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: 235
Parasitic castration: the evolution and ecology of body snatchers Parasitic castration: the evolution and ecology of body snatchers
Castration is a response to the tradeoff between consumption and longevity faced by parasites. Common parasitic castrators include larval trematodes in snails, and isopod and barnacle parasites of crustaceans. The infected host (with its many unique properties) is the extended phenotype of the parasitic castrator. Because an individual parasitic castrator can usurp all the reproductive...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty, Armand Kuris
Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail
A robust food web is one in which few secondary extinctions occur after removing species. We investigated how parasites affected the robustness of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh food web by conducting random species removals and a hypothetical, but plausible, species invasion. Parasites were much more likely than free-living species to suffer secondary extinctions following the removal of a...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty, Armand Kuris
The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases
The projected global increase in the distribution and prevalence of infectious diseases with climate change suggests a pending societal crisis. The subject is increasingly attracting the attention of health professionals and climate-change scientists, particularly with respect to malaria and other vector-transmitted human diseases. The result has been the emergence of a crisis discipline
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
Cascading effects of fishing on Galapagos rocky reef communities: reanalysis using corrected data Cascading effects of fishing on Galapagos rocky reef communities: reanalysis using corrected data
This article replaces Sonnenholzner et al. (2007; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 343:77–85), which was retracted on September 19, 2007, due to errors in entry of data on sea urchins. We sampled 10 highly fished and 10 (putatively) lightly fished shallow rocky reefs in the southeastern area of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, Ecuador. After the correction, these are the new results: there was a negative
Authors
Jorge Sonnenholzner, Lydia Ladah, Kevin Lafferty
Acceptance of the 2009 Henry Baldwin Ward Medal: The accidental parasitologist Acceptance of the 2009 Henry Baldwin Ward Medal: The accidental parasitologist
Members of the Society, President Conn, colleagues, friends, and particularly students, the Ward Medal recipient, from Clarke Read onward, traditionally recounts how their career was shaped. A decade ago, in a crumbling Kona hotel, the ASP's own tattooed lady, Janine Caira, opened her Ward Medal address with: “To all future Ward Medalists, many of whom I trust are sitting in the audience...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
The assembly, collapse and restoration of food webs The assembly, collapse and restoration of food webs
Darwin chose the metaphor of a 'tangled bank' to conclude the 'Origin of species'. Two centuries after Darwin's birth, we are still untangling the complex ecological networks he has pondered. In particular, studies of food webs provide important insights into how natural ecosystems function (Pascual & Dunne 2005). Although the nonlinear interactions between many species creates...
Authors
Andy Dobson, Stefano Allesina, Kevin Lafferty, Mercedes Pascual
Parasite manipulation of brain monoamines in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) by the trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis Parasite manipulation of brain monoamines in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) by the trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis
California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) infected with the brain-encysting trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis display conspicuous swimming behaviours rendering them more susceptible to predation by avian final hosts. Heavily infected killifish grow and reproduce normally, despite having thousands of cysts inside their braincases. This suggests that E. californiensis affects only...
Authors
J.C. Shaw, W.J. Korzan, R.E. Carpenter, A. Kuris, K. Lafferty, C.H. Summers, O. Overli
Food web topology and parasites in the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake Food web topology and parasites in the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake
Parasites permeate trophic webs with their often complex life cycles, but few studies have included parasitism in food web analyses. Here we provide a highly resolved food web from the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake and explore how the incorporation of parasites alters the topology of the web. 2. Parasites used hosts at all trophic levels and increased both food-chain lengths and the...
Authors
Per-Arne Amundsen, K. Lafferty, R. Knudsen, R. Primicerio, A. Klemetsen, A. Kuris
Calling for an ecological approach to studying climate change and infectious diseases Calling for an ecological approach to studying climate change and infectious diseases
My Concepts and Synthesis paper (Lafferty 2009),which inspired this Forum, echoed the premise that earlyreviews about climate change exaggerated claims thatinfectious diseases will increase in the future (Randolph2009). The paper sparked five well-reasoned commen-taries from ecologists with considerable expertise ininfectious diseases (Dobson 2009, Harvell et al. 2009,Ostfeld 2009...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: Lab and field investigations Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: Lab and field investigations
In aquatic ecosystems, dense populations of snails can shed millions of digenean trematode cercariae every day. These short-lived, free-living larvae are rich in energy and present a potential resource for consumers. We investigated whether estuarine fishes eat cercariae shed by trematodes of the estuarine snail Cerithidea californica. In aquaria we presented cercariae from 10 native...
Authors
A.T. Kaplan, S. Rebhal, K. Lafferty, A. Kuris
Differential escape from parasites by two competing introduced crabs Differential escape from parasites by two competing introduced crabs
Although introduced species often interact with one another in their novel communities, the role of parasites in these interactions remains less clear. We examined parasite richness and prevalence in 2 shorecrab species with different invasion histories and residency times in an introduced region where their distributions overlap broadly. On the northeastern coast of the USA, the Asian...
