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
Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications
Host density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail-trematode system
Molecular analyses reveal high species diversity of trematodes in a sub-Arctic lake
A life cycle database for parasitic acanthocephalans, cestodes, and nematodes
The rise and fall of infectious disease in a warmer world
Revisiting Paine’s 1966 sea star removal experiment, the most-cited empirical article in the American Naturalist
Environmental change makes robust ecological networks fragile
Global assessment of schistosomiasis control over the past century shows targeting the snail intermediate host works best
Intraguild predation by shore crabs affects mortality, behavior, growth, and densities of California horn snails
Complementary approaches to diagnosing marine diseases: a union of the modern and the classic
The role of competition – colonization tradeoffs and spatial heterogeneity in promoting trematode coexistence
Marine disease impacts, diagnosis, forecasting, management and policy
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 230
Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications
Habitat destruction and infectious disease are dual threats to nature and people. The potential to simultaneously advance conservation and human health has attracted considerable scientific and popular interest; in particular, many authors have justified conservation action by pointing out potential public health benefits . One major focus of this debate—that biodiversity conservation often decreaAuthorsHillary S. Young, Chelsea L. Wood, A. Marm Kilpatrick, Kevin D. Lafferty, Charles L. Nunn, Jeffrey R. VincentHost density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail-trematode system
Most species aggregate in local patches. High host density in patches increases contact rate between hosts and parasites, increasing parasite transmission success. At the same time, for environmentally-transmitted parasites, high host density can decrease infection risk to individual hosts, because infective stages are divided among all hosts in a patch, leading to safety in numbers. We tested theAuthorsJulia C Buck, R.F. Hechinger, A.C. Wood, T.E. Stewart, A.M. Kuris, Kevin D. LaffertyMolecular analyses reveal high species diversity of trematodes in a sub-Arctic lake
To identify trematode diversity and life-cycles in the sub-Arctic Lake Takvatn, Norway, we characterised 120 trematode isolates from mollusc first intermediate hosts, metacercariae from second intermediate host fishes and invertebrates, and adults from fish and invertebrate definitive hosts, using molecular techniques. Phylogenies based on nuclear and/or mtDNA revealed high species richness (24 spAuthorsMiroslava Soldánová, Simona Georgieva, Jana Roháčováa, Rune Knudsen, Jesper A. Kuhn, Eirik H. Henriksen, Anna Siwertsson, Jenny C. Shaw, Armand M. Kuris, Per-Arne Amundsen, Tomáš Scholz, Kevin D. Lafferty, Aneta KostadinovaA life cycle database for parasitic acanthocephalans, cestodes, and nematodes
Parasitologists have worked out many complex life cycles over the last ~150 years, yet there have been few efforts to synthesize this information to facilitate comparisons among taxa. Most existing host-parasite databases focus on particular host taxa, do not distinguish final from intermediate hosts, and lack parasite life-history information. We summarized the known life cycles of trophically trAuthorsDaniel P. Benesh, Kevin D. Lafferty, Armand KurisThe rise and fall of infectious disease in a warmer world
Now-outdated estimates proposed that climate change should have increased the number of people at risk of malaria, yet malaria and several other infectious diseases have declined. Although some diseases have increased as the climate has warmed, evidence for widespread climate-driven disease expansion has not materialized, despite increased research attention. Biological responses to warming dependAuthorsKevin D. Lafferty, Erin A. MordecaiRevisiting Paine’s 1966 sea star removal experiment, the most-cited empirical article in the American Naturalist
“Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity” (Paine 1966) is the most-cited empirical article published in the American Naturalist. In short, Paine removed predatory sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) from the rocky intertidal and watched the key prey species, mussels (Mytilus californianus), crowd out seven subordinate primary space-holding species. However, because these mussels are a foundational spAuthorsKevin D. Lafferty, Tom SuchanekEnvironmental change makes robust ecological networks fragile
Complex ecological networks appear robust to primary extinctions, possibly due to consumers’ tendency to specialize on dependable (available and persistent) resources. However, modifications to the conditions under which the network has evolved might alter resource dependability. Here, we ask whether adaptation to historical conditions can increase community robustness, and whether such robustnessAuthorsGiovanni Strona, Kevin D. LaffertyGlobal assessment of schistosomiasis control over the past century shows targeting the snail intermediate host works best
Background Despite control efforts, human schistosomiasis remains prevalent throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. The global schistosomiasis burden has changed little since the new anthelmintic drug, praziquantel, promised widespread control. Methodology We evaluated large-scale schistosomiasis control attempts over the past century and across the globe by identifying factors that predict coAuthorsSusanne H. Sokolow, Chelsea L. Wood, Isabel J. Jones, Scott J. Swartz, Melina Lopez, Michael H. Hsieh, Kevin D. Lafferty, Armand M. Kuris, Chloe Rickards, Giulio A. De LeoIntraguild predation by shore crabs affects mortality, behavior, growth, and densities of California horn snails
The California horn snail, Cerithideopsis californica, and the shore crabs, Pachygrapsus crassipesand Hemigrapsus oregonensis, compete for epibenthic microalgae, but the crabs also eat snails. Such intraguild predation is common in nature, despite models predicting instability. Using a series of manipulations and field surveys, we examined intraguild predation from several angles, including the efAuthorsJ. Lorda, R. F. Hechinger, S. D. Cooper, A. M. Kuris, Kevin D. LaffertyComplementary approaches to diagnosing marine diseases: a union of the modern and the classic
Linking marine epizootics to a specific aetiology is notoriously difficult. Recent diagnostic successes show that marine disease diagnosis requires both modern, cutting-edge technology (e.g. metagenomics, quantitative real-time PCR) and more classic methods (e.g. transect surveys, histopathology and cell culture). Here, we discuss how this combination of traditional and modern approaches is necessAuthorsColleen A. Burge, Carolyn S. Friedman, Rodman G. Getchell, Marcia House, Kevin D. Lafferty, Laura D. Mydlarz, Katherine C. Prager, Kathryn P. Sutherland, Tristan Renault, Ikunari Kiryu, Rebecca Vega-ThurberThe role of competition – colonization tradeoffs and spatial heterogeneity in promoting trematode coexistence
Competition – colonization tradeoffs occur in many systems, and theory predicts that they can strongly promote species coexistence. However, there is little empirical evidence that observed competition – colonization tradeoffs are strong enough to maintain diversity in natural systems. This is due in part to a mismatch between theoretical assumptions and biological reality in some systems. We testAuthorsErin A. Mordecai, Alejandra G. Jaramillo, Jacob E. Ashford, Ryan F. Hechinger, Kevin D. LaffertyMarine disease impacts, diagnosis, forecasting, management and policy
As Australians were spending millions of dollars in 2014 to remove the coral-eating crown of thorns sea star from the Great Barrier Reef, sea stars started washing up dead for free along North America's Pacific Coast. Because North American sea stars are important and iconic predators in marine communities, locals and marine scientists alike were alarmed by what proved to be the world's most widesAuthorsKevin D. Lafferty, Eileen E. Hofmann - News
*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