Dr. King's primary interests are in community ecology, invasion biology, social insects, and conservation science aimed at understanding the ecosystem services of insects.

King, J.R. 2010. Size-abundance relationships in Florida ant communities reveal how social insects break the energetic equivalence rule. Ecological Entomology 35: 287-298. King, J.R., W.R. Tschinkel, and K.G. Ross. 2009. A case study of human exacerbation of the invasive species problem: transport and establishment of polygyne fire ants in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. Biological Invasions 11: 373-377. King, J.R. and W.R. Tschinkel. 2008. Experimental evidence that human impacts drive fire ant invasions and ecological change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA. 105: 20339-20343. King, J.R. 2007. Patterns of co-occurrence and body size overlap among ants in Florida’s upland ecosystems. Annales Zoologici Fennici 44: 189-201. King, J.R. and S.D. Porter. 2007. Body size, colony size, abundance, and ecological impact of exotic ants in Florida’s upland ecosystems. Evolutionary Ecology Research 9: 757-774. King, J.R. and J.C. Trager. 2007. Natural history of the slave making ant, Polyergus lucidus, sensu lato and its three Formica pallidefulva group hosts in northern Florida. Journal of Insect Science 7: 42. King, J.R. and W.R. Tschinkel. 2007. Range expansion and local population increase of the exotic ant, Pheidole obscurithorax, in the southeastern United States. Florida Entomologist 90: 435-439. Tschinkel, W.R. and J.R. King. 2007. Targeted removal of ant colonies in ecological experiments, using hot water. Journal of Insect Science 7: 41. King, J.R. and W.R. Tschinkel. 2006. Experimental evidence that the introduced fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, does not competitively suppress co-occurring ants in a disturbed habitat. Journal of Animal Ecology 75: 1370-1378.