Dr. Rubenstein’s research takes an integrative approach to understanding the evolution of complex breeding systems (reproductive life histories, social systems, mating systems) in vertebrates and invertebrates. As a behavioral and evolutionary ecologist, he studies how physiological and individual level processes contribute to larger scale phenomenon, but he approaches questions from an evolutionary perspective to examine the costs and benefits of different reproductive strategies, particularly the causes and consequences of sociality. He simultaneously strives to understand how proximate, physiological mechanisms govern reproductive roles and mating decisions in species living in complex social systems, and how those mechanisms may have influenced some of the ultimate explanations for the evolution and maintenance of those systems. Broadly, his work examines how physiological mechanisms, behavioral decisions, and other individual level processes influence population level processes and other larger scale phenomenon and patterns. Specifically, he seeks to understand how ecology shapes individual reproductive decisions and interspecific patterns of sociality by trying to unravel the interaction among physiology, life history, and behavior at different levels. His work involves wild and captive individuals, and entails comparisons of closely related species and systems. He works broadly across regions, but also intensively at individual sites on long-term study populations. He employs a variety of lab techniques (molecular genetics, endocrinology, immunology, stable isotope analysis), field methodologies (behavioral observations, lab experiments, field manipulations), and statistical and theoretical approaches (comparative analyses, game theory modeling) to answer a broad range of questions in a diversity of taxa including birds, reptiles, and crustaceans.

Representative Publications:

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007 and I.J. Lovette. 2007. Temporal environmental variability drives the evolution of cooperative breeding in birds. Current Biology 17:1414-1419.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Territory quality drives intraspecific patterns in extrapair paternity. Behavioral Ecology 18:1058-1064.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Female extrapair mate choice in a cooperative breeder: trading sex for help and increasing offspring heterozygosity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:1895-1903.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Temporal but not spatial environmental variation drives adaptive offspring sex allocation in a plural cooperative breeder. The American Naturalist 170:155-165.

Rubenstein, D.R. 2007. Stress hormones and sociality: integrating social and environmental stressors. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:967-975.

Rubenstein, D.R. and M. Wikelski. 2005. Steroid hormones and aggression in female Galápagos marine iguanas. Hormones and Behavior 48:329-341.

Rubenstein, D.R. and K.A. Hobson. 2004. From birds to butterflies: animal movement patterns and stable isotopes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:256-263.

Rubenstein, D.R. and M. Wikelski. 2003. Seasonal changes in food quality: a proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas. Ecology 84:3013-3023.

Rubenstein, D.R., C.P. Chamberlain, R.T. Holmes, M.P. Ayres, J.R. Waldbauer, G.R. Graves, and N.C. Tuross. 2002. Linking breeding and wintering ranges of a migratory songbird using stable isotopes. Science 295:1062-1065.