Ribbed mussels, which aggregate in mounds on the marsh surface, locally stimulate the growth of cordgrass in a Charleston, SC salt marsh, shown in the large panel above. In the southeastern US coastal plain, Southern live oaks (Quercus virginiana) form striking, large, sprawling canopies in savannas where their branches are often draped with festoons of the atmospheric bromeliad, Spanish moss (Tillandsia unseoides). In the Angelini lab, we work in on basic questions related to the organization of natural communities, like oak-epiphyte hierarchical interactions, but also work in intensively disturbed landscapes, such as salt marshes on Blythe Island that reside in close proximity to the LCP Chemical Superfund site (middle panel). We also collaborate on numerous projects to evaluate new strategies for more effectively restoring degraded ecosystems, such as these hurricane-damaged dunes in coastal Georgia (right panel).