Dept. of Biological Sciences

Sarah A. Woodin

Carolina Distinguished Professor
of Biological Sciences

Ph.D., 1972, University of Washington

803-777-5084 (office)
803-777-4254 (lab)
woodin@biol.sc.edu

Marine Benthic Ecology, Recruitment Processes
Biogenic Disturbance, Chemical Ecology

Dr. Woodin's research is directed towards an analysis of the importance of various factors in determining the abundance and distribution of organisms in marine sedimentary environments. Her past work has demonstrated experimentally the relative roles of direct and indirect competition, disturbance, predation (partial and complete), biogenic structural heterogeneity, and biogenic halogenated compounds. Past work in her laboratory has demonstrated the importance of biogenic halogenated aromatic compounds to recruitment and predation as well as the importance of biogenic disturbance to recruitment and the possible presence of process-specific recruitment cues. Her emphasis has been on experimental field manipulations of shallow water marine sedimentary assemblages with parallel laboratory experiments.

Dr. Woodin's present research centers on the following two areas: 1. remote sensing of the frequency and intensity of biogenic disruption by ecological engineers using pressure signals generated by hydraulic activities and 2. the importance of global climate change to biogeographical distributions of large infauna. To date Dr. Woodin and her collaborators have demonstrated that activities of large infauna can be detected remotely. This is a major breakthrough in sediment research in that it allows one to ask questions about rates and experimental outcomes non-destructively opening the door to an array of manipulations. In the second project she is looking at stress levels in large infauna at range limits and looking for both molecular and behavioral indicators of stress as well as changes in range limits.

Selected Publications:

Wethey, D.S., and S.A. Woodin (2005) Infaunal hydraulics generate porewater pressure signals Biological Bulletin 209: 139-145.

Marinelli, R.L., and S.A. Woodin (2004) Disturbance and recruitment: a test of solute and substrate specificity using Mercenaria mercenaria and Capitella sp. 1. Marine Ecology Progress Series 269: 209-221.

Woodin SA, Merz RA, Thomas FM, Edwards DR, Garcia IL (2003) Chaetae and mechanical function: tools no Metazoan class should be without. Hydrobiologia 496: 253-258.

Marinelli RL, Woodin SA (2002) Experimental evidence for linkages between infaunal recruitment, disturbance and sediment chemistry. Limnol. Oceanogr. 47(1): 221-229.

Wethey DS, Lindsay SM, Woodin SA, Marinelli RL (2001) Population Consequences of Intermediate Disturbance: Enhancement of Recruitment by Browsing Predation. Baruch Symposium, Univ. South Carolina Press, pp. 141-157.

Fielman, K.T., S.A. Woodin, and D.E. Lincoln (2001) Natural halogenated organic compounds in marine sediments are from polychaete indicator species. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20(4): 738-747.

Cowart, J. D., K. T. Fielman, S. A. Woodin and D. E. Lincoln (2000) Halogenated metabolites in two marine polychaetes and their planktotrophic and lecithotrophic larvae. Marine Biology 136: (6) 993-1002

Kihslinger, R. L., and S. A. Woodin (2000) Foraging behavior, risk and organic enrichment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 201: 233-239.

Merz, R. A., and S. A. Woodin (2000) Hooked setae: tests of the anchor hypothesis. Invertebrate Biology 119: 67-82.

Back to Biology Home Page
In accordance with USC Policy ACAF 7.04 the following information is included:
Department: Biological Sciences; Website Maintainer: Richard Vogt vogt@biol.sc.edu
Copyright 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
This is <URL:http://www.biol.sc.edu/faculty/woodin.html> last modified 03 July 2006