionary Ecology 21: 499-515.
• Nelson, W.A., McCauley, E. & Wrona, F.J. (2005) Stage-structured cycles promote genetic diversity in a predator-prey system of Daphnia and algae. Nature 433: 413-417.