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Welcome! » Faculty » Susan E. Riechert


Susan E. Riechert

See Also: Photos | Humorous Version of Riechert's CV | Biology in A Box

Susan with ranchers at lava bed study area.POSITION

  • 1982 - Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee
  • 1988 - UTK Distinguished Service Professor
  • 2010 Co-Director VolsTeach

EDUCATION

Ph.D., 1973, University of Wisconsin

HONORS AND OFFICES

JR Cox Professorship; Fellow  of American Society for the Advancement of Science & of Animal Behavior Society of America; Phi Beta Kappa; past President of Animal Behavior Society of America  & of The American Arachnological Society;  National Lecturer Sigma XI & President of UT Chapter; Senior International Fellowship in Health and Medicine, NIH;  Animal Behavior Society Founders Award; UT Alexander Award for Excellence in Teaching & Scholarship; L.R. Hesler Award for Excellence in Teaching and Service; UT Motar Board Citation; Tradition of Excellence Award, UT Commission on Women; 12 UT Science Alliance Faculty Awards; 2 UT Outreach Awards; 3 K-12 Principal's Awards for Outstanding School and Community Service;  Powell TN Woman of the Year.

RECENT GRANTS

  • 2010 – 2014: THEC UTEach replication grant $1.8 million with Susan Benner, Deans Bursten & Ryder
  • 2006-2007:  THEC Improving Teacher Quality Grant, Teaching Science Through Community Learning: Biology in a Box $70,000
  • 2004-2007 National Science Foundation: Investigation of the Influence of Social Interactions on the Genetics and Joint Evolution of Aggressiveness and Body Size, $252,999 with J. B. Wolf.
  • 2005-2006: National Science Foundation RET, Biology in a Box: A student –Active Learning Project, $22,000
  • 2003-2006 National Science Foundation: Investigation of a Brood Fostering Hypothesis explains variation in levels of Sociality $340,000 with T. C. Jones

MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS

Most of Dr. Riechert's work is at the interface between behavior, ecology and evolutionary biology. Her work in the desert southwest USA concerns the extent to which populations are at adaptive equilibria with respect to their physical and biotic environments. She pursues these studies through genetic analyses of fitness-linked traits, through species optimum and game theoretic analyses and simulations, and through field experimentation. This work has led to current studies of the interaction between genes directly controlling size and those affecting competitive ability.  In East Tennessee, Dr. Riechert's work centers on the potential role of spiders as biocontrol agents. Her interest here is in the extent to which generalist feeders can limit the growth of associated prey populations. Again, field experimentation and computer simulations are used to evaluate the predator-prey system that encompasses an assemblage of prey species being preyed upon by an assemblage of predators. Riechert also is interested in the evolution of sociality in spiders, an animal group that is generally highly territorial and even cannibalistic. The current interest in this system is in explaining a social behavior polymorphism in the temperate spider, Anelsoimus studiosus.

PUBLICATIONS

PDFs are available for most of the publications. Email Riechert with request at Riechert@utk.edu

