I joined the iEco Lab at Temple University (Pennsylvania, USA) in January 2020 to investigate the diversity patterns of herpetofauna in the Caribbean. Specifically, I am using a database of species occurrences on the islands of the Caribbean Bioregion to understand how anthropogenic movement of species influences the relationships predicted by island biogeography theory, species coexistence, and patterns of beta diversity.
Broadly I am interested in evolutionary and community ecology. I use species introductions to answer questions about how species and communities respond to anthropogenic disturbance and changes in their environment. In addition, I am interested in understanding how species introductions alter community assembly, species interactions, and patterns of diversity.
Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 2019
- Natural Resources and Environmental Science
M.S. Pennsylvania State University - 2012
- Ecology
B.S. Pennsylvania State University - 2009
- General Biology with a minor in Chemistry
Hawaii VINE Project
- Studied avian ecology and evolution as well as the seed dispersal networks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Impacts of Exotic Shrubs on Avian Ecology
- Studied the impacts of shrub honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.) on bird diversity patterns and nesting ecology.
Using N15 Isotope for Seed Dispersal Research
- Used the nitrogen 15 isotope to track the dispersal of seeds in various systems
Gleditsch, JM, Behm, JE, Ellers, J, Jesse, WAM and Helmus, MR (2022) Contemporizing island biogeography theory with anthropogenic drivers of species richness. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32(2): 233-249. doi:10.1111/geb.13623
Vizentin-Bugoni, J, Sperry, JH, Kelley, JP, Gleditsch, JM, Foster, JT, Drake, DR, Hruska, AM, Wilcox, RC, and Tarwater, CE (2021) Ecological correlates of species’ roles in highly invaded seed dispersal networks. PNAS, 118(4): 78-82. doi:10.1073/pnas.2009532118
Gleditsch, JM and Sperry, JH (2020) Ecomorphological relationships and invasion history of non-native terrestrial bird species on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i suggests ecological fitting during community assembly. Ecology and Evolution, 10:12157–12169. doi:10.1002/ece3.6843
Gleditsch, JM and Sperry, JH (2019) Rapid morphological change of non-native frugivores on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. Evolution, 73(7): 1456-1465. doi:10.1111/evo.13744
Vizentin-Bugoni, J, Tarwater, CE, Foster, JT, Drake, DR, Gleditsch, JM, Hruska, AM, Kelley, JP, and Sperry, JH (2019) Structure, spatial dynamics, and stability of novel seed dispersal mutualistic networks in Hawaiʻi. Science, 364(6435): 78-82. doi:10.1126/science.aau8751
Carlo TA, García D, Martínez D, Gleditsch, JM, Morales JM (2013) Where do seeds go when they go far? Integrating distance and directionality of avian seed dispersal in heterogeneous landscapes. Ecology, 94: 301-307. doi:10.1890/12-0913.1
Gleditsch, JM and Carlo, TA (2011) Fruit quantity of invasive shrubs predicts the abundance of common native avian frugivores in central Pennsylvania. Diversity and Distributions, 17:244-253. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2010.00733.x