Kevin Lafferty
Dr. Keving Lafferty is a Senior Ecologist with the Western Ecological Research Center.
His main interest lies in how parasites affect ecosystems and, in turn, how ecosystems affect parasites. He is also involved in research on the conservation of marine resources, investigating strategies for protecting endangered shorebirds, fish and abalone. He has also assessed the effects of marine reserves.
Dr. Lafferty received his Ph. D. in Ecological Parasitology in 1991 at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and took a post doc with the National Marine Sanctuary and a research position at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is presently a Marine Ecologist for the USGS at the Channel Islands Field Station. As a UCSB adjunct faculty member, the university's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology generously provides for Dr. Lafferty's office and laboratory space in the Marine Lab. He advises graduate students in Marine Ecology, but has no formal teaching assignments.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Conservation biology
- Invasive species ecology
- Nearshore marine ecology
- Parasite ecology
- Wetland ecology
Professional Experience
Marine Ecologist, USGS, Western Ecological Science Center, Jul 1998-Present
Assistant Adj. Prof., UCSB, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Jul 1998-Present
Assist. Research Biologist, UCSB Marine Science Institute, Jun 1996-Jul 1998
Assist. Research Biologist, UCLA, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Jun 1994-Jul 1998
Assist. Research Biologist, UCSB, Marine Science Institute, Jan 1993-May 1994
Post Doctoral Researcher, National Marine Sanctuaries Program, Jan 1992-Dec 1992
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Ecology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 1991
M.A., Zoology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 1988
B.A., Aquatic Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 1985
Affiliations and Memberships*
Amercian Society of Parasitologists
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
California Botanical Society
Ecological Society of America
Ecological Society of America
Natural Areas Association
Western Society of Naturalists
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 232
Release from parasites as natural enemies: increased performance of a globally introduced marine crab
Introduced species often seem to perform better than conspecifics in their native range. This is apparent in the high densities they may achieve or the larger individual sizes they attain. A prominent hypothesis explaining the success of introduced terrestrial species is that they are typically free of or are less affected by the natural enemies (competitors, predators, and parasites)...
Authors
Mark E. Torchin, Kevin D. Lafferty, Armand M. Kuris
Birds at a Southern California beach: seasonality, habitat use and disturbance by human activity
Use of a Santa Barbara beach by people and birds varied in both time and space. There were 100 birds, 18 people and 2 dogs per kilometer. Bird density varied primarily with the season and tide while human activity varied most between weekend and weekday. Bird distributions along the beach were determined mainly by habitat type (particularly a lagoon and exposed rocky intertidal areas)...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
Disturbance to wintering western snowy plovers
In order to better understand the nature of disturbances to wintering snowy plovers, I observed snowy plovers and activities that might disturb them at a beach near Devereux Slough in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Disturbance (activity that caused plovers to move or fly) to wintering populations of threatened western snowy plovers was 16 times higher at a public beach than at protected...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
Activities and preliminary results of nearshore benthic habitat mapping in southern California, 1998
The nearshore benthic habitat of the Santa Barbara coast and Channel Islands supports a diversity of marine life that are commercially, recreationally, and intrinsically valuable. Some of these resources are known to be endangered including a variety of rockfish and the White Abalone. State and National agencies have been mandated to preserve and enhance these resources and require...
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Kevin D. Lafferty
Postflood persistence and recolonization of endangered tidewater goby populations
Before-and-after surveys at several southern California sites indicated that populations of endangered tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi persisted through heavy flooding in 1995. This was contrary to our expectations that flooding might have led to extirpation in some smaller wetlands. There was also no significant change in tidewater goby density before and after the flooding...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Camm C. Swift, Richard F. Ambrose
Extirpation and recolonization in a metapopulation of an endangered fish, the tidewater goby
The tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), an endangered species in the United States, occurs in a series of isolated coastal wetlands in California. Using historical presence-absence data and our own surveys, we estimated annual rates of extirpation and recolonization for several populations of the goby in southern California. As predicted, large wetlands had lower rates of...
Authors
K. D. Lafferty, C. H. Swift, R.F. Ambrose
The evolution of trophic transmission
Parasite increased trophic transmission (PITT) is one of the more fascinating tales of parasite evolution. The implications of this go beyond cocktail party anecdotes and science fiction plots as the phenomenon is pervasive and likely to be ecologically and evolutionarily important. Although the subject has already received substantial review, Kevin Lafferty here focuses on evolutionary...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
How environmental stress affects the impacts of parasites
No abstract available.
