Marine Sciences Program at Avery Point

My interests are in marine benthic population and community ecology. Primary focus has been to use both laboratory and field experimentation, in combination with modelling, to address how abiotic and biotic processes influence the distribution and composition of populations and communities. Current activities are in the following areas:

The Role of Local Control of Recruitment on Persistence of Dominance in Subtidal Benthic Communities.
Patterns of recruitment, abundance and dominance within several subtidal communities in southern New England have been found to persist year after year over large areas of the bottom. This long-term persistence is not expected in such an open system with disturbances continually creating open patches for recruiting larvae whose identity and abundances change both temporally and spatially.

Present research suggests that the persistence results from strong local control of recruitment that overrides any variability in larval production and dispersal of species from outside a site. We have been testing this hypothesis by conducting manipulative field experiments which delineate abiotic and biotic controls of local recruitment and how these affect community establishment and development.

The Introduction of Exotic Species into Coastal New England Habitats.

Over the past several decades, a number of non-native or exotic species (tunicates, crabs, bryozoans, shipworms) have been introduced into New England coastal habitats. Little is known about the ecology of these species and how (if) they are influencing indigenous fauna and flora. We have been experimentally examining the interactions of these alien species and native fauna. Two principle questions are being addressed: why are some species better invaders than others and why are some habitats more easily invaded than others? We are examining these questions using a combination of field and laboratory experimental studies.

Scale and Patch Dynamics of Shallow-Water Habitats.
Fundamental to ecology is the issue of how populations, communities and the processes that influence them vary with changes in spatial and temporal scale. Work is underway to investigate the role that scale-dependent processes play in affecting population and community processes in shallow-water soft-sediment habitats. Primary interest is directed to assessing scale-dependent population dynamics, predator-prey interactions and disturbance induced succession

For more information on these topics please visit Team Benthos

EXAMS FOR MARINE BIOLOGY
First exam 1999.pdf
First exam 2001.pdf
First exam 2002.pdf
Second exam 2000.pdf
Second exam 2001.pdf
Final exam 2002.pdf
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Current Students

Publications

Robert B. Whitlatch