Ellen Welti, Assistant Professor

Contact information

205 Bushnell Hall
(785) 532-6615
elwelti@ksu.edu

Education

Ph.D. 2017, Kansas State University. Biology.

Area(s) of Specialization

Community ecology, insects, herbivores, grasslands, long-term trends

Research Focus

Our research examines why, which, and how insect communities vary over space and time. We are interested in insects both as critical members of ecological systems, preforming key ecosystem services like decomposition and nutrient cycling, and as fast-changing indicator taxa. Our lab has an inordinate interest in the ecology of grasshoppers, an important group of grassland herbivores. We investigate how grassland management, biogeochemistry, changing climate, plant-insect interactions, and altered herbivore communities affect insect species and their traits using ecological time series and field experiments.

Selected Publications

Alhassani, N. & E.A.R. Welti. 2025. High rises and optimal temperatures: Grasshopper microclimate selection. Ecology 106(10): e70232. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.70232

Rebh, J. & E.A.R. Welti. 2025. Herbivore effects on plant quality and quantity in a shortgrass prairie. Ecology 106(9): e70192. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.70192

Kaspari, M. & E.A.R. Welti. 2024. Nutrient dilution and the future of herbivore populations. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 39(9): 809-820. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.001

Haase, P., D.E. Bowler, N.J. Baker, N. Bonada, S. Domisch, J.R. Garcia Marquez, J. Heino, D. Hering, S.C. Jähnig, A. Schmidt-Kloiber, R. Stubbington, F. Altermatt, M. Álvarez-Cabria, G. Amatulli, D. Angeler, G. Archambaud, I. Arrate Jorrín, T. Aspin, I. Azpiroz, I. Bañares, J. Barquín Ortiz, C.L. Bodin, L. Bonacina, R. Bottarin, M. Cañedo-Argüelles, Z. Csabai, T. Datry, O. Davis, E. de Eyto, A. Dohet, G. Dörflinger, E. Drohan, K.A. Eikland, J. England, T.E. Eriksen, V. Evtimova, M.J. Feio, M. Ferréol, M. Floury, M. Forcellini, M.A. Forio, R. Fornaroli, N. Friberg, J.-F. Fruget, G. Georgieva, P. Goethals, M.A.S. Graça, W. Graf, K.-L. Huttunen, T.C. Jensen, R.K. Johnson, J.I. Jones, J. Kiesel^,, L. Kuglerová, A. Larrañaga, P. Leitner, L. L'Hoste, M.-H. Lizée, A.W. Lorenz, A. Maire, J.A. Manzanos Arnaiz, B. Mckie, A. Millán, D. Monteith, T. Muotka, J.F. Murphy, R. Paavola, P. Paril, F.J. Peñas, F. Pilotto, M. Polasek, J.J. Rasmussen, M. Rubio, D. Sánchez-Fernández, L. Sandin, R.B. Schäfer, A. Scotti, L.Q. Shen, A. Skuja, S. Stoll, M. Straka, H. Timm, V.G. Tyufekchieva, I. Tziortzis, Y. Uzunov, G.H. van der Lee, R. Vannevel, E. Varadinova, G. Várbíró, G. Velle, P.F.M. Verdonschot, R.C.M. Verdonschot, Y. Vidinova, P. Wiberg-Larsen, & E.A.R. Welti. 2023. The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt. Nature 620(7974): 582-588. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1

Welti, E.A.R., P. Zajicek, M. Frenzel, M. Ayasse, T. Bornholdt, J. Buse, A. Classen, F. Dziock, R.A. Engelmann, J. Englmeier, M. Fellendorf, M.I. Förschler, U. Fricke, C. Ganuza, M. Hippke, G. Hoenselaar, A. Kaus-Thiel, J. Kerner, D. Kilian, K. Mandery, A. Marten, M.T. Monaghan, C. Morkel, J. Müller, S. Puffpaff, S. Redlich, R. Richter, S. Rojas Botero, T. Scharnweber, G. Scheiffarth, P. Schmidt Yáñez, R. Schumann, S. Seibold, I. Steffan-Dewenter, S. Stoll, C. Tobisch, S. Twietmeyer, J. Uhler, J. Vogt, D. Weis, W.W. Weisser, M. Wilmking, & P. Haase. 2022. Temperature drives variation in flying insect biomass across a German malaise trap network. Insect Conservation and Diversity 15(2): 168-180. DOI: 10.1111/icad.12555

Welti, E.A.R., A. Joern, A.M. Ellison, D.C. Lightfoot, S. Record, N. Rodenhouse, E.H. Stanley, & M. Kaspari. 2021. Studies of insect temporal trends must account for the complex sampling histories inherent to many long-term monitoring efforts. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5(5): 589-591. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01424-0

Welti, E.A.R., K.A. Roeder, K.M. de Beurs, A. Joern, & M. Kaspari. 2020. Nutrient dilution and climate cycles underlie declines in a dominant insect herbivore. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117(13): 7271-7275. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1920012117

Welti, E.A.R., N.J. Sanders, K.M. de Beurs, & M. Kaspari. 2019. A distributed experiment demonstrates widespread sodium limitation in grassland food webs. Ecology 100(3): e02600. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2600

Welti, E.A.R., F. Qiu, H. Tetreault, M. Ungerer, J. Blair, & A. Joern. 2019. Fire, grazing, and climate shape plant-grasshopper network structure in a mesic grassland. Functional Ecology 33(4): 735-745. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13272

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