David S. Wethey Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Ph.D., 1979, University of Michigan 704 Earth and Water Sciences (803)777-3936 wethey@biol.sc.edu Wethey Lab Home Page

Population and Community Ecology, Biogeography, and Rocky Intertidal Ecology

Dr. Wethey's research interests include population dynamics, predator-prey and competitive interactions, conservation genetics, and the mechanisms by which organisms escape the physics of their habitats. He uses a combination of field and laboratory experiments and modeling to examine these processes. His work on population dynamics involves the application of difference and differential equation models to age structured populations, including barnacles, annelids, copepods, and fish. His work on predator-prey interactions has examined the influence of fluid dynamics on the transport of odor plumes used for prey detection by aquatic predators. He is collaborating with Dr. Sarah Woodin and Dr. Sara Lindsay on the interaction between browsing predation, sediment disturbance, and larval recruitment in sedimentary systems. He is collaborating with Dr. Jim Bulak (South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources), Dr. Bert Ely, and Dr. Marilyn Diaz (University of Maryland) on models of fish population dynamics and conservation genetics, using age structured and individual based modelling approaches.

Selected Publications:
Agler, H., A. Ahearn, A. Kitchell, N. Lopanik, H. Miller, M. Miller, and D.S. Wethey. 1997. Resource competition in algae: a class project in mathematical biology. Maple Tech 4: 78-85.

Walters, L.J. and D.S. Wethey. 1996. Safe spots in marine habitats: daily settlement and survival of sessile invertebrates on subtidal topographically complex hard substrata. Marine Ecology Progress Series 137:161-171.

Lindsay, S.M., D.S. Wethey and S.A. Woodin. 1996. Modeling interactions of browsing predation, infaunal activity and recruitment in marine sedimentary systems. American Naturalist 148: 684-699.

Tamburri, M., C. M. Finelli, D. S. Wethey and R. K. Zimmer-Faust. 1996. Chemical induction of larval settlement behavior in flow. Biological Bulletin 191:367-373.

Bulak, J.S., D.S. Wethey and M.G. White. 1995. An evaluation of management options for a reproducing striped bass, Morone saxatilis, population in the Santee Cooper system, South Carolina. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 15: 84-94.

Woodin, S. A., S. M. Lindsay and D. S. Wethey. 1995. Process specific cues in marine sedimentary systems. Biological Bulletin 189: 49-58.

Zimmer-Faust, R.K., C.M. Finelli, N.D. Pentcheff and D.S. Wethey. 1995. Odor plumes and animal navigation in turbulent water flow: a field study. Biologial Bulletin 188: 111-116.

Wethey, D. S. 1985. Catastrophe, extinction and species diversity: a rocky intertidal example. Ecology 66:446-456.

Wethey, D.S. 1984. Sun and shade mediate competition in the barnacles Chthamalus and Semibalanus: a field experiment. Biologial Bulletin 167: 176 185.