Dr. Robert John Chandran

Fellow





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Education

  • Ph.D. (Tropical Forest Ecology), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2000
  • Master of Technology (Chemical Spectroscopy), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 1993
  • Master of Science (Chemistry) Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 1991
  • Bachelor of Science, (Chemistry/Ecology/Botany) St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, 1989
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Research Interests

Tropical Forest Ecology. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms that determine the assembly of tropical forest tree communities and in the evolution of variation in life history traits among tropical tree species. I believe that such an understanding is necessary for managing tropical forests in order to conserve biodiversity, for the sustainable use of natural resources by forest-dependent people, and for the restoration of degraded forest lands.

My most recent research has focused on using long-term demographic data on plant communities from a Global Network of large forest dynamics plots to study tree spatial distributions and community assembly in relation resource availability. I am also working on studying growth and survival - particularly at early stages of plant establishment – as a function of neighbourhood biotic interactions and resource availability.

With James Dalling at the University of Illinois, USA, I am working on understanding and modeling the evolution of variation life histories and species coexistence among tropical pioneer species in Barro Colorado Island, Panama.

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Experience

Post Doctoral Research:

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (USA) (January 2004 -June 2006)
  • University of Georgia, Athens (USA), Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) (USA) (January 2002 - December 2004).
  • Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, Bangalore (India) 2001.
  • Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (India) 2001.

Teaching experience:

  • Coordinator and Instructor, CTFS sponsored Workshops in statistical ecology and computer programming. (i) Bangalore (India) 2001 (ii) Gamboa, Panama (2002), (iii) Harvard Forest, USA (2003).
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Affiliations / Positions / Memberships

Fellowships

  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, USA. (November 2002 - November 2003).
  • Graduate Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Science, 1993-1998.
  • Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 1991-1993.
  • Merit Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 1989-1991.
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Grants / Awards / Honors

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Select Publications

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Complete Publications

Theses/Term Papers

  • Habitat associations, density dependence, and tree species diversity in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Mudumalai, southern India. Ph.D. dissertation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2000.
  • Applications of immobilized proteins in analyses. Master of Technology dissertation, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 1993.
  • Template assembled synthetic proteins: A synthetic approach to protein design. Term paper, Master of Science dissertation, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 1991.
  • Soil nutrient losses in a tropical dry forest: The influence cattle grazing. Bachelor of Science Research Report, St. Joseph's College (with the Indian Institute of Science), 1989.

Publications

  1. John, R., J. W. Dalling, K. E. Harms, J. B. Yavitt, R. F. Stallard, M. Mirabello, S. P. Hubbell, R. Valencia, H. Navarrete, M. Vallejo, and R. B. Foster. 2007. Soil nutrients influence spatial distributions of tropical tree species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 104: 864-869.
  2. Dalling, J. and John, R. Seed limitation and the coexistence of pioneer tree species. (to appear as a chapter in the book, Tropical Forest Community Ecology (Eds: Walter P. Carson and Stefan A. Schnitzer), Blackwell Science Ltd (in press).
  3. John, R., and R. Sukumar. 1999. Distance- and density-related effects in a tropical dry deciduous forest tree community at Mudumalai, southern India. in Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism: Findings from a Large-scale Plot Network. (Eds: Elizabeth C. Losos & Egbert G. Leigh, Jr.). Pages 363-383. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.
  4. John, R., H. S. Dattaraja, H. S. Suresh, and R. Sukumar. 2002. Density dependence in common tree species in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Mudumalai, southern India. Journal of vegetation Science 13: 45-56.
  5. Uriarte, M., S.P. Hubbell, R. John, R. Condit, and C. D. Canham. 2005. Neighborhood Effects on Sapling Growth and Survival in a Neotropical Forest and the Ecological Equivalence Hypothesis. Pages 89-106 in Biotic Interactions in the Tropics: Their Role in the Maintenance of Species Diversity, ed. D. F. R. P. Burslem, M. A. Pinard and S. E. Hartley. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Publications as a member of Working Groups:

  1. Wills, C. et al. 2006. Nonrandom processes maintain diversity in tropical forests. Science 311: 527-531.
  2. Condit, R. et al. 2005. Tropical tree a-diversity: Results from a worldwide network of large plots. Biologiske Skrifter, 55: 565-582.
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Meetings / Conferences / Symposiums / Workshops

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Others

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Contact

robert.chandran@atree.org

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