Boston University Department of Biology

Faculty Profiles

Current Research

The Buston Lab, in conjunction with an international network of collaborators, grapples with questions at the frontiers of behavioral ecology, evolutionary ecology and marine ecology.

Most broadly, we are interested in the ecology, evolution and behavior of marine animals. To date, our research has focused on the formation, maintenance and variation in animal societies. Currently, we are beginning a new line of research, focused on the patterns, causes and consequences of population connectivity.

Our research combines long-term observations of marked populations in their natural habitat, with experimental manipulations, mathematical modeling and molecular genetics. We use a hypothesis driven approach to address fundamental questions at the interface of individual behavior, population ecology and evolutionary biology.

We welcome inquiries from undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in joining us to pursue independent or collaborative research in the lab.

Courses Taught

• BI 260 Marine Biology
• BI 519 Theoretical Evolutionary Ecology
• BI 579 / 580 Progress in Ecology, Behavior, Evolution and Marine Biology
• BI 671 Research Survey in Ecology, Behavior, Evolution and Marine Biology

Selected Publications

• Buston PM, Jones GP, Planes S, Thorrold SR. (2012). Probability of successful larval dispersal declines fivefold over 1 km in a coral reef fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 279: 1883-1888.
• Wong MYL, Fauvelot C, Planes S, Buston PM. (2012). Discrete and continuous reproductive tactics in a hermaphroditic society. Animal Behavior online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.07.013
• Buston P, Elith J. (2011.) Determinants of reproductive success in dominant pairs of clownfish: a boosted regression tree analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 528-538.
• D’Aloia CC, Majoris JE & Buston PM. (2011). Predictors of the distribution and abundance of a tube sponge and its resident goby. Coral Reefs 30: 777 - 786.
• Buston P, Fauvelot C, Wong M, Planes S. (2009). Genetic relatedness in groups of the humbug damselfish, Dascyllus aruanus: small, similarly-sized individuals may be close kin. Molecular Ecology 18: 4707- 4715.
• Buston PM, Zink AG. (2009). Reproductive skew and the evolution of conflict resolution: a synthesis of transactional and tug-of-war models. Behavioral Ecology 20: 672-684.
• Buston PM, Bogdanowicz S, Wong M, Harrison RG. (2007). Are clownfish groups composed of relatives? Analysis of microsatellite DNA variation in Amphiprion percula. Molecular Ecology 16: 3671-3678.
• Buston PM, Reeve HK, Cant MA, Vehrencamp SL, Emlen ST. (2007). Reproductive skew and the evolution of group dissolution tactics: a synthesis of concession and restraint models. Animal Behaviour 74: 1643-1654.
• Buston PM. (2003). Size and growth modification in clownfish. Nature 424: 145-146.
  
  (pdfs available upon request)