Tyler Kartzinel

About

Dr. Tyler Kartzinel is an internationally recognized molecular ecologist and Associate Professor at Brown University, where he leads the Genomic Opportunities Lab (GenOps). He is a Fellow of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. Kartzinel is renowned for pioneering research at the intersection of ecology, genomics, and data science. His work explores critical species interactions such as predator-prey, plant-herbivore, and host-parasite dynamics, and their relevance to global environmental and biomedical challenges. He is celebrated for advancing DNA metabarcoding and genome-enabled approaches in conservation biology. Kartzinel has been honored with an NSF CAREER award, an NSF Early Career Fellowship, and election as an Early Career Fellow by the Ecological Society of America for outstanding contributions at the interface of ecology and molecular biology, and for pioneering use of DNA metabarcoding to elucidate the structure of complex terrestrial food webs. His research has been featured by top journals and media outlets including Nature, PNAS, National Geographic, BBC World, PBS NOVA, The New York Times, and NPR. Several of his papers have been ranked as "Red Hot" and "Highly Cited" by Web of Science for the attention they garnered in the field.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Biology
• Geology
• Oceanography
• Climatology

Selected publications

• Trophic rewilding revives biotic resistance to shrub invasion

  Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2020 · 94 citations

  DOI

• The generality of cryptic dietary niche differences in diverse large-herbivore assemblages

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · 80 citations

  Ecological niche differences are necessary for stable species coexistence but are often difficult to discern. Models of dietary niche differentiation in large mammalian herbivores invoke the quality, quantity, and spatiotemporal distribution of plant tissues and growth forms but are agnostic toward food plant species identity. Empirical support for these models is variable, suggesting that additional mechanisms of resource partitioning may be important in sustaining large-herbivore diversity in…

  DOI

• Group 2i Isochrysidales produce characteristic alkenones reflecting sea ice distribution

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 76 citations

  is a powerful proxy for reconstructing sea ice conditions in the high latitude oceans on thousand- and, potentially, on million-year timescales.

  DOI

• Grazing herbivores reduce herbaceous biomass and fire activity across African savannas

  Ecology Letters · 2024-06-01 · 24 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Fire and herbivory interact to alter ecosystems and carbon cycling. In savannas, herbivores can reduce fire activity by removing grass biomass, but the size of these effects and what regulates them remain uncertain. To examine grazing effects on fuels and fire regimes across African savannas, we combined data from herbivore exclosure experiments with remotely sensed data on fire activity and herbivore density. We show that, broadly across African savannas, grazing herbivores substantial…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Global Availability of Plant <scp>DNA</scp> Barcodes as Genomic Resources to Support Basic and Policy‐Relevant Biodiversity Research

  Molecular Ecology · 2025-02-28 · 11 citations

  reviewOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Genetic technologies such as DNA barcoding make it easier and less expensive to monitor biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services, particularly in biodiversity hotspots where traditional assessments are challenging. Successful use of these data-driven technologies, however, requires access to appropriate reference data. We reviewed the >373,584 reference plant DNA barcodes in public repositories and found that they cumulatively cover a remarkable quarter of the ~435,000 extant land plan…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Experimental tests of competition and facilitation among migratory large herbivores from Yellowstone National Park

  NSF · $921k · 2021–2026

• COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Testing predictions of the core-satellite and resource-breadth hypotheses in small mammal communities: field tests of a macroecological pattern

  NSF · $150k · 2020–2023

• Collaborative Research: LTREB: Experimental determination of trophic dynamics and energy flows in a semiarid habitat in Chile

  NSF · $244k · 2020–2025

Frequent coauthors

• Robert M. Pringle

  Princeton University

  66 shared

• Jacob R. Goheen

  Wyoming Department of Education

  45 shared

• Todd M. Palmer

  University of Cape Town

  45 shared

• Johan Pansu

  Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

  43 shared

• Courtney G. Reed

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  39 shared

• Duncan M. Kimuyu

  Karatina University

  34 shared

• Leo M. Khasoha

  University of Wyoming

  30 shared

• Brian A. Gill

  University of Arizona

  28 shared

Labs

• Kartzinel LabPI

  CONSERVATION & MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

Awards & honors

• 2025 Catalyst Research Awardees

Similar researchers at Brown University

• Laurence C. Smithh-70
• J Timmons Robertsh-62
• Kim Cobbh-58