Research

Population dynamics
and environmental
change

In the broadest sense, I am interested in  the population dynamics of economically and ecologically important species. Recently, with collaborators from multiple institutions across the southeastern US, I led a team studying the effects of environmental variability on penaeid shrimp (white and brown shrimps) during their estuarine residency as well as how changes to conditions within estuaries may affect this economically important fishery. We synthesized multiple long-term fishery-independent time series, characterized the abiotic conditions within these estuaries using data from the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program, conducted regional sampling for multiple life stages of shrimp and their benthic prey as well as manipulative experiments examining density-dependent interactions. This project is funded by the NERR System Science Collaborative from 2021-2025.

Community ecology and predator-prey interactions

We have studied species interactions on subtidal and intertidal reefs along the U.S. Atlantic coast, on rocky reefs in southern California and Caribbean coral reefs. Specifically, we use laboratory and field experiments as well as mathematical modeling to explore the importance of prey density, habitat complexity, size-structure, fishery harvest, and other drivers on population stability, community structure, and ecological resilience. 

Currently, we have ongoing research in this area in multiple estuarine habitats, including fringing oyster reefs, intertidal creeks, and salt marshes, focusing on organisms from the microscopic to large-bodied piscivorous predators and everything in between. 

Ecosystem-based management in the coastal zone

Most recently, we have investigated natural resource use within the North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR, with a specific focus on a key foundation species of recreational fishery interest- the eastern oyster and a key mesopredator, the blue crab. 

Previously, Dunn worked on the Spiny Lobster Fishery Sustainability Project with collaborators at San Diego State University and the Autonomous University of Baja California. We conducted collaborative sampling between researchers and commercial fishers throughout southern California, USA and Baja California, Mexico to better understand spiny lobster population biology, feeding ecology, and the effects of fishery harvest. This project caught and measured over 3,500 spiny lobsters at more than 20 locations. See a complete project description from California Sea Grant.