The Donohue Lab

Research Interests

I am a community ecologist and like to use experimental approaches to answer questions about the factors that regulate the structure, stability and functioning of biological networks. The overarching aim of my research is to further our understanding of how key elements of global change alter the functioning and stability of ecosystems.

An important goal of my research is to bridge the gaps between theoretical, empirical and applied ecology. My field research focuses mainly on aquatic ecosystems (both marine and freshwater), although more recently my approach to research combines experimental and observational work in the field, laboratory experiments using multitrophic microbial communities and in silico experiments on simulated model communities.

Some recent publications

• Yang, Q. Fowler, M.S., Jackson, A.L. & Donohue, I. (2019) The predictability of ecological stability in a noisy world. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 251-259. Full-text available at https://rdcu.be/bi0Uq

• Montoya, J. M., Donohue, I. & Pimm, S.L. (2018) Planetary boundaries for biodiversity: implausible science, pernicious policies. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33: 71-73.
  Covered by: The Guardian, New Scientist, and National Geographic.

• White, L., Donohue, I., Emmerson, M.C. & O’Connor, N.E. (2018) Combined effects of warming and nutrients on marine systems are moderated by predators and vary across functional groups. Global Change Biology 24: 5853-5866.

• Kordas, R.L., Donohue, I. & Harley, C.D.G. (2017) Herbivory enables marine communities to resist warming. Science Advances 3: e1701349.
  Covered by: National Geographic, The Huffington Post and AoL.

• Donohue, I., Petchey, O.L., Kéfi, S., Génin, A., Jackson, A.L., Yang, Q. & O'Connor, N.E. (2017) Loss of predator species, not intermediate consumers, triggers rapid and dramatic extinction cascades. Global Change Biology 23: 2962-2972.

• Abila, R. et al. (2016) Oil extraction imperils Africa's Great Lakes. Science 354: 561-562.

• Donohue, I., Hillebrand, H., Montoya, J.M., Petchey, O.L., Pimm, S.L., Fowler, M.S., Healy, K., Jackson, A.L., Lurgi, M., McClean, D., O'Connor, N.E., O'Gorman, E.J. & Yang, Q. (2016) Navigating the complexity of ecological stability. Ecology Letters 19: 1172-1185.
  ***Awarded the 2017 Innovation in Sustainability Science Award by the Ecological Society of America***
  

• McClean, D., McNally, L., Salzberg, L.L., Devine, K.M., Brown, S.P. & Donohue, I. (2015) Single gene locus changes perturb complex microbial communities as much as apex predator loss. Nature Communications 6: 8235

• Donohue, I., Petchey, O.L., Montoya, J.M., Jackson, A.L., McNally, L., Viana, M., Healy, K., Lurgi, M., O’Connor, N.E. & Emmerson, M.C. (2013) On the dimensionality of ecological stability. Ecology Letters 16: 421–429

>>full list of publications>>

• Research Group
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• Applied Ecology
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Microevolution matters! Check out this short video describing our paper recently published in Nature Communications:

Teaching

*Fundamentals of Ecology (BO3105; Junior Sophistor Environmental Science, Plant Science and Zoology)
*Animal Diversity (ZO3003; Junior Sophistor Zoology)
*General Environmental Sciences (ES4052; Senior Sophistor Environmental Sciences)
*Wildlife Biology and Terrestrial Ecology (ZO3085; Junior Sophistor Environmental Sciences, Zoology)
*Introduction to Biodiversity (BD7050; MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation)
*Zoology and Society (ZO4040; Senior Sophistor Zoology)
*Tropical Ecology and Conservation (ZO4017; Senior Sophistor Environmental Science, Plant Science and Zoology)

Hear what our students have to say about the Tropical Ecology and Conservation field course in Kenya... 

...and our Terrestrial Ecology field course in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow: