Wayne P. Sousa
ES Co-Director
Professor, Integrative Biology
4182 VLSB
(510) 642-2435
wpsousa@berkeley.edu
http://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/sousa

Research Interests
My research in community ecology has been in two general areas: the role of disturbance in structuring natural communities and the ecology of host-parasite interactions.

Mangrove forest dynamics: My current research examines the role of lightning-generated canopy gaps in the regeneration of mangrove forests on the Caribbean coast of Panama. We are investigating with sampling and experimental studies a variety of biotic and abiotic factors that could account for spatial and temporal variation in patterns of gap regeneration. Ultimately we hope to understand how this variation affects tree zonation along the tidal gradient.

Estuarine host-parasite interactions: For about 10 years, I studied the interactions between the salt marsh snail Cerithidea californica and a diverse assemblage of larval trematodes that exploit it as first intermediate host in their life cycles. The two major questions this research addressed were (1) do parasites compete for snail hosts?, and (2) do parasites regulate snail population size?

Disturbance and succession in rocky seashore communities: My early research focused on the role of disturbance in structuring rocky intertidal assemblages of plants and animals. My dissertation work demonstrated that intermediate levels of disturbance could maintain the diversity of algal assemblages, and tested several alternative models of succession. Later, I studied the effects of disturbance patch size and its interaction with herbivory on successional dynamics within intertidal mussel beds. I have not worked on the seashore for some years, but recently wrote an extensive literature review on the role of disturbance in marine benthic communities.

Selected Publications
Sousa, W.P. 2001. Natural disturbance and the dynamics of marine benthic communities. Pages 85-130 in M.D. Bertness, S. D. Gaines, and M.E. Hay, eds. Marine Community Ecology, Sinauer Assoc., Sunderland, MA.

Sousa, W.P. and B.J. Mitchell 1999. The effect of seed predators on plant distributions: is there a general pattern in mangroves? Oikos 86:55-66.

Sousa, W.P. 1993. Interspecific antagonism and species coexistence in a diverse guild of larval trematode parasites. Ecol. Monogr. 63:103-128.

Sousa, W.P. 1984. Intertidal mosaics: patch size, propagule availability, and spatially variable patterns of succession. Ecology 65:1918-1935.

Sousa, W.P. 1984. The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15:353-391.

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Environmental Sciences
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Modification Date: 10/04/2006