As a terrestrial plant ecologist, my goal is to uncover the forces that determine the salient attributes of plant populations and communities, at multiple spatial and temporal scales.  I am particularly interested in: understanding the biogeography of Neotropical tree taxa and vegetation, predicting and elucidating patterns of plant diversity and composition at the landscape scale, determining the relative impacts of biotic and abiotic factors on plant recruitment, examining the role of source-sink relationships in the persistence of species and species associations, and dissecting the dynamics of plant-mammal interactions – including seed predation and dispersal in spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments.  Recently I have been investigating how topography and substrate affect plant diversity and community composition in the Maya Mountains of Belize, Central America.  In the southeastern coastal plain, I am working with Dr. Chandler on the biology of long-leaf pine communities and Dr. Hackney in tidal freshwater swamps.

Brewer, S.W., M. Rejmánek, M. A. H. Webb, and P. V. A. Fine.  2003.  Relationships of phytogeography and diversity of tropical tree species with limestone topography in southern Belize.  Journal of Biogeography 30:  1669-1688.

Brewer, S.W. and M.A.H. Webb.  2002. A seasonal evergreen forest in Belize: unusually high tree species richness for northern Central America.  Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 138: 259-276.

Brewer, S.W. and M.A.H. Webb.  2001. Ignorant seed predators and factors affecting the postdispersal seed survival of the tropical palm Astrocaryum mexicanum.  Oikos 93(1): 32-41.

Brewer, S.W.  1999.  The palms of Belize: species richness and a key based on vegetative characters.  Palms 43(3): 109-113

Brewer, S.W. and M. Rejmánek.  1999.  Small rodents as significant dispersers of tree seeds in a Neotropical forest.  Journal of Vegetation Science 10: 165-174.