S. Joseph Wright Community Ecologist:

The Dream JobResearch Biologist

Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteAPO AA 34002-0938, United States

orApdo 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama

Presenting Team:Jeremy SueltenfussGloria SummayChris DavisDave Gebben

Ecology 505

Academic & Career History

B.A., 1974 Princeton

Ph.D., 1980 UCLA

Research Biologist, 1983-2003 Senior Scientist, 2004-present

Academic Pedigree1974 – Princeton

John Terborgh-Tropical conservation biologist. - Ran research station in Peru.

1980 – UCLAHenry Hespenheide

- predator prey interactions

- evolutionary pressures

Martin Cody

- Controls of species diversity, density, and distributions.

(PhD) Steve Hubbell

- Theoretical ecologist on diversity

- Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity

Successful “Students”*

Kaoru Kitajima - Associate Professor, University of Florida

Kyle Harms - Associate Professor, Louisiana State University

Greg Gilbert - Research Professor, University of California SC

Jens Svenning - Professor of Biology,  Aarhus University

Nina Wurzburger - Post doc research associate,  Princeton

*post-doc associates

International Service President elect, Association for Tropical Biology

and Conservation (2003 for 3-yr term)

Associate Editor for the ‘Journal of Ecology’ of the British Ecological Society (1997 to 2004)

Associate Editor for ‘Biotropica’ (2001 to 2004)

Smithsonian Service Scientist-in-charge, Canopy Biology Program

(1992 to present)

Scientist-in-charge, Terrestrial Environmental Sciences Program (1993 to present)

Themes - by Decade

2000-2010Changes in Tropical Forest Plant Community.What drives change?

1990-2000Ecophysiology of tropical plants.  How do changes in physical/biogeochemical

cycles affect physiology of plants?

1980-1990Relationships between plants and animals.  Competition and Extinctions.

Publications by Area of Study1983-1990

0

24

6

8

1012

14

16

Ecology Evolutionary Biology Plant Sciences

Area of Study

1991-2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Ecology EvolutionaryBiology

PlantSciences

Genetcisand

Heredity

Agronomy Env.Sciences

Area of Study

2001-2010

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ecology PlantSciences

Env. Sciences BiodiversityConservation

EvolutionaryBiology

Genetcis andHeredity

Area of Study

Publications by Journal1983-1990

0

1

2

3

4

5

Americannaturalist

Ecology Oikos Oecologia Journal ofEcology

2001-2010

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Biotropica Ecology Journal ofTropicalEcology

Journal ofEcology

Oecologia ConservationBiology

1991-2000

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Ecology Oecologia Trends inEcology and

Evolution

AmericanJournal ofBotany

Oikos Plant andSoil

First Authorship

0

1

2

3

4

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Publication Year

Fir

st A

uth

ors

hip

Most Cited ArticlesArticle

TotalCitations

CitationsPer Year

The phenology of tropical forests – adaptive significance and consequences for primary consumers    

Author(s): VANSCHAIK CP, TERBORGH JW, WRIGHT SJ  286 15.89

Source: ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS   Volume: 24   Pages: 353-377   Published: 1993    

Plant diversity in tropical forests: a review of mechanisms of species coexistence     

Author(s): Wright SJ  233 25.89

Source: OECOLOGIA   Volume: 130   Issue: 1   Pages: 1-14   Published: JAN 2002    

Plastic phenotypic response to light of 16 congeneric shrubs from a Panamanian rainforest     

Author(s): Valladares F, Wright SJ, Lasso E, et al. 163 14.82

Source: ECOLOGY   Volume: 81   Issue: 7   Pages: 1925-1936   Published: JUL 2000    

The El Nino Southern Oscillation variable fruit production, and famine in a tropical forest     

Author(s): Wright SJ, Carrasco C, Calderon O, et al. 129 11.73

Source: ECOLOGY   Volume: 80   Issue: 5   Pages: 1632-1647   Published: JUL 1999    

Tropical forests in a changing environment     

Author(s): Wright SJ  124 20.67

Source: TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION   Volume: 20   Issue: 10   Pages: 553-560   Published: OCT 2005    

Tropical forests support 60% of all species and are a key component of global carbon and climate cycles. Despite their obvious global significance, relatively few biologists study tropical forests, and our papers are often cited accordingly. -SJ Wright

What Wright Says about his Work

- “My doctoral work was an attempt to link species abundance distributions and species area relationships. I fell well short of my goal and became disillusioned with the problem.”

- “My community was a human construct - it made no biological sense. So, I switched to plants.”

- “First, I embraced ecophysiology and phenology. Second, I started long-term monitoring studies of seed production and seedling recruitment and performance.”

Advice to Young Scholars:

“Be optimistic. Expect the best from your colleagues. Always look

for what you can learn from others – ignore their mistakes, focus

on their successful insights. We aren’t lawyers. Our goal is to

increase knowledge, not bicker over details.”