Michel Ohmer

Assistant Professor of Biology

Email:
mohmer@olemiss.edu
Office Location:
410 Shoemaker Hall
Phone:
662-915-7203
Website:
Ohmer Publications

Dr. Ohmer studies disease ecology and ecophysiology, primarily in amphibians.

Research Interests

Research in the Ohmer lab is focused on the ecology and evolution of wildlife disease under changing environmental conditions. We study the direct and indirect effects of environmental stressors across multiple life stages in both controlled laboratory and mesocosm experiments, and field studies, to understand the drivers of disease at the individual level and use this information to predict population and community-level impacts. Dr. Ohmer's lab explores these questions using amphibians and a widespread fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), to understand how host and pathogen physiology shape disease dynamics, and how environmental change can alter this relationship.

Biography

Postdoctoral fellow, 2020-2021, Living Earth Collaborative, Washington University in St. Louis, USA Postdoctoral research associate, 2016-2020, University of Pittsburgh, USA Ph.D. 2016, The University of Queensland, Australia M.S., 2011, Otago University, New Zealand B.S., 2008, Cornell University, USA

Publications

JM Cocciardi, MEB Ohmer

Drivers of Intraspecific Variation in Thermal Traits and Their Importance for Resilience to Global Change in Amphibians

Integrative and Comparative Biology 64 (3), 882-899

Intraspecific variation can be as great as variation across species, but the role of intraspecific variation in driving local and large-scale patterns is often overlooked, particularly in the field of thermal biology. In amphibians, which depend on environmental conditions and behavior to regulate body temperature, recognizing intraspecific thermal trait variation is essential to comprehensively understanding how global change impacts populations. Here, we examine the drivers of micro- and macrogeographical intraspecific thermal trait variation in amphibians. At the local scale, intraspecific variation can arise via changes in ontogeny, body size, and between the sexes, and developmental plasticity, acclimation, and maternal effects may modulate predictions of amphibian performance under future climate scenarios. At the macrogeographic scale, local adaptation in thermal traits may occur along latitudinal and elevational gradients, with seasonality and range-edge dynamics likely playing important roles in patterns that may impact future persistence. We also discuss the importance of considering disease as a factor affecting intraspecific variation in thermal traits and population resilience to climate change, given the impact of pathogens on thermal preferences and critical thermal limits of hosts. Finally, we make recommendations for future work in this area. Ultimately, our goal is to demonstrate why it is important for researchers to consider intraspecific variation to determine the resilience of amphibians to global change.

Emily H Le Sage, Laura K Reinert, Michel E B Ohmer, Brandon C LaBumbard, Karie A Altman, Laura A Brannelly, Ian Latella, Nina B McDonnell, Veronica Saenz, Jason C Walsman, Mark Q Wilber, Douglas C Woodhams, Jamie Voyles, Corinne L Richards-Zawacki, Louise A Rollins-Smith, Diverse Relationships between Batrachochytrium Infections and Antimicrobial Peptide Defenses Across Leopard Frog Populations, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Volume 64, Issue 3, September 2024, Pages 921–931.

Hoenig, B. D., Zegar, J., Ohmer, M. E. B., Chess, M. M., Porter, B. A., Madril, M., & Richards-Zawacki, C. L. (2023). FINDeM: A CRISPR-based, molecular method for rapid, inexpensive and field-deployable organism detection. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 14, 3055–3067.