About

Laurel R Fox is a Professor in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department within the Science Division at UC Santa Cruz. Her research emphasizes the effects of interactions on community structure and dynamics, with a focus on population and community ecology, particularly plant-herbivore and three-trophic-level interactions. She is especially interested in resource use, plant defenses, and the role of nutrients. Her work has been conducted in various systems, including Eucalyptus trees in Australia and maritime chaparral in California. Additionally, her research includes the dynamics of endangered plants, the ecological effects of climate change, and the community effects of invasive species.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Computer Science
• Machine Learning
• Biology
• Data Mining
• Geography
• Cartography
• Environmental resource management
• Mathematics
• Algorithm
• Statistics
• Demography
• Environmental science
• Econometrics

Selected publications

• Herbivory mediates direct and indirect interactions in long‐unburned chaparral

  Ecological Monographs · 2022 · 5 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Ecology
  • Biology

  Abstract Community interaction webs describe both direct and indirect interactions among species. Changes in direct interactions often become noticeable soon after a perturbation, but time lags in the responses of many species may delay the appearance of indirect effects and lead to temporal or spatial variation in interaction webs. Accurately identifying these shifts in the field requires time‐specific, spatially differentiated interaction webs. We explore how variation in browsing affects interaction webs in a long‐unburned chaparral shrubland near the central California coast. Most prior work in chaparral focused on rapid changes for <5 years after a wildfire that were assumed to determine community patterns until the next fire. Here, we report the results of the first 15 years of an ongoing experiment monitoring how interaction webs in long‐unburned chaparral (at least 100 years postfire) respond to experimental variation in browsing by deer and rabbits on dominant shrubs ( Arctostaphylos pumila , Ceanothus cuneatus var. rigidus , and Ericameria ericoides ). We hypothesized that variation in browsing would directly affect foodplants, indirectly modify growth and survival of other shrubs, and impact habitat needed by herbaceous plants. We found a dynamic web of plant–herbivore and plant–plant interactions that responded rapidly to changes in deer browsing on Ceanothus followed by indirect interactions that continued developing over several years, affecting shrubs, open space, herbaceous plants, and small mammals. Experimental variation in the intensity of deer browsing led to temporal and spatial changes in interactions that produced three different community interaction webs. With deer, community webs were complex, having numerous direct and indirect interactions. Removing deer simplified the community web, changed outcomes of interactions, and reduced open space and herbaceous plant densities. Finally, changes in Ceanothus morphology without deer allowed woodrats to browse these shrubs, with negative impacts on Ceanothus growth and survival. General field observations also showed that all three alternative interaction webs occurred naturally at our fieldsite, varying across space and over time. Long‐unburned chaparral communities browsed by deer maintain high biological diversity, but maintenance of this diversity involves many key direct and indirect biotic interactions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regional Networks of Biological Field Stations to Study Climate Change

  BioScience · 2021 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Environmental resource management
  • Geography
  • Environmental science

  Abstract Field stations are platforms for documenting patterns and processes in ecosystems and are critical for understanding how anthropogenic climate change reshapes nature. Although networks of field stations have been used to identify patterns at continental to global scales, these broad, sparsely distributed networks miss variation in climate change at local and regional scales. We propose that regional-scale research networks are essential for addressing the myriad of ecological and evolutionary challenges—including management and mitigation options—that cannot be answered by more broadly distributed networks or by individual field sites. We discuss our experiences leveraging natural areas throughout California at the Institute for the Study of Ecological and Evolutionary Climate Impacts. We then explore benefits and challenges of networking research at spatial scales congruent with regional patterns of climate variation and climate change, the challenges of sustained infrastructure and research support, and opportunities for future regional-scale research networks.

  PublisherDOI

• The promise and the perils of resurveying to understand global change impacts

  Ecological Monographs · 2020 · 37 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Data Mining
  • Machine Learning

  Abstract Historical data sets can be useful tools to aid in understanding the impacts of global change on natural ecosystems. Resampling of historically sampled sites (“snapshot resampling”) has often been used to detect long‐term shifts in ecological populations and communities, because it allows researchers to avoid long‐term monitoring costs and investigate a large number of potential trends. But recent simulation‐based research has called the reliability of resampling into question, and its utility has not been comprehensively evaluated. Here we combine long‐term empirical data sets with novel community‐level simulations to explore the accuracy of snapshot resampling of both population‐ and community‐level metrics under a variety of conditions. We show that snapshot resampling often yields spurious conclusions, but the accuracy of results increases when inter‐annual variability in the response variable is low or the magnitude of change through time is high. Snapshot resampling also generally performs better for community‐level metrics (e.g., species richness) as opposed to population‐level metrics pertaining to a single species (e.g., abundance). Finally, we evaluate strategies to improve the accuracy of snapshot resampling, including sampling multiple years at the end of the study, but these produce mixed results. Ultimately, we find that snapshot resampling should be used with caution, but under certain circumstances, can be a useful for understanding long‐term global change impacts.

