Dr. Howard's Ecology Lab

ABOUT DR. HOWARD

JEROME JOSEPH HOWARD
CURRICULUM VITAE

POSITIONS HELD:

  • 1998 - present: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans.
  • 1992 - 1998: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans.
  • 1992: Research Associate, Institute for Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
  • 1989 - 1992: National Science Founcdation Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Associate, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona.
  • 1988 - 1989: Maytag Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Arizona State University.
  • 1987 - 1988: Postdoctoral Teaching Associate, Department of Biology, University of Iowa.
  • 1986 -1987: Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Republic of Panama.

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EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. (1985) University of Iowa, Department of Biology.
         Dissertation title: "The effect of leaf characteristics on host plant selection by the leafcutting ant                                     Atta cephalotes (L.)".
  • M.S. (1979) University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
  • B.S. (1975) University of California at Davis, Department of Zoology (high honors).

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RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Effects of fragmentation and introduced species on biodiversity of the southeastern United States; plant-animal interactions; biology of social insects; effects of herbivores on plant communities; behavioral ecology and conservation biology.

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CURRENT RESEARCH:

  • Tropical plant population responses to mammalian and insect herbivory. With W. Carson, U. of Pittsburgh.
  • Organization of the foraging system in leafcutting ants (Atta and Acromyrmex), with Martin Burd, Monash University, Australia.
  • Herbivory patterns and the responses of plant individuals, populations and communities
    Impact of the invasive tree species Sapium sebiferum on ecosystem properties and food webs of bottomland forests

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PUBLICATIONS:

  • Burd, M. and J. J. Howard. Central-place foraging continues beyond the nest entrance: the underground performance of leaf-cutting ants. Accepted 11/15/04, Animal Behaviour.
  • Hull-Sanders, H. M. and J. J. Howard. 2003. Impact of Atta colombica colonies on understory vegetation and light availability in a Neotropical forest. Biotropica 35: 441-445.
  • Howard, J. J. 2001. Costs of trail construction and maintenance in the leaf-cutting ant Atta columbica. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49: 348-356.
  • Snyder, M. J., Champagne, D. E., Cohen, M. B., and Howard, J. J. 1998. Effects of plant diet on the detoxification enzyme activities of two grasshoppers, Melanoplus differentialis and Taeniopoda eques. Journal of Chemical Ecology 24: 2151-2165.
  • Armbruster, W. S., J. J. Howard, T. P. Clausen, E. Debevec, J. Loquvam, M. Matsuki, B. Cerendolo, and F. Andel. (1997) Do biochemical exaptations link evolution of defense and pollination systems? Historical hypotheses and experimental tests with Dalechampia vines. American Naturalist 149: 461-484.
  • Howard, J.J., M. L. Hennemann, G. Cronin, J. A. Fox and G. Hormiga. (1996) Conditioning of scouts and recruits during foraging by a leafcutting ant (Atta colombica). Animal Behaviour 52: 299-306.
  • Howard, J. J. (1995) Variation in dietary patterns among and within polyphagous grasshopper species (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 8: 563-577.
  • Howard, J. J., D. Raubenheimer, and E. A. Bernays. (1994) Population and individual polyphagy in the grasshopper Taeniopoda eques during natural foraging. Entomologia experimentalis et Applicata 71: 167-176.
  • Howard, J.J. (1993) Temporal pattern of resource use and variation in diets of individual grasshoppers. Journal of Insect Behavior 6: 441-453.
  • Bernays, E. A., K. Bright, J. J. Howard. D. Raubenheimer, and D. Champagne, (1992) Variety is the spice of life: Frequent switching of foods in the polyphagous grasshopper Taeniopoda eques Burmeister (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Animal Behaviour 44: 721-731.
  • Bernays, E.A., J.J. Howard, D. Champagne, and B. J. Estesen. (1991). Rutin: A
    phagostimulant for the polyphagous grasshopper Schistocerca americana. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 60: 19-28.
  • Howard, J. J. and E. A. Bernays. (1991). Experience affects palatability hierarchies of novel plants in the polyphagous grasshopper Schistocerca americana. Oecologia 87: 424-428.
  • Howard, J. J. (1991). Resource quality and cost in the foraging of leafcutter ants. Pages 42-50 In: C. Huxley and D. Cutler, editors. Ant-Plant Interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
    Howard, J. J. (1990). Infidelity of leafcutting ants to host plants: resource heterogeneity or defense induction? Oecologia (Berlin) 82: 394-401.
  • Howard, J. J., T. P. Green, and D. F. Wiemer (1989). Comparative deterrency
    of two terpenoids to two genera of attine ants. Journal of Chemical Ecology 15: 2279-2288.
  • Cazin, J. Jr., D. F. Wiemer and J. J. Howard (1989). Growth characteristics of fungi cultivated by the attine ants. I. Isolation, identification, growth enhancement, growth inhibition and long-term storage. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 55: 1346-1350.
  • Howard, J. J., J. Cazin, Jr., and D. F. Wiemer (1988). Toxicity of terpenoid deterrents to the leafcutting ant Atta cephalotes and its mutualistic fungus. Journal of Chemical Ecology 14: 59-69.
  • Howard, J. J. (1988). Leafcutting ant diet selection: relative influence of leaf chemistry and physical features. Ecology 69: 250-260.
  • Howard, J. J. (1987). Leafcutting ant diet selection: The role of nutrients, water, and secondary chemistry. Ecology 68: 503-515.
  • Johnson, L. K. and J. J. Howard (1987). Olfactory disc number in bees of different sizes and ways of life. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 60: 380-388.
  • Howard, J. J. (1987). Repellent activity of the secretion of Edessa rufomarginata, a neotropical pentatomid. Revista de Biologia Tropical 35: 139-141.
  • Howard, J. J. and D. F. Wiemer (1986). Chemical ecology of host plant selection by the leafcutting ant Atta cephalotes. Pages 260-273 In C. S. Lofgren and R. K. Vander Meer, eds. Fire ants and leafcutting ants: Biology and management. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
  • Howard, J. J. (1985). Observations on resin gathering by six interacting species of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponinae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 58: 337-345.
  • Howard, J. J. (1984). A survey of cyanogenesis in plants of Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Revista de Biologia Tropical 32: 163-165.
  • Hubbell, S. P., J. J. Howard and D. F. Wiemer (1984). Chemical leaf repellency to an attine ant: seasonal distribution among potential host plant species. Ecology 65: 1067-1076.
  • Chen, T. K., D. F. Wiemer and J. J. Howard (1984). A volatile leafcutter ant repellent from Astronium graveolens. Naturwissenschaften 71: 97-98.
  • Howard, J.J. and D. F. Wiemer (1983). The defensive secretion of Edessa rufomarginata.
    Naturwissenschaften 70: 202-203.

SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION:

  • Ford, R. T., M. P. Falkenstein, and J. J. Howard. Comparisons of behavior between Chinese-origin and Indian-origin rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Submitted to American Journal of Primatology.
  • Howard, J. J. and S. W. Subervielle. Light and moisture limitation of seedling Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.) in a Louisiana bottomland forest. In revision.
  • Burd, M. and J. J. Howard. Foraging performance of leaf-cutting ants when underground activities are included in the foraging rate. Submitted to Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

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Last Updated: 1/14/05 Department of Biological Sciences-UNO University of New Orleans