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...
Winters in north-temperate climates impose high
thermogenic demands upon small birds which are met by
seasonal acclimatization. This thesis investigates the
extent and mechanisms of seasonal acclimatization in darkeyed
juncos (Junco hyemalis) inhabiting western Oregon.
Although insulation is significantly increased in
winter, acclimatization is primarily metabolic. Increased
metabolism is required...
Gradients of physical disturbance are central to
theories of community organization yet rarely are studies
performed in which physical factors are experimentally
manipulated. Pothole tidepool algal communities exhibit
distinct zonation patterns from top to bottom that result
from scouring by rocks and other debris in the pools.
Scouring is easily...
Some parasites may modify the behavior of their
hosts. Altered behaviors may: 1) benefit the host in
that they defend against the pathogen, 2) benefit the
pathogen and represent manipulations of the host
response, and 3) benefit neither the host or the
pathogen and simply be a product of the...
The Mark 0. Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC)
public education opportunities include interpretive programs
offered along the Estuary Nature Trail. The purpose of this
study was to determine the effectiveness of three informal
education programs, interpretive signs, a self-guided trail
brochure, and guided naturalist walks, in imparting
information on the...
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...
As ecologists are being called upon to predict the consequences of human
perturbations to natural communities, an important goal is to understand what factors
drive variability or consistency in nature.
In the rocky intertidal of San Juan Island, Washington, a comparative
experimental approach was used to investigate spatial and temporal...
The influence of loss of diversity on community dynamics and ecosystem functioning has recently received considerable attention. Although study of biodiversity has a long history within ecology, empirical investigations exploring consequences of loss have been rare. Because many factors confound diversity comparisons, experimental manipulations of diversity offer the most direct...
Understanding how large-scale processes (>100 kms) influence ecological communities is currently a major focus in ecology. In marine systems, coastal upwelling, a large-scale oceanographic process in which surface water pushed offshore by winds is replaced by cold, nutrient-rich water from depth, appears to cause variation in rocky intertidal communities. Along...
The body size (W) of animal species is one of the best predictors of
population density (D) when large assemblages are considered. It has been
shown that theoretically the D-W relationship can be the consequence of two
other distributions: the log-normal distribution of body sizes of the species and
of...