Megan Paustian collecting slug specimens in central Maryland for her graduate research.
Global Terrestrial Slug Faunas
PhD Candidate, University of Maryland, College Park
2010 EOL Fellow
Megan Paustian graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College in 2004, and she is currently a doctoral student in the BEES (Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics) program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is interested in the ecology, invasion biology, and phylogenetics of terrestrial slugs, particularly of the family Philomycidae and other poorly-known taxa. The terrestrial slugs (>550 species) are a group whose amazing worldwide ubiquity contrast with their scientific neglect. Although slugs are often very abundant (especially in agriculture), visible to the public, renowned as invasives, and economically and ecologically significant, the basic ecology and life history of most species remain surprisingly little understood. For her dissertation research, Megan is investigating how competition between non-native arionid slugs and native philomycid slugs may negatively impact philomycid populations. She is seeking to compare the relative importance of the resources involved in conflict and to determine the mechanisms of competition between species. For her post-doctoral research, she hopes to integrate her experience in ecology with phylogeographic techniques in a study of the speciation and dispersal patterns of the Philomycidae.
The native North American slug, Philomycus carolinianus, feeds on fungal hyphae.