  • Riechert, S.E. and W.G. Reeder. 1972.  Effects of fire on spider distributions on southwestern prairies. Proc. 2nd Midwest Prairie Conference (1970) 13-70.
  • Riechert, S.E., Reeder, W.G. and T.A. Allen. 1973.  Patterns of spider distribution (Agelenopsis aperta(Gertsch)) in desert grassland and Recent lava bed habitats, south-central New Mexico. J. Anim. Ecol. 42: 19-25.
  • Holthaus, W.A. and S.E. Riechert. 1973. A new time-sort pitfall trap. Annals Ent. Soc. 55: 1362-1363.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1974. The pattern of local web distribution in a desert spider: mechanisms and seasonal variation. J. Anim. Ecol. 43: 733-746.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1974. Thoughts on the ecological significance of spiders. Bioscience 24: 352-356.
  • Riechert, S.E. and C.R. Tracy. 1975. Thermal balance and prey availability: bases for a model relating web-site characteristics to spider reproductive success. Ecology 56: 265-284.
  • Reeder, W.G. and S.E. Riechert. 1975. Vegetation change along an altitudinal gradient, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos. Biotropica 7: 162-175.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1976. Web-site selection in a desert spider, Agelenopsis aperta(Gertsch). Oikos 27: 311-315.
  • Gertsch, W.J. and S.E. Riechert 1976. The spatial and temporal partitioning of a desert spider community with descriptions of new species. Am. Mus. Novitates 2604: 1-25.
  • Post, W.M. III and S.E. Riechert. 1977.  Initial investigations into spider community structure: I. Competitive effects. J. Anim. Ecol. 46: 729-49.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1978. Energy-based territoriality in populations of the desert spider Agelenopsis aperta(Gertsch). Symp. Zool. Soc. London 42: 211-222.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1978. Games spiders play: Behavioral variability in territorial disputes. Behav. Ecol. and Sociobiol. 3: 135-162.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1978. Development and reproduction in desert animals. In Parry and Goodall ed. Ecosystem Processes. Cambridge Univ. Press, 795-820.
  • Kronk, A. W. and S. E. Riechert. 1979. Parameters affecting the habitat choice of a desert wolf spider, Lycosa santrita Chamberlin and Ivie. J. Arachnol. 7: 155-166.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1979. Games spiders play II. Resource assessment strategies. Behav. Ecol. and Sociobiol. 4: 1-8.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1981. The consequences of being territorial: spiders, a case study.  Am. Natur. 117: 871-892.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1982. Spider interaction strategies: Communication versus coercion. In P.N. Witt and J. Rovner ed. Spider Communication: Mechanisms and Ecological Significance. Princeton University Press.
  • Riechert, S.E. and J. Luczak. 1982. Spider foraging: Behavioral responses to prey. In P.N. Witt and J. Rovner ed. Spider Communication: Mechanisms and Ecological Significance. Princeton University Press.
  • Riechert, S.E. and A. Cady. 1983. Patterns of resource use and tests for competitive release in a spider community. Ecology 64: 899-913.
  • Riechert, S.E. and P. Hammerstein. 1983. Game Theory in an ecological context. Ann. Rev. Ecol. and System. 14: 377-409.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1984. Games spiders play III. Cues underlying context associated changes in agonistic behavior. Anim. Behav. 32: 1-15.
  • Riechert, S.E. and T. Lockley. 1984. Spiders as biological control agents. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 29: 299-320.
  • Maynard Smith, J. and S. E. Riechert. 1984. A conflicting tendency model of spider agonistic behaviour: Hybrid-pure population line comparisons. Anim. Behav. 32: 564-578.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1985. Decision problems in multiple goal contexts: Spider habitat selection. Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychol. 70: 53-69.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1985. Why do some spiders cooperate? Agelena consociata, a case study. Behav. Ecol. Symp. Flor. Ent. Soc. 68: 106-116.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1986. Spider fights: A test of evolutionary game theory Amer. Sci., 47: 604-610.Cited and reprinted  in P. M. Kareiva. 1998. Exploring Ecology and Its Applications. 279 pps.
  • Riechert, S.E., G. Uetz & B. Abrams. 1985. The state of arachnid systematics.  Bull. Entomol. Soc. 31: 4-5.
  • Riechert, S.E., Roeloffs, R. and A.C. Echternacht. 1986. The ecology of the social spider Agelena consociata in equatorial Africa. J. Arachnol., 14(2): 175-192
