Clive G. Jones
Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Many organisms build, modify or destroy physical structures in the environment. For example, both beavers and the Army Corps of Engineers build dams. Beaver dams and many other physical structures have important ecological effects on other species because these structures create habitat, control the amount of resources that other species can use, and can ameliorate or exacerbate abiotic stress to organisms. Rock-eating snails in the Negev Desert control the amount of soil for plants. Desert Isopods control soil erosion and remove salts that decrease soil fertility for plants. Desert porcupines dig pits that trap water and seeds, making an ideal place for annual plants to grow. There are hundreds of other examples of organisms modifying the environment in all sorts of ecosystems. And yet, in general we know far less about these engineers and their ecological effects than we know about the effects of predation or competition for resources among organisms. How and why do engineers have effects? How important are these effects? How similar are different engineers? How can we quantify, compare and model engineering effects? Our collaborative research involves empirical studies on the effects of engineers, the development of concepts and models of ecosystem engineering and syntheses of the existing literature. Research in this area is helping us understand how species -- including human engineers -- can affect the abundance and diversity of species and the functioning of ecosystems.

Ecosystem Engineering Publications

• Gutiérrez, A. G., O. Barbosa, D. A. Christie, E. del-Val, H. A. Ewing, C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, K. C. Weathers, and J. J. Armesto.   2008.   Regeneration patterns and persistence of the fog-dependent Fray Jorge forest in semiarid Chile during the past two centuries. Global Change Biol.   14:161–176.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2008.   Puffins' habits change habitat. Nesting practices erode island, making it unlivable for species. Poughkeepsie Journal   8 June, 6B.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2008.   The Army Corps of Engineers vs. muskrat engineers: Nature declared winner. Poughkeepsie Journal   6 July, 6B-7B.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., I. Dajoz, and L. Abbadie.   2008.   Ecological engineering and the sustainable redesign imperative. pp. 138-139In: L. Garnier (ed.). Man and Nature: Making the Relationship Last. Réserves de biosphére - Notes techniques 3 - 2008, UNESCO, Paris.  
  
  
• Hastings, A., J. E. Byers, J. A. Crooks, K. Cuddington, C. G. Jones, J. G. Lambrinos, T. S. Talley, and W. G. Wilson.   2007.   Ecosystem engineering in space and time. Ecol. Lett.   10:153-164.
  
  
• Jones, C. G. and J. L. Gutiérrez.   2007.   On the meaning, usage and purpose of the physical ecosystem engineering concept. pp. 3-24.In: K. Cuddington, J. E. Byers, A. Hastings, A. and W. G. Wilson (eds.). Ecosystem Engineers: Concepts, Theory, and Applications in Ecology. Academic/Elsevier.  
  
  
• Jones, C. G. and R. M. Callaway.   2007.   The third party. J. Veg. Sci.   18:771-776.
  
  
• Wallem, K. P., C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, and F. M. Jaksic.   2007.   Identificación de los mecanismos subyacentes a la invasión de Castor canadensis (Rodentia) en el archipiélago de Tierra del Fuego, Chile.Identifying the mechanisms underlying the invasion of Castor canadensis (Rodentia) into Tierra del Fuego archipelago, Chile. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat.   80(3):309-325.
  
  
• Badano, E. I., C. G. Jones, L. A. Cavieres, and J. P. Wright.   2006.   Assessing impacts of ecosystem engineers on community organization: A general approach illustrated by effects of a high-Andean cushion plant. Oikos   115:369-385.
  
  
• Byers, J. E., K. Cuddington, C. G. Jones, T. S. Talley, A. Hastings, J. G. Lambrinos, J. A. Crooks, and W. G. Wilson.   2006.   Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems. Trends Ecol. Evol.   21(9):493-500.
  