  PublisherDOI

• <i>A Theory of Global Biodiversity. <i>Monographs in Population Biology, Volume 60</i></i>. By Boris Worm and Derek P. Tittensor. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press. $49.95. xi + 214 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-691-15483-1. 2018.

  The Quarterly Review of Biology · 2019-08-08

  review
  PublisherDOI

• Browsing impacts on the stable isotope composition of chaparral plants

  Ecosphere · 2017-02-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We assessed the effects of herbivory on competition, water stress, and potentially biological nitrogen fixation on three species of endemic shrubs using variations in the stable isotope ratios ( 13 C/ 12 C and 15 N/ 14 N) in leaves of chaparral shrubs in a long‐term field experiment. While variations in isotopic ratios of plants are often attributed to abiotic stresses, impacts of biotic interactions are rarely evaluated. Our site was a low‐nutrient, chaparral community on the central California coast. In this system, deer browsing on Ceanothus rigidus , which have symbiotic N‐fixing bacteria ( Frankia ), was intense and suppressed growth, while the two non‐fixing shrubs ( Arctostaphylos pumila and Ericameria ericoides ) were not browsed heavily. For Ceanothus , excluding deer increased both plant size and the δ 15 N value to ~0‰; δ 13 C values also increased as the plants increased in mass. In Arctostaphylos and Ericameria , stable isotope values did not change, while plant sizes remained the same or even declined when deer were excluded. We interpret the change in Ceanothus δ 15 N values as due to increased N fixation after evaluating possible alternative explanations. The increase in Ceanothus δ 13 C values may be due to increased water stress with substantial shrub growth. More broadly, herbivore suppression of N fixation may impact ecosystem processes such as productivity and N cycling, as well as an ecosystem's ability to respond to increased CO 2 .

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Appendix A. Details of study sites, weather, sample preparation and the relationships between indexed ring widths and rainfall, and the number of rings and stem diameter.

  Figshare · 2016-01-01

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  Details of study sites, weather, sample preparation and the relationships between indexed ring widths and rainfall, and the number of rings and stem diameter.

  PublisherDOI

• Table S1 - Range-Expanding Populations of a Globally Introduced Weed Experience Negative Plant-Soil Feedbacks

  Figshare · 2015-12-02

  datasetOpen access

  &lt;p&gt;Location and elevation of populations used for seed and soil collections for greenhouse experiments. &lt;i&gt;Centaurea solstitialis&lt;/i&gt; seeds are abbreviated as Cs.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;(XLS)&lt;/p&gt;

  PublisherDOI

• Plant Phenology and Climate Change in the Santa Cruz County

  AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts · 2014-12-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Heavy browsing affects the hydraulic capacity of Ceanothus rigidus (Rhamnaceae)

  Oecologia · 2014-05-09 · 14 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Range-Expanding Populations of a Globally Introduced Weed Experience Negative Plant-Soil Feedbacks

  PLoS ONE · 2011-05-23 · 46 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Biological invasions are fundamentally biogeographic processes that occur over large spatial scales. Interactions with soil microbes can have strong impacts on plant invasions, but how these interactions vary among areas where introduced species are highly invasive vs. naturalized is still unknown. In this study, we examined biogeographic variation in plant-soil microbe interactions of a globally invasive weed, Centaurea solstitialis (yellow starthistle). We addressed the following questions (1) Is Centaurea released from natural enemy pressure from soil microbes in introduced regions? and (2) Is variation in plant-soil feedbacks associated with variation in Centaurea's invasive success? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted greenhouse experiments using soils and seeds collected from native Eurasian populations and introduced populations spanning North and South America where Centaurea is highly invasive and noninvasive. Soil microbes had pervasive negative effects in all regions, although the magnitude of their effect varied among regions. These patterns were not unequivocally congruent with the enemy release hypothesis. Surprisingly, we also found that Centaurea generated strong negative feedbacks in regions where it is the most invasive, while it generated neutral plant-soil feedbacks where it is noninvasive. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Recent studies have found reduced below-ground enemy attack and more positive plant-soil feedbacks in range-expanding plant populations, but we found increased negative effects of soil microbes in range-expanding Centaurea populations. While such negative feedbacks may limit the long-term persistence of invasive plants, such feedbacks may also contribute to the success of invasions, either by having disproportionately negative impacts on competing species, or by yielding relatively better growth in uncolonized areas that would encourage lateral spread. Enemy release from soil-borne pathogens is not sufficient to explain the success of this weed in such different regions. The biogeographic variation in soil-microbe effects indicates that different mechanisms may operate on this species in different regions, thus establishing geographic mosaics of species interactions that contribute to variation in invasion success.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• P. A. Morrow

  University of Minnesota

  11 shared

• J. Eisenbach

  Eastern Michigan University

  5 shared

• John A. Silander

  University of Connecticut

  5 shared

• B. R. Trenbath

  Australian National University

  5 shared

• Karen M. Kester

  Virginia Commonwealth University

  4 shared

• Adrian J. Deveny

  4 shared

• José L. Hierro

  Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

  3 shared

• Heather N. Steele

  University of California System

  3 shared

Labs

• Fox LabPI

Education

• PhD, Biology

  University of California Santa Barbara

  1973