The current generation of scientists will be asked to mitigate climate change, stall biodiversity loss, and protect ecological communities. These are tasks that require a knowledge of both ecological and social systems to be undertaken successfully. Therefore, my dissertation spans the fields of community ecology and social sciences in an...
Anthropogenically-induced increases in the acidity of the ocean have the potential to seriously harm marine calcifying organisms by decreasing the availability of carbonate (CO32−) used to make shells. I tested the effects of lowered pH on juvenile Pisaster ochraceus, an intertidal sea star and keystone predator in the eastern Pacific...
With changing climate conditions and human impacts on ecosystems becoming a
big focus of study, it has become even more crucial to understand how our ecosystems
work. Community structure within rocky intertidal habitats is governed by a mix of
environmental conditions and species interactions. This project examined the effects of...
Birds affected the community structure of an Oregon rocky shore by
preying upon mussels (Mytilus spp.) and limpets (Collisella spp.). The
impact of such predation is potentially great, as mussels are the
competitively dominant mid-intertidal space-occupiers, and limpets are
important herbivores in this community.
Prey selection by birds reflects differences...
The stability of a limpet-dominated community was
assessed in a experiment in which an consumer was
temporarily removed. Compared to unmanipulated plots,
the limpet-exclusion plots developed greater algal
abundance and altered species composition of both algae
and barnacles. The community was not perturbed beyond
its capacity to recover, since the...
The feeding ecology of a common temperate mesoherbivore, the oligophagous sea slug Placida dendritica (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Ascoglossa), was examined from April 1985 to June 1989. Along the central coast of Oregon, Placida consumed three host species: the low intertidal green algae Codium setchellii, C. fragile, and Bryopsis corticulans. Individual slugs...
I examined the biomechanical factors that influence the sizes of intertidal macroalgae by studying a population of Fucus gardneri at Fogarty Creek Point, OR. I constructed a mathematical model to predict optimal sizes and probabilities of survival for Fucus under conditions of high and low wave exposure. Predicted optimal sizes...
The relationship between nutrients and community structure is poorly understood in open-coast habitats. I created a system of artificial tidepools, of identical age and physical dimensions, at two sites that differed in wave exposure, and manipulated nutrient levels and the abundance of herbivores. Using these unique field mesocosms, I explored...
In recent years off the United States Oregon coast severe hypoxic events have resulted in areas of mass vertebrate and invertebrate species mortality known as dead zones. Creation of dead zones and alteration of community species composition in response to inner shelf hypoxic conditions have been observed annually from 2002...