Christopher L. Higgins, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Tarleton State University
Stephenville, Texas 76402

Phone: (254) 968-9019
Email: higgins@tarleton.edu

 

Ph.D. - Texas Tech University (2005)

M.S. - Texas Tech University (2001)

B.S. - Angelo State University (1999)

 

Curriculum Vita

 

  

Undergraduate Courses:

Graduate Courses:
 

Student Research Opportunities:

Research is a vital part of a student's education!  In addition to personal satisfaction, students gain academic motivation, develop critical thinking abilities, learn problem solving skills, enhance communication proficiency, and increase their scientific understanding.  If you are interested in conducting undergraduate research, send me an email to schedule a meeting.

 
 

Research Interests:

Most of my research is focused on community ecology.  More specifically, I focus on identifying large-scale patterns of biodiversity and trying to find the underlying mechanisms that structure them.  However, I am also interested in behavioral and population ecology as well.   Currently, there are three foci to my research:

 

  1. Behavioral Ecology - I am interested in acoustic communication in freshwater fishes and how it affects population and community dynamics;

  2. Population Ecology - I am interested in knowing how and why population numbers change through time and using mathematical models to predict future changes;

  3. Community Ecology - I am interested in uncovering scale dependent patterns of distribution and abundance of coexisting species.

Selected Publications:

  1. Higgins, C.L.  2010.  Patterns of functional and taxonomic organization of stream fishes: inferences based on α, β, and γ diversities.  Ecography 33: 678-687.

  2. Presley, S.J., C.L. Higgins, and M.R. Willig.  2010.  A comprehensive framework for the evaluation of metacommunity structure.  Oikos 119: 908-917.

  3. Higgins, C.L. and R.E. Strauss.  2008.  Modeling stream-fish assemblages with niche apportionment models: patterns, processes, and scale dependence.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137: 696-706

  4. Higgins, C.L., M.R. Willig, and R.E. Strauss. 2006. The role of stochastic processes in producing nested patterns of species distributions.  Oikos 114: 159-167.

  5. Higgins, C.L. and R.E. Strauss.  2004. Discrimination and classification of search paths produced by different search-tactic models.  Behavioral Ecology 15: 248-254.

Selected Presentations: student authors are underlined

  1. Munz, J.Y. and C.L. Higgins.  2011.  Reproductive ecology of cyprinids in the Paluxy River.  Southwestern Association of Naturalist.  Tyler, TX

  2. Stone, K. and C.L. Higgins.  2010.  Spatial and temporal variation in fish-assemblage structure along the Paluxy River.  Tarleton State University Student Research Symposium.  Stephenville, TX

  3. Bloch, C.P., C.L. Higgins, and M.R. Willig.  2009.  Long-term trends in spatial partitioning of biodiversity: considerations of disturbance and recovery.  Long Term Ecological Research Network All Scientist Meeting.  Estes park, CO

  4. Higgins, C.L., C.P. Bloch, and M.R. Willig.  2008.  Temporal changes and the effects of disturbance on the partitioning of biodiversity of terrestrial gastropods at various spatial scales.  Ecological Society of America.  Milwaukee, WI

  5. Higgins, C.L.  2006.  Modeling stream-fish assemblages with niche apportionment models: patterns, processes, and scale dependence.  Ecological Society of America.  Memphis, TN

Other links:

 

This page was last updated on 01/12/12
Copyright © 2005 - Christopher L. Higgins (Tarleton State University)
Contact: higgins@tarleton.edu