  
• del-Val, E., J. J. Armesto, O. Barbosa, D. A. Christie, A. G. Gutiérrez, C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, and K. C. Weathers.   2006.   Rain forest islands in the Chilean semiarid region: Fog-dependency, ecosystem persistence and tree regeneration. Ecosystems   9:598-608.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., and C. G. Jones.   2006.   Physical ecosystem engineers as agents of biogeochemical heterogeneity. BioScience   56(3):227-236.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., C. G. Jones, P. M. Groffman, S. E. G. Findlay, O. O. Iribarne, P. D. Ribiero, and C. M. Bruschetti.   2006.   The contribution of crab burrow excavation to carbon availability in surficial salt-marsh sediments. Ecosystems   9:647–658.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. L. Gutiérrez, P. M. Groffman, and M. Shachak.   2006.   Linking ecosystem engineers to soil processes: A framework using the Jenny State Factor Equation. European J. Soil Biol.   42:S39-S53.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones.   2006.   The concept of organisms as ecosystem engineers ten years on: Progress, limitations, and challenges. BioScience   56(3):203-209.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, B. Boeken, and M. Shachak.   2006.   Predictability of ecosystem engineering effects on species richness across environmental variability and spatial scales. J. Ecol.   94:815-824.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones.   2004.   Predicting effects of ecosystem engineers on patch-scale species richness from primary productivity. Ecology   85(8):2071–2081.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., W. S. C. Gurney, and C. G. Jones.   2004.   Patch dynamics in a landscape modified by ecosystem engineers. Oikos   105(2):336-348.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., C. G. Jones, D. L. Strayer, and O. O. Iribarne.   2003.   Mollusks as ecosystem engineers: The role of shell production in aquatic habitats. Oikos   101:79-90.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., A. S. Flecker, and C. G. Jones.   2003.   Local versus landscape controls on plant species richness in beaver meadows. Ecology   84(12):3162–3173.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, and A. S. Flecker.   2002.   An ecosystem engineer, the beaver, increases species richness at the landscape scale. Oecologia   132(1):96-101.
  
  
• Groffman, P. M., and C. G. Jones.   2000.   Soil processes and global change: will invertebrates make a difference? In: D. C. Coleman and P. F. Hendrix (eds.). Invertebrates as Webmasters in Ecosystems.   CAB International, Oxon, UK, and New York, NY.   pp. 313-326.
  
  
• Pickett, S. T. A., M. L. Cadenasso, and C. G. Jones.   2000.   Generation of heterogeneity by organisms: creation, maintenance, and transformation. In: M. J. Hutchings, E. A. John, and A. J. A. Stewart (eds.).The Ecological Consequences of Environmental Heterogeneity: The 40th Symposium of the British Ecological Society.   Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford, UK.   pp. 33-52.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1997.   Ecosystem engineering by organisms: why semantics matters.   Trends Ecol. Evol.   12(7):275 [letter].
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1997.   Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers. Ecology   78:1946-1957.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   1996.   Ecosystem engineering by vertebrates. [Zoogeomorphology: Animals as Geomorphic Agents. 1995. D. R. Butler. Cambridge University Press, New York. 231 pp.]   Ecology   77:653-654.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1996.   Organisms as ecosystem engineers. [Reprinted from Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak. 1994. Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69:373-386.] In: F. B. Samson and F. L. Knopf (eds.). Readings in Ecosystem Management.   Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.   pp. 130-147.
  
  
• Lawton, J. H., and C. G. Jones.   1995.   Linking species and ecosystems: organisms as ecosystem engineers. In: C. G. Jones and J. H. Lawton (eds.). Linking Species and Ecosystems.   Chapman & Hall, Inc., New York.   pp. 141-150.
  
  
• Shachak, M., and C. G. Jones.   1995.   Ecological flow chains and ecological systems: concepts for linking species and ecosystem perspectives. In: C. G. Jones and J. H. Lawton (eds.). Linking Species and Ecosystems. Chapman & Hall, Inc., New York.   pp. 280-294.
  
  
• Shachak, M., C. G. Jones, and S. Brand.   1995.   The role of animals in an arid ecosystem: snails and isopods as controllers of soil formation, erosion and desalinization.   Adv. GeoEcol.   28:37-50.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., and M. Shachak.   1994.   Desert snails' daily grind.   Nat. Hist.   103(8):56-61.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1994.   Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos   69:373-386.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., and M. Shachak.   1990.   Fertilization of the desert soil by rock-eating snails.   Nature   346:839-841.
  
  
• Bianchi, T. S., C. G. Jones, and M. Shachak.   1989.   Positive feedback of consumer population density on resource supply. Trends Ecol. Evol.   4:234-238.
  
  
• Shachak, M., C. G. Jones, and Y. Granot.   1987.   Herbivory in rocks and the weathering of a desert. Science   236:1098-1099.
  
  

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