Michael Ross is a Professor in the Earth and Environment department. Throughout his career as an ecologist, his research interests have included environmental controls on plant community composition and structure, the involvement of these controls in the successional process, and implications of these dynamics for resource management. His approach often incorporates large-scale field manipulations with pattern analysis based on "natural experiments", usually arrayed along well-defined environmental gradients. Presently, the bulk of his research is directed toward restoration of the mixture of forested and herbaceous coastal wetlands of the greater Everglades ecosystem. He is also working on climate change effects on coastal habitats, disturbance ecology (including hurricanes and fire), plant-soil relationships and remote sensing of vegetation.
research interests
Plant Community Ecology, Everglades ecosystem, environmental controls on plant community composition and structure, the involvement of these controls in the successional process, and implications of these dynamics for resource management; Ecology/Conservation Biology