Authors
April Blakeslee, Carolyn Keogh, James Byers, Armand Kuris, Kevin Lafferty, Mark Torchin
Ecosystem consequences of fish parasites Ecosystem consequences of fish parasites
In most aquatic ecosystems, fishes are hosts to parasites and, sometimes, these parasites can affect fish biology. Some of the most dramatic cases occur when fishes are intermediate hosts for larval parasites. For example, fishes in southern California estuaries are host to many parasites. The most common of these parasites, Euhaplorchis californiensis, infects the brain of the killifish...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 235
Parasitic castration: the evolution and ecology of body snatchers Parasitic castration: the evolution and ecology of body snatchers
Castration is a response to the tradeoff between consumption and longevity faced by parasites. Common parasitic castrators include larval trematodes in snails, and isopod and barnacle parasites of crustaceans. The infected host (with its many unique properties) is the extended phenotype of the parasitic castrator. Because an individual parasitic castrator can usurp all the reproductive...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty, Armand Kuris
Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail
A robust food web is one in which few secondary extinctions occur after removing species. We investigated how parasites affected the robustness of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh food web by conducting random species removals and a hypothetical, but plausible, species invasion. Parasites were much more likely than free-living species to suffer secondary extinctions following the removal of a...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty, Armand Kuris
The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases
The projected global increase in the distribution and prevalence of infectious diseases with climate change suggests a pending societal crisis. The subject is increasingly attracting the attention of health professionals and climate-change scientists, particularly with respect to malaria and other vector-transmitted human diseases. The result has been the emergence of a crisis discipline
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
Cascading effects of fishing on Galapagos rocky reef communities: reanalysis using corrected data Cascading effects of fishing on Galapagos rocky reef communities: reanalysis using corrected data
This article replaces Sonnenholzner et al. (2007; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 343:77–85), which was retracted on September 19, 2007, due to errors in entry of data on sea urchins. We sampled 10 highly fished and 10 (putatively) lightly fished shallow rocky reefs in the southeastern area of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, Ecuador. After the correction, these are the new results: there was a negative
Authors
Jorge Sonnenholzner, Lydia Ladah, Kevin Lafferty
Acceptance of the 2009 Henry Baldwin Ward Medal: The accidental parasitologist Acceptance of the 2009 Henry Baldwin Ward Medal: The accidental parasitologist
Members of the Society, President Conn, colleagues, friends, and particularly students, the Ward Medal recipient, from Clarke Read onward, traditionally recounts how their career was shaped. A decade ago, in a crumbling Kona hotel, the ASP's own tattooed lady, Janine Caira, opened her Ward Medal address with: “To all future Ward Medalists, many of whom I trust are sitting in the audience...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
The assembly, collapse and restoration of food webs The assembly, collapse and restoration of food webs
Darwin chose the metaphor of a 'tangled bank' to conclude the 'Origin of species'. Two centuries after Darwin's birth, we are still untangling the complex ecological networks he has pondered. In particular, studies of food webs provide important insights into how natural ecosystems function (Pascual & Dunne 2005). Although the nonlinear interactions between many species creates...
Authors
Andy Dobson, Stefano Allesina, Kevin Lafferty, Mercedes Pascual
Parasite manipulation of brain monoamines in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) by the trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis Parasite manipulation of brain monoamines in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) by the trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis
California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) infected with the brain-encysting trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis display conspicuous swimming behaviours rendering them more susceptible to predation by avian final hosts. Heavily infected killifish grow and reproduce normally, despite having thousands of cysts inside their braincases. This suggests that E. californiensis affects only...
Authors
J.C. Shaw, W.J. Korzan, R.E. Carpenter, A. Kuris, K. Lafferty, C.H. Summers, O. Overli
Food web topology and parasites in the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake Food web topology and parasites in the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake
Parasites permeate trophic webs with their often complex life cycles, but few studies have included parasitism in food web analyses. Here we provide a highly resolved food web from the pelagic zone of a subarctic lake and explore how the incorporation of parasites alters the topology of the web. 2. Parasites used hosts at all trophic levels and increased both food-chain lengths and the...
Authors
Per-Arne Amundsen, K. Lafferty, R. Knudsen, R. Primicerio, A. Klemetsen, A. Kuris
Calling for an ecological approach to studying climate change and infectious diseases Calling for an ecological approach to studying climate change and infectious diseases
My Concepts and Synthesis paper (Lafferty 2009),which inspired this Forum, echoed the premise that earlyreviews about climate change exaggerated claims thatinfectious diseases will increase in the future (Randolph2009). The paper sparked five well-reasoned commen-taries from ecologists with considerable expertise ininfectious diseases (Dobson 2009, Harvell et al. 2009,Ostfeld 2009...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: Lab and field investigations Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: Lab and field investigations
In aquatic ecosystems, dense populations of snails can shed millions of digenean trematode cercariae every day. These short-lived, free-living larvae are rich in energy and present a potential resource for consumers. We investigated whether estuarine fishes eat cercariae shed by trematodes of the estuarine snail Cerithidea californica. In aquaria we presented cercariae from 10 native...
Authors
A.T. Kaplan, S. Rebhal, K. Lafferty, A. Kuris
Differential escape from parasites by two competing introduced crabs Differential escape from parasites by two competing introduced crabs
Although introduced species often interact with one another in their novel communities, the role of parasites in these interactions remains less clear. We examined parasite richness and prevalence in 2 shorecrab species with different invasion histories and residency times in an introduced region where their distributions overlap broadly. On the northeastern coast of the USA, the Asian...
Authors
April Blakeslee, Carolyn Keogh, James Byers, Armand Kuris, Kevin Lafferty, Mark Torchin
Ecosystem consequences of fish parasites Ecosystem consequences of fish parasites
In most aquatic ecosystems, fishes are hosts to parasites and, sometimes, these parasites can affect fish biology. Some of the most dramatic cases occur when fishes are intermediate hosts for larval parasites. For example, fishes in southern California estuaries are host to many parasites. The most common of these parasites, Euhaplorchis californiensis, infects the brain of the killifish...
Authors
Kevin Lafferty
*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