Publications

Bold-face type = research by current or past lab member connected to their time in the lab, research led by undergraduate students = 🔥 

Last updated Sept. 2026
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Submitted

Unger, A. K., R. M. Germain. Positive effects of climate on an invader are exactly counterbalanced by competition with residents. Submitted to Global Change Biology. 

Sakarchi, J.*, Usui, T.*, P. Duchen, S. P. Hart, M. M. Turcotte, S. Xu, A. L. Angert†, R. M. Germain†. Niche differentiation confers coexistence prior to the species boundary in an aquatic plant. * = co-first authors, † = co-senior authors - pre-print 
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Ou, W., R. M. Germain†, T. Fukami†. Sink invaders can increase resident metapopulation size by modifying local conditions and regional connectivity. Minor revisions requested at the American Naturalist. † = co-senior authors - pre-print 

Ou, W., C. Laver, S. Perez, R. M. Germain. Ecological memory generates transient dynamics that bias empirical estimates of demographic parameters. In review at the American Naturalist. 

Ou, W., R. M. Germain. Assortative dispersal facilitates the regional maintenance of alternative stable states. Revisions requested at Ecological Monographs.

Szojka, M. C., L. Shoemaker†, R. M. Germain†. Species occupancy is a poor predictor of habitat suitability across spatial scales. † = co-senior authors. 

Little, C. J., P. Etienne Banville, A. T. Ford, R. M. Germain. Spatial fingerprint of consumer body size and habitat preference on resource distribution. Revisions submitted to Oikos. PCI Recommended - pre-print 

Waters, M. T., R. M. Germain. A test of persistence reveals ecological causes and evolutionary consequences for population differentiation. 

Bontrager, M., C. D. Muir, C. R. Mahony, D. E. Gamble, R. M. Germain, A. L. Hargreaves, E. J. Kleynhans, K. A. Thompson, A. L. Angert. Climate warming weakens local adaptation - pre-print 


Published
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39. pdf - Wisnoski N. I., M. C. Szojka, R. M. Germain, T. Fukami, L. G. Shoemaker. 2026. Dispersal kernels influence the magnitude of environmental, biotic, and stochastic effects on the maintenance of metacommunity diversity. Ecology 107: e70484.

X. pdf - Germain R. M. 2026. Review of The Ecology of Ecologists: harnessing diverse approaches for a stronger science by Jeremy Fox. BioScience. <- this is not a "real" paper but was fun to write and I hope fun to read

38. pdf - Clark A. T., S. Shoemaker, J.-F. Arnoldi, G. Barabas, R. M. Germain, O. Godoy, L. Hallett, C. Karako, S. Saavedra, S. Schreiber. 2026. A practical guide to ecological coexistence. Biological Reviews 101: 195-220. 

37. pdf - Grainger, T. N., K. Stark, C. Song, M. A. Barbour, R. M. Germain. 2025. The equilibrium conundrum. Ecology Letters 28: e70232. 

36. pdf - Kowalski, J., B. Gilbert, S. Y. Strauss, R. M. Germain. 2025. Experimentally enhancing dispersal reveals the outsized importance of transient dynamics in a fluctuating environment. PNAS 122: e2422454122. 

35. pdf -🔥 ​Craig, E.*, M. Szojka*, R. M. Germain†, L. G. Shoemaker†. 2025. Species occupancy matches persistence in unproductive environments but is inflated by sink populations in productive environments. Ecology 106: e70089. † = co-last authors.

34. pdf - Germain, R. M. and S. J. Schreiber.  2025. Demystifying fundamental theories in ecology (introduction to a special feature). The American Naturalist 205: 280 - 284.

33. pdf -🔥 Slimon, K., M. C. Szojka, R. M. Germain. 2025. Are dispersal and dormancy alternative strategies for coping with environmental variability? Ecology 106: e70042.

32. pdf - Sakarchi, J., R. M. Germain. 2025. MacArthur’s consumer-resource model: a Rosetta Stone for competitive interactions. The American Naturalist 205: 306-326.

31. pdf - Germain, R. M., B. Matthews, L. Harmon. 2024. Niche theory as an underutilized resource for the study of adaptive radiations. Cold Spring Harbour Volume.

30. pdf - Szojka, M. C., R. M. Germain. 2024. Dispersing across habitat boundaries: uncovering the demographic fates of populations in unsuitable habitat.  Ecosphere.

29. pdf -🔥 Subramanian, A., R. M. Germain. 2024. Landscape use by large grazers in a grassland is restructured by wildfire. PlosONE 19: e0297290

28. pdf - Straus, S., Forbes, F., Little, C.J., Germain, R.M., Main, D.A., O’Connor, M.I., Thompson, P.L., Ford, A.T., Gravel, D., Guzman, L.M. 2024. Macroecological constraints on species' 'movement profiles': body size does not explain it all. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33: 227-243.

27. pdf - Zelnik, Y., M. Barbier, D. W. Shanafelt, M. Loreau, and R. M. Germain. 2024. Linking intrinsic scales of ecological processes to characteristic scales of biodiversity and functioning patterns. Oikos: e10514 - recommended by PCI 

26. pdf - Rolland, J. + 16 co-authors. paper. 2023. Conceptual and empirical bridges between micro- and macroevolution. Nature Ecology & Evolution 7: 1181-1193.

25. pdf - Sakarchi, J., R. M. Germain. 2023. The evolution of competitive ability. The American Naturalist 201: 1-15.

24. pdf - Germain, R. M., M. Urquhart-Cronish, N. T. Jones, M. M. Mayfield, M. Raymundo. 2022. The strength and direction of local (mal)adaptation depends on neighbour density and the environment. Journal of Ecology 110: 514-525.

