Population & Community Ecology (PCE)

NSF BIO supports research that advances the study of population ecology, species interactions and community dynamics in terrestrial, wetland, and freshwater habitats. Topics supported include population dynamics of individual species, demography, and fundamental ecological interactions affecting populations, communities, and their environments. Themes include but are not limited to population regulation; food-web structure and trophic dynamics; interactions among, or within species ; mechanisms of coexistence and the maintenance of species diversity; community assembly; paleoecology; landscape ecology; disease ecology; conservation and restoration biology; behavioral ecology; and macroecology. 

Projects that integrate theoretical, modeling, and empirical approaches, or that promote synthesis across spatial and temporal scales, are encouraged. NSF BIO seeks to fund projects that will change the conceptual bases of population and community ecology and have broad implications for future research. Proposals that develop research questions within the context of existing theory and design critical tests to distinguish between alternative mechanisms are particularly encouraged, as are those that use contemporary approaches to develop new paradigms or theory. Inter- and multi-disciplinary proposals that cross traditional scientific boundaries are welcomed.

Studies that focus on the ecology of marine organisms should be directed to the NSF Directorate for Geosciences. Applied research (e.g., ecotoxicology) and research focused on human health are not supported.