This is the site for the research group of Dr. Nathan J.B. Kraft, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Los Angeles. We study the ecological and evolutionary forces that structure communities, particularly plant systems. Projects in the lab integrate aspects of community ecology, biogeography, ecophysiology, and phylogenetics. Recent projects have centered on the forests of lowland Amazonia and annual plant communities in California. In addition to a focus on species coexistence, research in the lab also addresses plant responses to climate change, the distribution of diversity at broad spatial scales, and the assembly of regional biotas.