  • Riechert, S.E. and R. Gillespie. 1986. Habitat choice and utilization in web building spiders In W.B. Shear ed. Spiders: webs, behavior and evolution Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford,520 p.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1987. Between population variation in spider territorial behavior: Hybrid-pure population line comparisons. In M. Huettel ed. Evolutionary Genetics of Invertebrate Behavior. Plenum Press. Pp 33-42.
  • Riechert, S.E. and J. Harp. 1987. Nutritional Ecology of Spiders, in Arthropod Nutrition, Slansky and Rodriguez eds., Academic Press, New York, pp 318-328.
  • Roeloffs, R. and Riechert, S. E. 1988. Dispersal and Population genetic
    structure of the cooperative spider, Agelena consociata, in west African rainforests. Evolution 42: 173-183.
  • Hammerstein, P. and S. E. Riechert. 1988.  Payoffs and strategies in spider territorial contests: ESS-analyses of two ecotypes. Evolutionary Ecology 2:115-138.
  • Riechert, S.E. 1988. Energetic costs of fighting. Amer. Zool. 28:877-884.
  • Riechert, S. E. and J. Maynard Smith. 1989. Genetic analyses of two behavioural traits linked to individual fitness in the desert spider, Agelenopsis aperta. Anim. Behav. 37: 624-637.
  • Furey, R. E. and S. E. Riechert. 1989. Agelena consociata and its nest associates: Insect cleaners. J. Arachn. 17:240-242.
  • Hedrick, Ann V. and Susan E. Riechert. 1989. Population variation in the foraging behavior of a spider: The role of genetics. Ecologia 80:533-539.
  • Riechert, S. E. and Ann V. Hedrick 1990. Levels of predation and genetically based anti-predatory behavior in the spider, Agelenopsis aperta. Animal Behav. 40: 679-687.
  • Riechert, S. E. and L. Bishop. 1990 Prey control by an assemblage of generalist predators in a garden test system. Ecology 71: 1441-1450.
  • Bishop L. and S. E. Riechert. 1990. Spider colonization of agroecosystems: Source and mode. Environmental Ent. 19:1738-45.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1990. Habitat manipulations augment spider control of insect pests. Ann. Zool. Fennici. 190:321-325.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1991. Prey abundance versus diet breadth in a spider test system. Evol. Ecol.. 5:327-338.
  • Provencher, L. and S. E. Riechert. 1991. Short term effects of hunger conditioning on spider behavior, predation and gain of weight. Oikos.62: 160-166.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1992. Spiders as Representative Sit-and Wait Predators. In: Biology of Natural Enemies (ed. M.J. Crawley), Blackwell, London, pp 313-328.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1993. The evolution of behavioral phenotypes: lessons learned from divergent spider populations. Adv. Anim. Behav. 22: 103-134.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1993. A Test for Phylogenetic Constraints on Behavioral Adaptation in a Spider System. Behav. Ecol. & Sociobiol. 32:343-348.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1993. Investigation of potential gene flow limitation of behavioral adaptation in an aridlands spider. Behav. Ecol. & Sociob.32:355-363.
  • Riechert, S. E. and Rose Marie Roeloffs. 1993. Inbreeding and its consequences in the social spiders. In: The Natural History of inbreeding and outbreeding, PP 283-303,(ed. N. Thornhill), University of Chicago Press.
  • Riechert S. E. and A. V. Hedrick. 1993. A test for correlations among fitness-linked behavioural traits in the spider Agelenopsis aperta (Araneae, Agelenidae). Anim. Behav. 46: 669-675.
  • Provencher, L. and S. E. Riechert. 1994. Model and field test of prey control effects by spider assemblages. Environ. Ent. 23: 1-17.
  • Singer, F. & S. E. Riechert 1994.Tests for sex differences in fitness-linked traits in the spider Agelenopsis aperta. J. Insect Behav. 7: 517-532.
  • Riechert, S. E. & F. Singer 1995 Investigation of potential male mate choice in a monogamous spider. Anim. Behav. 49: 715-723.
  • Provencher, L. & S. E. Riechert. 1995. Theoretical comparisons of individual success between phenotypically pure and mixed generalist predator populations. Ecol. Model. 82: 175-191.
  • Singer, F. & S. E. Riechert . 1995.  Mating system and mating success in the desert spider, Agelenopsis aperta. Behav. Ecol. Soc.36: 313-322.
  • Riechert , S. E. & K. Lawrence. 1997 Test for predation effects of single versus multiple species of generalist predators: spiders and their insect prey. Entomologia Experimentalis et applicata 84:147-155
  • Riechert, S. E. 1998. Game theory and animal contests. In L.A.  Dugatkin &H. K. Reeve eds. Game Theory and Animal Behavior. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 64-92.
  • Riechert, S. E. & J. L. Maupin. 1998. Spider effects on prey: Tests for superfluous killing in five web-builders. pp. 203-210 in Selden, P. A. (ed.). Proceedings of the 17th European Colloquium of Arachnology, Edinburgh 1997. British Aarachnological Society: Burnham Beeches, Bucks. x + 350 pp. ISBN 0 9500093 2 6
  • Riechert, S. E. 1998. The role of spiders and their conservation in the agroecosystem.  In. Enhancing Biological Control (eds. C.H. Pickett and R. L. Bugg), Univ. Cal. Press. Pp 211-237
