Fiorenza Micheli Website: Micheli Lab
Current research in Professor Micheli's laboratory focuses on evaluating and understanding the processes and interactions shaping coastal marine communities and incorporating this understanding in the management and conservation of marine biodiversity. Current projects examine: (1) what levels of diversity are compatible with different types and intensities of human use of rocky shores in central California; (2) the separate and joint effects of natural and human disturbances on rocky-shore communities; (3) the persistence and recovery of abalone populations in central California to elucidate the factors and processes that promote or prevent the recovery of species and assemblages following major perturbations; (4) the relationship between structure and diversity of marine communities and ecological function and services (5) the trajectories of recovery of community structure and function once human disturbance is removed (e.g., within marine reserves); (6) the spread and impacts of habitat-forming invasive species in Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay; (7) the design and evaluation of MPA networks in the Bahamas and in the Mediterranean; and (8) environmental, social, and economic influences on the dynamics and sustainability of small-scale fisheries along the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. In addition to field research, Professor Micheli's group uses modeling and synthetic approaches for exploring the effectiveness of different management and conservation strategies and for producing generalizations about community responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of marine reserve networks is complemented by modeling studies of how different reserve designs influence assemblages of interacting species. Current projects are also compiling and synthesizing available data from published studies and monitoring programs to examine the effects of fishing on the structure and function of coastal marine assemblages and evaluate recovery following the establishment of marine protected areas. Selected PublicationsWorm, B., E. B. Barbier, N. Beaumont, J. E. Duffy, C. Folke, B. S. Halpern, J.B.C. Jackson, H. K. Lotze, F. Micheli, S. Palumbi, E. Sala, K. A. Selkoe, J. J. Stachowicz, R. Watson. 2006. Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314: 787-790 Baskett, M.L., F. Micheli, S.A. Levin. In press. Designing marine reserves for interacting species: insights from theory. Biological Conservation. Stevenson C., L. Katz, F. Micheli, B. Block, K. Heiman, C. Perle, K. Weng, R. Dunbar, J. Witting. In press. High apex predator biomass in remote Pacific islands. Coral Reefs. Mumby, P.J., C. P. Dahlgren, A. R. Harborne, C. V. Kappel, F. Micheli, D. R. Brumbaugh, K. E. Holmes, J. M. Mendes, K. Broad, J. N. Sanchirico, K. Buch, S. Box, R.W. Stoffle, A. B. Gill. 2006. Fishing, trophic cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs. Science 311: 98-101. Micheli, F., and B. S. Halpern. 2005. Low functional redundancy in coastal marine assemblages. Ecology Letters 8: 391-400. Micheli, F., L. Benedetti-Cecchi, S. Gambaccini, I. Bertocci, C. Borsini, G. C. Osio, and F. Romano. 2005. Cascading human impacts, marine protected areas, and the structure of Mediterranean reef assemblages. Ecological Monographs 75: 81-102. Micheli, F., B. S. Halpern, L. W. Botsford, and R. R. Warner. 2004. Trajectories and correlates of community change in no-take marine reserves. Ecological Applications 14: 1709-1723. Micheli, F., Amarasekare, A., Bascompte, J. And Gerber, L. R. 2004. Including species interactions in the design and evaluation of marine reserves: some insights from a predator-prey model. Bulletin of Marine Science, Special issue on “Confronting Trade-offs in the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management”, vol. 74(3): 653-669. Micheli F., Peterson C. H., Mullineaux L. S., Fisher C. R., Mills, S. W., Sancho G., Johnson G. A., and Lenihan H. S. 2002. Predation structures communities at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Ecological Monographs 72: 365-382. Micheli F., Polis G. A., Boersma P. D., Hixon M. A., Norse E. A., Snelgrove P. V. R., Soule’ M. E. 2001. Human alteration of food webs: research priorities for conservation and management. In: M. E. Soule’ and G. H. Orians, editors. Conservation Biology: Research Priorities for the Next Decade. 2nd edition. Island Press, Washington, D. C. Sagarin R. D., and Micheli F. 2001. Climate change in non-traditional data sets: the case of the Nenana Ice Classic. Science 294: 811. Micheli F. 1999. Eutrophication, fisheries, and consumer-resource dynamics in marine pelagic ecosystems. Science 285: 1396-1398. |
Fiorenza Micheli received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include species interactions and species-habitat relationships in marine communities, the direct and indirect effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances in the coastal marine environment, and the applications of community ecology to the conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems. She has conducted her research in a variety of marine ecosystems, including coastal intertidal and subtidal rocky habitats, estuaries, salt marshes, sea grasses, mangroves, coral reefs, coastal pelagic ecosystems, and deep-sea hydrothermal vents.