K. R. O'Keeffe

This study shows that reducing disease in grassland communities increases biomass but does not reduce variation in community structure, suggesting disease may enhance stochastic processes in shaping communities.

The study shows that a microbial mutualist in host individuals can increase parasite transmission between hosts, using a field mesocosm experiment with grass and fungal species.

The paper investigates how higher-order interactions among three fungal species affect disease progression in grass plants, finding that the presence of a mutualist endophyte modifies parasite interactions and significantly increases leaf mortality.

The paper tests how different parasite feeding strategies affect the fungal microbiome in grass leaves, finding that necrotrophs reduce fungal diversity and alter composition more than biotrophs.