Conservation & Ecological RestorationGarrett Higgins
2026 The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
An Experimental Test of the Compensatory-Stability Hypothesis in an Island System: Implications for Seed Dispersal and Native Ecosystem Restoration.
Seed dispersal, the movement of a seed away from the parent plant, is a critical ecosystem function. Over 60% of plants globally, and >80% in tropical forests, rely on vertebrates to disperse their seeds (Fricke et al., 2022, 2025), making the understanding of plant-disperser interactions critical for ecosystem restoration. The Compensatory-Stability Hypothesis predicts links between temporal fluctuations in abundance and ecosystem stability. This study will provide a novel experimental field test of the direct and indirect links between mechanisms, temporal fluctuations in fruiting communities, and the stability of seed dispersal in an invaded system across spatial scales.
The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
The Garden Club of America (the GCA) offers an annual Fellowship in Ecological Restoration. Established in 2000 with funds from the John B. Young Charitable Trust as well as GCA members and clubs, the fellowship’s goal is to support research that will advance knowledge and increase the number of scientists in the important field of ecological restoration, the active healing of the land. The $8,000 grant is awarded annually to exceptional graduate students to support specialized study in ecological restoration at an accredited U.S. university. Preference will be given to projects that include field research conducted in the United States. A panel of experts associated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum reviews the applications and makes recommendations to the GCA Scholarship Committee.
For the purposes of this scholarship, The Garden Club of America agrees to the definition of ecological restoration as stated by the Society of Ecological Restoration (SER).
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