Selected Publications 

Publications in red are linked to PDF or TEXT files.

Copies of other publications may be available from Lee Dyer (ldyer@tulane.edu).

Dyer, L.A., M.S. Singer, J.T. Lill, J.O. Stireman III, G.L. Gentry, R.J. Marquis, R.E. Ricklefs, H.F. Greeney, D.L. Wagner, H.C. Morais, I.R. Diniz, T.A. Kursar, and P.D. Coley. 2007. Host specificity of Lepidoptera in tropical and temperate forests. Nature 448:696-699.

Dyer, L.A. and D.K. Letourneau. 2007. Determinants of lichen diversity in a rainforest understory. Biotropica 39:525-539.

Armstrong, M., Berkowitz, A.R., Dyer, L.A. and J. Taylor. 2007. Understanding why students underrepresented in ecology pursue ecology careers: a preliminary case study of 39 African American students. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. In press.

Dyer, L.A. 2007. The ecology of tri-trophic interactions in the tropics. In: Carson, W.P. and S.A. Schnitzer (editors). Tropical Forest Community Ecology. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.

Pearson, C.V. and L.A. Dyer. 2006. Trophic diversity in two grassland ecosystems. Journal of Insect Science 6:23.

Stireman III, J.O., L.A. Dyer, D.H. Janzen, M.S. Singer, J.T. Lill, R.J. Marquis, R.E. Ricklefs, G.L. Gentry, W. Hallwachs, P.D. Coley, J.A. Barone, H.F. Greeney, H. Connahs, P. Barbosa, H.C. Morais, and I.R. Diniz. 2005. Climatic unpredictability and caterpillar parasitism: implications of global warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102:17384-17387.

Dyer, L.A., Matlock, R.M., Cherzad, D., and R. O'Malley. 2005. Predicting successful biological control in banana plantations. Environmental Entomology 34:403-409.

Irschick, D., Dyer, L.A., and T. Sherry. 2005. Phylogenetic methods for studying specialization. Oikos 110:404-408.

Stireman, J.O. III, Dyer, L.A., and R.M. Matlock. 2005. Top-down forces in managed versus unmanaged habitats. In: Barbosa, P. and I. Castellanos (eds.). Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions. Oxford University Press.

Letourneau, D.K. and L.A. Dyer. 2005. Multi-trophic interactions and biodiversity: beetles, ants, caterpillars, and plants.In: Hartley, S. (ed.). Biotic Interactions in the Tropics: Their Role in the Maintenance of Species Diversity. Academic Press.

Dyer, L.A., Dodson, C.D., Letourneau, D.K., Tobler, M.A., Hsu, A., and J.O. Stireman III. 2004. Ecological causes and consequences of variation in defensive chemistry of a neotropical shrub. Ecology 2795-2803.

Letourneau, D.K., Dyer, L.A., and G. Vega. 2004. Indirect effects of top predator on rain forest understory plant community. Ecology 85:2144-2152.

Dyer, L.A. and A.N. Palmer. 2004. Piper. A model genus for studies of evolution, chemical ecology, and trophic interactions. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

Dyer, L.A., Dodson, C.D., and J. Richards. 2004. Isolation, synthesis, and evolutionary ecology of Piper amides. Pages 117-139 in: Dyer, L.A. and A.N. Palmer (eds.). Piper. A model genus for studies of evolution, chemical ecology, and trophic interactions. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

Dyer, L.A., Gentry, G., and M. Tobler. 2004. Fitness consequences of herbivory: impacts on asexual reproduction of tropical rainforest understory plants. Biotropica 36:68-73.

Dyer, L.A., Dodson, C.D., Gentry, G. 2003. A bioassay for insect deterrent compounds found in plant and animal tissues. Phytochemical Analysis 14:381-388.

Dyer, L.A. and J.O. Stireman III. 2003. Community-wide trophic cascades and other indirect interactions in an agricultural community. Basic and Applied Ecology 4:423-432.

Dyer, L.A., Dodson, C.D., Stireman, J.O., Tobler, M.A., Smilanich, A.M., Fincher, R.M., and D.K. Letourneau. 2003. Synergistic effects of three Piper amides on generalist and specialist herbivores. Journal of Chemical Ecology 29:2499-2514.

