Welcome.  I’ve developed this website as a means to share my research with friends, family, advisors, benefactors, and others interested.  Generally, my research is about the ecology and biological diversity of westside forests of the Pacific Northwest.  In particular, I’m interested in assessing how biological communities recover from habitat disturbance (i.e.  timber management). 

The forests of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are complex and dynamic. Their structure constantly changes as trees grow, die, and decompose on the timescale of hundreds of years; soil and organic layers accumulate, the composition of the vegetation changes, and different animals move in and out in response to the changing environment.  Humans also have impacted the forests. Due to a fairly long and storied past of logging in the region, I have access to forests that have been logged as recently as last month or as long ago as 100 years ago.  In addition, there are some forests (relatively few) that have never been logged. 

Within this context, I am utilizing moths as indicators of biological diversity.  Moths are abundant, diverse (hundreds of different species in the PNW), and sensitive to habitat change.  They are also ecologically diverse: some moths eat only fungi or lichens, others eat the leaves of conifer or deciduous trees; some moths metamorphose from larvae to winged-adults in the tree canopy, some in the bark of a Douglas fir, and some in the soil;  and some moths are native to the PNW, while others were brought here by man from far off lands.  

Considering this diversity, the community composition of moths is likely to change as its environment changes, i.e. as the forests recover from logging.  Exactly what changes take place and the broader implications are what I hope to find out…

-Matt

P.S. Check out the “Project Updates” section for regular updates and photos!

Advisors

Merrill Peterson, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor, WWU, Biology Dept.

Dave Hooper, Ph.D., Thesis Committee Member, WWU, Biology Dept.

Robin Matthews, Ph.D., Thesis Committee Member, WWU, Huxley College of the Environment

This research is supported by the following grants

Wildlife Research Grant, North Cascades Audubon Society

Fund for the Enhance of Graduate Research, WWU's Research and Sponsored Programs

Graduate Research Funds, WWU Biology Department