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<p>
<h2><a href="http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/faculty/Pfister/">Click here for the Pfister Lab web page.</a></h2>
</p>
<p align="justify">
To view a video clip outlining some of my research projects and field 
sites, click <a href="http://research.uchicago.edu/highlights/resources/media/pfister_wootton_512k.mov">here</a>.

</p>
<p>
<span class="facmedtitle">Research Interests</span>
<p align="justify">

My research in ecology has focused on population and community level phenomenon
in marine systems. Two recurring themes in my research are the implications of
variability and size structure for population and community level dynamics, and
the contribution of basic ecology to marine resource conservation. My interests
can be broadly grouped into three areas: (1) identifying the causes and
consequences of variability in marine populations, (2) understanding the
relative impacts of genetic and demographic factors to extinction risk, and (3)
the diverse controls of productivity in coastal marine ecosystems. 

</p>

<p align="justify">

          	My approach to the above topics is pluralistic. I have used both
laboratory and field experiments, with the overall goal of testing ecological
theory. The questions I ask range from individual consequences to community
responses. For example, working with a group of nearshore marine fishes I have
explored how variability in recruitment can impact both the growth trajectory of
individual fishes and the large scale patterns of coexistence between species. 
I am currently using both modeling and field studies
of natural marine populations to ask how differences among individuals in a
population arise, and what their consequences are in natural systems.

</p>

<p align="justify">

           My research also addresses several evolutionary questions, including
theoretical and empirical investigations into the evolution of variation in
different life-stages of organisms, the relative importance of phenotypic
plasticity and genetic control in the morphologically-diverse but
recently-radiated marine kelps.  Additionally, I am currently linking
demographic and individual genetic factors with extinction risk in kelp (in
collaboration with Dr. J. T. Wootton). 

</p>

<p align="justify">

           I expect students in my lab to be facile in both empirical and
theoretical approaches to ecology and evolution.  Although my own research has
focused on marine systems, I gladly advise students who address related
questions in other systems.

</p>

<p>

<hr />

</p>

<p>
<span class="facmedtitle">Recent Publications</span>
</p>
<dl>

<dt />1992. Pfister, C. A.
<dd />The cost of reproduction in an intertidal kelp: patterns of allocation and
life history consequences.  <i>Ecology</i> 73:1586-1596.


<dt />1995. Pfister, C. A.
<dd />Estimating competition coefficients from census data: a test with field
manipulations of tidepool fishes.  <i>American Naturalist</i> 146:271-291.


<dt />1996. Pfister, C. A., and A. Bradbury.
<dd />Harvesting red sea urchins: recent effects and future predictions
<i>Ecological Applications</i> 6:298-310.


<dt />1996. Pfister, C. A.
<dd />Consequences of recruitment variation in an assemblage of tidepool fishes. 
<i>Ecology</i> 77:1928-1941.


<dt />1997. Pfister, C. A. 
<dd />Demographic consequences of within-year variation in
recruitment. <i>Marine Ecology Progress Series.</i> 153:229-238.

<dt />1998. Pfister, C. A. 
<dd />Patterns of variance in stage-structured populations: 
evolutionary predictions and ecological implications.  <i>Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.</i> 95:213-218.

<dt />1998. Pfister, C. A. 
<dd />Extinction, colonization, and species occupancy in tidepool
fishes. <i>Oecologia</i> 114:118-126.



<dt />1998. Wootton, J. T. and C. A. Pfister.  
<dd />The motivation and context for experiments in ecology. 
Pages 350-369 in:  W. J. Resetarits and J. Bernardo (eds.).  
<i>Issues and Perspectives in Experimental Ecology.</i>  Oxford University Press.

<dt />1999. Pfister, C. A. 
<dd />Recruitment. Pages 181-196 in:  M. H. Horn, K. L. M. Martin, and M. A. Chotkowski (eds.). 
<i>Intertidal Fish Ecology, Behavior, and Physiology.</i> Academic Press.

<dt />1999. Carlson, H. R. and C.  A. Pfister.  
<dd />A seventeen-year study of the rose star Crossaster papposus population in a coastal bay in southeast Alaska. 
<i>Marine Biology</i> 133:223-230.

<dt />2000. Heppell, S. , Pfister, C. A. and  de Kroon, H. 
<dd />Elasticity analysis in population biology:  methods and applications.  
<i>Ecology</i> 81:605-606.

<dt />In press. J. E. Lopez and C. A. Pfister. 
<dd >Local population dynamics in metapopulation models:  implications for conservation. 
<i>Conservation Biology</i>

<dt />In press. C. A. Pfister and F. R. Stevens. 
<dd />The genesis of size variability in plants and animals. 
<i>Ecology</i>




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