  • Riechert, S. E., Provencher, L. and K. Lawrence. 1999. The potential of spiders to exhibit stable equilibrium point control of prey: Tests of two criteria. Ecological Applications. 9: 365-377.
  • Riechert, S. E.1999. The use of behavioral ecotypes in the study of evolutionary processes. In S. Foster & J. Endler eds. Geographic variation in behavior: Perspectives on evolutionary mechanisms. Oxford Univ. Press. 314 pp3-32.
  • Riechert, S. E. 1999. The hows and whys of successful pest suppression by spiders: Insights from case studies. J. Arachn. 27: 387-396.
  • Singer, F., Riechert, S. E., Xu, H., Morris, A. W., Becker, E. Hale, J. A., Noureddine, M. A. 2000. Analysis of courtship success in the funnel-web spider Agelenopsis aperta. Behaviour 137: 93 - 117.
  • Riechert, S. E. and R. F. Hall. 2000. Local population success in heterogeneous habitats: reciprocal transplant experiments completed on a desert spider. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 13: 1-10.
  • Papke, M. S. E. Riechert and S. Schulz. 2001. An Airborne Spider Pheromone Associated with Male Attraction and Release of Courtship. Anim. Behaviour 61:1-11
  • Maupin, J.L. and S. E. Riechert. 2001. Superfluous killing in spiders: A consequence of adaptation to food-limited environments?  Behavioral Ecology 12: 569-576
  • Riechert, S.E., F.D. Singer, and T.C. Jones. 2001. High gene flow levels lead to gamete wastage in a desert spider system. Genetica 112/113: 297-319 & in Microevolution: Rate, pattern, process A, P. Hendry and M. T. Kinnison, ed Kluwer Academic. V 8 of Contemporary Issues in Genetics and Evolution 2001
  • Riechert, S. E. and P. Johns 2003. Do female spiders select heavier males for the genes for behavioral aggressiveness they offer their offspring? Evolution 57:1367-1373.
  • Ayoub, N.A. and S. E. Riechert 2004. Molecular evidence for Pleistocene glacial cycles driving diversification of North American desert spider Agelenopsis aperta. Molecular Ecology 13: 3453-3465.
  • Becker, E., Riechert, S.E., Singer, F. 2005. Male Induction of Female Quiescence/Catalepsis during Courtship in the Spider, Agelenopsis aperta. Behaviour 142 57-70.
  • Riechert, S. E. 2005 Patterns of inheritance of traits associated with predator foraging behavior. Pp. 55-76  In: Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions (eds. P. Barbosa and I. Castellanos). Oxford University Press.
  • Barbosa, P, Caldas, A. and S. E. Riechert. 2005. Species abundance distribution and predator-prey interactions: Theoretical and applied consequences. Pp 344-369 In: Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions (eds. P. Barbosa and I. Castellanos). Oxford University Press.
  • Ayoub, N. A., S. E. Riechert and R. L. Small. 2005. The speciation history of the north American funnel-web spider Agelenopsis (Araneae: Agelenidae): Phylogenetic inferences at the population-species interface.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.36:42-57.
  • Jones, T. C., S. E. Riechert, S. E. Dalrymple, and Patricia G. Parker 2007.  Fostering Model Explains Environmental Variation in Levels of Sociality in a Spider System. Animal Behaviour.  73:195-204.
  • Perkins, T. A., S. E. Riechert and T. C. Jones. 2007. Interactions between the social spider Anelosimus studiosus and foreign spiders that frequent its nests. J Arachnology 35:146-155.
  • Riechert, S. E. and T. C. Jones. 2008.  Phenotypic Variation in the Behavior of the Spider, Anelosimus studiosus, Facilitates Shift from Single Female to Multiple Female Nests in Colder Environments. Animal Behaviour 75: 1893-1902.
  • Pruitt, J.N., S.E. Riechert and T.C. Jones, 2008 .Behavioural syndromes and their fitness consequences in a socially polymorphic spider (Anelosimus studiosus. Animal Behaviour. 76, 871-879.
  • Jones, T.C. and S.E. Riechert. 2008. Patterns of reproductive success associated with social structure and microclimate in a spider system. Animal Behaviour. 76: 2011-2019.
  • Post, B. K. & S.E. Riechert. 2009. Bridging the gap: Biology and engineering in the High School Curriculum. Proc. ASEE SE Conference.
  • Pruitt, J. N. & S. E. Riechert 2009. Sex matters: sexually dimorphic fitness consequences of a behavioral syndrome. 2009/ Animal Behaviour 78: 175-181.
  • Pruitt,J. N. & S.E. Riechert 2009. Frequency dependent success of cheaters during foraging bouts might limit their spread within colonies of a socially polymorphic spider. Evolution. prepublication version posted electonically 9pp
  • Riechert, S. E. & B.K. Post 2010. From Skeletons to Bridges and other STEM Enrichment Exercises for High School Biology. American Biology Teacher 72:
  • Pruitt JN and SE Riechert In Press Male preference for female social tendency is explained by differential risk in courtship. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Animal Behaviour