23. pdf - W. J-A Ou*, Henriques, G. J. B.*, A. Senthilnathan, P-J Ke, T. N. Grainger†, and R. M. Germain†. 2022. Writing accessible theory in ecology and evolution: insights from Cognitive Load Theory. BioScience 72: 300-313. * = equal contribution, † = co-senior authors.

22. pdf - Grainger, T.*, M. Barbour, K. Coblentz, J. DeLong, N. Goel, N. Jones, P-J. Ke, J. Levine, M. O’Connor, S. Otto, J. Sakarchi, A. Senthilnathan, M. Szojka, R. M. Germain. 2022. An empiricist's guide to using ecological theory. The American Naturalist 199. *corresponding authors

21. pdf - Germain, R. M., Hart, S., Turcotte, M. M., Otto, S. P., Sakarchi, J., Rolland, J., Usui, T., Angert, A. L., Schluter, D., Bassar, R., Waters, M. T., Henao Diaz, F., Siepielski, A. M. 2021. On the origin of coexisting species. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 36: 284-293.

20. pdf - Gomez-Llano, M., R. M. Germain, D. Kyogoku, M. McPeek, and A. Siepielski. 2021. When ecology fails: how reproductive interactions promote coexistence. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 36: 610-622.

19. pdf -🔥 Mackay, J.*, K. Nikiforuk*, M. Szojka, C. J. Little, J. R. Fleri, R. M. Germain. 2021. Animals connect plant species and resources in a fragmented meta-ecosystem. Landscape Ecology 36: 1621-1629. 🌱​🐇🐆  *contributed equally 

​18. pdf - Van Allen, B., N. T. Jones, K. Carscadden, B. Gilbert, R. M. Germain*. 2021. Maternal effects and the outcome of interspecific competition. Ecology & Evolution 11: 7544-7556. *corresponding author

​17. pdf - Germain, R. M., D. S. Srivastava, A. Angert. 2020. Evolution of an inferior competitor increases resistance to biological invasion. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4: 419-425.

16. pdf -🔥 ​Blackford, C., R. M. Germain, B. Gilbert. 2020. Species differences in phenology shape coexistence. The American Naturalist 195.

15. pdf - Hargreaves, A. L., R. M. Germain, M. Bontrager, J. Persi, A. L. Angert. 2020. Local adaptation to biotic interactions: a meta-analysis across latitudes. The American Naturalist 195. 

14. pdf - Gonzalez, A., R. M. Germain, D. S. Srivastava, E. Filotas, L. E. Dee, D. Gravel, M. I. O’Connor, P. L. Thompson, J. Cowles, F. Isbell, S. Kéfi, J. Montoya, Y. Zelnick, M. Loreau. 2020. Scaling-up biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research. Ecology Letters 23: 757-776.

13. pdf - Germain, R. M., N. T. Jones, T. N. Grainger. 2019. Cryptic dispersal networks shape biodiversity in an invaded landscape. Ecology 100.

12. pdf - Guzman, L. M., R. M. Germain, C. Forbes, S. Straus, M. I. O’Connor, D. Gravel, D. Srivastava, P. L. Thompson. 2018. A multi-trophic extension to metacommunity ecology. Ecology Letters 22:19-33​. F1000 recommended!

11. pdf - Germain, R. M., M. M. Mayfield, B. Gilbert. 2018. The ‘filtering’ metaphor revisited: competition and environment jointly structure invasibility and coexistence. Biology Letters 14:1-4. 

10. pdf - Germain, R. M., T. N. Grainger, N. T. Jones, and B. Gilbert. 2018. Maternal provisioning is structured by species’ competitive neighborhoods. Oikos 128:45-53. 

9. pdf - Germain, R. M., J. Williams, D. Schluter, and A. Angert. 2018. Moving character displacement beyond characters using contemporary coexistence theory. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33:74-84

8. pdf - Germain, R. M., S. Y. Strauss, and B. Gilbert. 2017. Experimental dispersal reveals characteristic scales of biodiversity in a natural landscape. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114:4447-4452

7. pdf - Grainger, T. N., R. M. Germain, N. T. Jones, and B. Gilbert. 2017. Predation modifies regional constraints on species distributions in an insect metacommunity. Ecology 98:851-860

6. pdf - Germain, R. M., J. T. Weir, and B. Gilbert. 2016. Species coexistence: macroevolutionary patterns and the contingency of historical interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society: B 283:20160047

5. pdf - Jones, N. T., R. M. Germain, T. N. Grainger, A. Hall, L. Baldwin, and B. Gilbert. 2015. Dispersal mode mediates the effect of patch size and patch connectivity on metacommunity diversity. Journal of Ecology 103:935-944

4. pdf - Germain, R. M. and B. Gilbert. 2014. Hidden responses to environmental variation: maternal effects reveal species niche dimensions. Ecology Letters 17:662-669

3. pdf - Germain, R. M., J. Johnson, S. Schneider, K. Cottenie, Elizabeth A. Gillis, and A. S. MacDougall. 2013. Spatial variability in plant predation determines the strength of stochastic community assembly. American Naturalist 182:169-179

2. pdf - Germain, R. M., C. M. Caruso, and H. Maherali. 2013. Mechanisms and consequences of water stress-induced parental effects in an invasive annual grass. International Journal of Plant Sciences 174:886-895

1A/B. Book reviews in the Quarterly Review of Biology: Metacommunity Ecology (link), Coexistence in Ecology: A Mechanistic Perspective (link)