Dyer, L.A. and D.K. Letourneau. 2003. Top-down and bottom-up diversity cascades in detrital versus living food webs. Ecology Letters 6:60-68.

Gentry, G.L. and L.A. Dyer. 2002. On the conditional nature of neotropical caterpillar defenses against their natural enemies. Ecology 83:3108-3119.

Dyer, L.A. 2002. Jungle phobias. Earthwatch 21:10-11.

Dyer, L.A. 2002. A quantification of predation rates, indirect positive effects on plants, and foraging variation of the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata. Journal of Insect Science 2.18:1-7.

Dyer, L.A. and G.L. Gentry. 2002. Caterpillars and parasitoids of a tropical lowland wet forest. http://www.caterpillars.org.

Dyer, L.A. and N. Bishop. 2001. In defense of caterpillars. Natural History 110:42-47.

Dyer, L.A. and P.D. Coley. 2001. Latitudinal gradients in tri-trophic interactions. Pages 67-88 in: Tscharntke, T. and Hawkins, B.A. (editors). Multitrophic Level Interactions. Cambridge University Press.

Dyer, L.A., Dodson, C.D., Beihoffer, J. and D.K. Letourneau. 2001. Trade offs in anti-herbivore defenses in Piper cenocladum: ant mutualists versus plant secondary metabolites. J. Chem. Ecol 27:581-592.

Dodson, C.D., Dyer, L.A., Searcy, J., Wright, Z., and D.K. Letourneau. 2000. Cenocladamide, a dihydropyridone alkaloid from Piper cenocladum. Phytochemistry 53:51-54.

Dyer, L.A., Williams, W., Dodson, C., and D.K. Letourneau. 2000. A commensalism between Piper marginatum Jacq. (Piperaceae) and a coccinellid beetle. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:841-846.

Dyer, L.A. 2000. Cybernetic insect outbreaks. Ecology 81:3262-3263.

Dyer, L.A. and D.K. Letourneau. 1999. Trophic cascades in a complex, terrestrial community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96:5072-5076.

Dyer, L.A. and D.K. Letourneau. 1999. Relative strengths of top-down and bottom-up forces in a tropical forest community. Oecologia 119:265-274.

Dyer, L.A. and Gentry, G. 1999. Larval defensive mechanisms as predictors of successful biological control. Ecological Applications 9:402-408.

Letourneau, D.K. and L.A. Dyer. 1998. Density patterns of Piper ant-plants and associated arthropods: Top predator cascades in a terrestrial system? Biotropica 30:162-169.

Letourneau, D.K. and L.A. Dyer. 1998. Experimental manipulations in lowland tropical forest demonstrate top-down cascades through four trophic levels. Ecology 79:1678-1687.

Dyer, L.A. 1997. Effectiveness of caterpillar defenses against three species of invertebrate predators. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 34:48-68.

Dyer, L.A. and M.D. Bowers. 1996. The importance of sequestered iridoid glycosides as a defense against an ant predator. Journal of Chem. Ecology 22:1527-1539.

Folgarait, P.J., L.A. Dyer, R.J. Marquis, and H.E. Braker. 1996. Leaf-cutting ant (Atta cephalotes) preferences for five native tropical plantation tree species growing under different light conditions. Ent. Exp. et App. 80:521-531.

Dyer, L.A. 1995. Tasty generalists and nasty specialists? A comparative study of antipredator mechanisms in tropical lepidopteran larvae. Ecology 76:1483-1496.

De la Fuente, M.A., L.A. Dyer, and M.D. Bowers. 1994. The iridoid glycoside, catalpol, as a deterrent to the predator Camponotus floridanus (Formicidae). Chemoecology 5/6:13-18.

Dyer, L.A. and T. Floyd. 1993. Determinants of predation on phytophagous insects: the importance of diet breadth. Oecologia 96:575-582.

 Dyer, L.A. and R.E. Forkner. 2007. Why are agroecosystems green? Ecology 88:1606-1607.

Dyer, L.A. 2007. Do not go gentle into that tropical night. In: Adams, R. (ed.). Reflections by Moonlight. University Press of Colorado. In press.

Dyer, L.A., Chambers, J.Q, and T. Sherry. In prep. Tropical Community Ecology. Kluwer Academic Publishers.