Dept. of Biological Sciences

Population and Community Ecology, Biogeography, and Rocky Intertidal Ecology

Dr. Wethey's research interests include biogeography, 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. His work on animal behavior has used non-invasive field and laboratory methods including medical ultrasound and low frequency pressure transients to detect activities of animals living within sediments. His work on biogeography has used field experiments and biophysical modeling to determine the mechanisms responsible for setting geographic limits of species. His field studies are currently being carried out on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, the Pacific coast of Asia, and the Atlantic coast of Europe.

His current projects include

1.      field, remote sensing, modeling and forecasting studies of the mechanisms responsible for setting the geographic limits of intertidal barnacles, mussels, and infauna, with Drs. Jerry Hilbish, Brian Helmuth, Sarah Woodin, Helen Power, and Venkat Lakshmi (Funding: NASA, NOAA-Ecofore),

2.   field studies of the subsurface activities of infaunal worms and clams, with Drs Sarah Woodin and Roberta Marinelli (University of Maryland) (Funding: ONR),

 3.      field studies of the influence of wave forces on natural selection in intertidal mussels, with Drs. Jerry Hilbish and Brian Helmuth (Funding: NSF),

4..      field studies of the influence of water quality on coral growth (http://www.uncwil.edu/aquarius/2002/10_2002/expd.htm), with Drs Chris Finelli (LUMCON) and Brian Helmuth (Funding NOAA-NURP),

5.      laboratory flume studies of the effects of disturbance on species diversity of sedimentary bacteria, with Dr. Rick Lovell (Funding: NSF).

Selected Publications:

Finelli, CM, BS Helmuth, ND Pentcheff, DS Wethey. 2007. Intracolony variability in photosynthesis by corals is affected by water flow: role of oxygen flux. Marine Ecology Progress Series 349: 103-110.

Richmond, CE, DS Wethey, SA Woodin. 2007. Climate change and increased environmental variability: Demographic responses in an estuarine harpacticoid copepod. Ecological Modelling. 209:189-202.

Gilman, SE, DS Wethey, B Helmuth. 2006. Variation in the sensitivity of organismal body temperature to climate change over local and geographic scales.  PNAS 103: 9560-9565.

Finelli, CM, BST Helmuth, ND Pentcheff, DS Wethey. 2006.  Water flow influences oxygen transport and photosynthetic efficiency in corals.  Coral Reefs 25: 47:57.

Wethey, DS and SA Woodin. 2005.  Infaunal hydraulics generate porewater pressure signals. Biological Bulletin 209: 139-145.

Schneider, KR, DS Wethey, BS Helmuth and TJ Hilbish. 2005.  Implications of movement behavior on mussel dislodgement: exogenous selection in a Mytilus spp. hybrid zone.  Marine Biology 146: 333-343.

Finelli, CM and DS Wethey. 2003.  Behavior of oyster (Crassostrea virginica) larvae in flume boundary layer flows. Marine Biology. 143: 703-711.

McCraith, BJ, LR Gardner, DS Wethey, and WS Moore. 2003.  The effect of fiddler crab burrowing on sediment mixing and radionuclide profiles along a topographic gradient in a southeastern salt marsh.  Journal of Marine Research 61: 359-390.

Viscido, SV and DS Wethey. 2002. Quantitative analysis of fiddler crab flock movement: evidence for "selfish herd" behavior. Animal Behaviour 63: 735-741.

Viscido, SV, M. Miller and DS Wethey.2002. The dilemma of the selfish herd: the search for a realistic movement rule. Journal of Theoretical Biology 217:183-194.

DS Wethey. 2002.  Microclimate, competition, and biogeography: the barnacle Chthamalus fragilis in New England. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 42: 872-880

Viscido, SV, M Miller and DS Wethey.  2001.  The response of a selfish herd to an attack from outside the group perimeter. Journal of Theoretical Biology 208: 315-328.

Wethey, DS, SM Lindsay, SA Woodin and RL Marinelli 2001. Population Consequences of Intermediate Disturbance: Enhancement of Recruitment by Browsing Predation. pp 141-157 in JY Aller, SA Woodin and RC Aller (editors). Organism-Sediment Interactions. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC

Finelli, CM, ND Pentcheff, RK Zimmer-Faust and DS Wethey. 2000.Physical constraints on ecological processes: A field test of odor-mediated foraging. Ecology 81: 784-797.

Grove, MW, CM Finelli, DS Wethey and SA Woodin. 2000.  The effects of symbiotic crabs on the pumping activity and growth rates of Chaetopterus variopedatus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 246: 31-52.

Diaz, M, DS Wethey, J Bulak and B Ely. 2000.  Effect of harvest and effective population size on genetic diversity in a striped bass population. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 129: 1367-1372.

Denny, MW and DS Wethey. 2000.  Physical processes that generate patterns in marine communities. pp. 1-37 in  MD Bertness, SD Gaines and ME Hay (editors). Marine Community Ecology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass.

Finelli, CM and DS Wethey. 1999. Settlement in Balanomorph barnacles: the interaction of physics and settlement cues. pp. 275-292 in MF Thompson and R Nagabushanam (editors). Barnacles: The Biofoulers.  Regency Publications, New Delhi.

Finelli, CM, ND Pentcheff, RK Zimmer-Faust and DS Wethey. 1999. Odor transport in turbulent flows: constraints on animal navigation. Limnology and Oceanography 44: 1056-1071.

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. Biological 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. Biological Bulletin 167: 176-185.

Wethey, DS 1983. Geographic limits and local zonation: the barnacles Semibalanus (Balanus) and Chthamalus in New England. Biological Bulletin 165: 330-341.

Courses

BIOL 301 Ecology and Evolution – sophomore level

BIOL 570 Principles of Ecology – junior/senior level

BIOL 765 Theoretical Ecology – graduate level

BIOL 763 Population Biology/Mathematical Biology – graduate level

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