Authors
K. D. Lafferty, A. M. Kuris
Postflood persistence and recolonization of endangered tidewater goby populations
Before-and-after surveys at several southern California sites indicated that populations of endangered tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi persisted through heavy flooding in 1995. This was contrary to our expectations that flooding might have led to extirpation in some smaller wetlands. There was also no significant change in tidewater goby density before and after the flooding...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Camm C. Swift, Richard F. Ambrose
The ecology of parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem
No abstract available at this time
Authors
K. D. Lafferty
Environmental parasitology: what can parasites tell us about human impacts on the environment?
No abstract available.
Authors
K. D. Lafferty
Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited
We consider 27 population and community terms used frequently by parasitologists when describing the ecology of parasites. We provide suggestions for various terms in an attempt to foster consistent use and to make terms used in parasite ecology easier to interpret for those who study free-living organisms. We suggest strongly that authors, whether they agree or disagree with us, provide...
Authors
A.O. Bush, K. D. Lafferty, J.M. Font, A.W. Shostak
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 232
Release from parasites as natural enemies: increased performance of a globally introduced marine crab
Introduced species often seem to perform better than conspecifics in their native range. This is apparent in the high densities they may achieve or the larger individual sizes they attain. A prominent hypothesis explaining the success of introduced terrestrial species is that they are typically free of or are less affected by the natural enemies (competitors, predators, and parasites)...
Authors
Mark E. Torchin, Kevin D. Lafferty, Armand M. Kuris
Birds at a Southern California beach: seasonality, habitat use and disturbance by human activity
Use of a Santa Barbara beach by people and birds varied in both time and space. There were 100 birds, 18 people and 2 dogs per kilometer. Bird density varied primarily with the season and tide while human activity varied most between weekend and weekday. Bird distributions along the beach were determined mainly by habitat type (particularly a lagoon and exposed rocky intertidal areas)...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
Disturbance to wintering western snowy plovers
In order to better understand the nature of disturbances to wintering snowy plovers, I observed snowy plovers and activities that might disturb them at a beach near Devereux Slough in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Disturbance (activity that caused plovers to move or fly) to wintering populations of threatened western snowy plovers was 16 times higher at a public beach than at protected...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
Activities and preliminary results of nearshore benthic habitat mapping in southern California, 1998
The nearshore benthic habitat of the Santa Barbara coast and Channel Islands supports a diversity of marine life that are commercially, recreationally, and intrinsically valuable. Some of these resources are known to be endangered including a variety of rockfish and the White Abalone. State and National agencies have been mandated to preserve and enhance these resources and require...
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Kevin D. Lafferty
Postflood persistence and recolonization of endangered tidewater goby populations
Before-and-after surveys at several southern California sites indicated that populations of endangered tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi persisted through heavy flooding in 1995. This was contrary to our expectations that flooding might have led to extirpation in some smaller wetlands. There was also no significant change in tidewater goby density before and after the flooding...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Camm C. Swift, Richard F. Ambrose
Extirpation and recolonization in a metapopulation of an endangered fish, the tidewater goby
The tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), an endangered species in the United States, occurs in a series of isolated coastal wetlands in California. Using historical presence-absence data and our own surveys, we estimated annual rates of extirpation and recolonization for several populations of the goby in southern California. As predicted, large wetlands had lower rates of...
Authors
K. D. Lafferty, C. H. Swift, R.F. Ambrose
The evolution of trophic transmission
Parasite increased trophic transmission (PITT) is one of the more fascinating tales of parasite evolution. The implications of this go beyond cocktail party anecdotes and science fiction plots as the phenomenon is pervasive and likely to be ecologically and evolutionarily important. Although the subject has already received substantial review, Kevin Lafferty here focuses on evolutionary...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty
How environmental stress affects the impacts of parasites
No abstract available.
Authors
K. D. Lafferty, A. M. Kuris
Postflood persistence and recolonization of endangered tidewater goby populations
Before-and-after surveys at several southern California sites indicated that populations of endangered tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi persisted through heavy flooding in 1995. This was contrary to our expectations that flooding might have led to extirpation in some smaller wetlands. There was also no significant change in tidewater goby density before and after the flooding...
Authors
Kevin D. Lafferty, Camm C. Swift, Richard F. Ambrose
The ecology of parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem
No abstract available at this time
Authors
K. D. Lafferty
Environmental parasitology: what can parasites tell us about human impacts on the environment?
No abstract available.
Authors
K. D. Lafferty
Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited
We consider 27 population and community terms used frequently by parasitologists when describing the ecology of parasites. We provide suggestions for various terms in an attempt to foster consistent use and to make terms used in parasite ecology easier to interpret for those who study free-living organisms. We suggest strongly that authors, whether they agree or disagree with us, provide...
Authors
A.O. Bush, K. D. Lafferty, J.M. Font, A.W. Shostak
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government