Erika Zavaleta
I study community and ecosystem ecology with emphasis on the consequences of changing biological diversity, and the links between ecological condition and human well-being.
My recent and current projects address serpentine grassland biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; effective conservation and protected area management under global changes; California grassland responses to climate and atmospheric changes; influences of plant community structure and diversity on susceptibility to biological invasions; wildfire effects on the provision of ecosystem services in rural Alaska; and barriers to California oak regeneration.
I strive to bridge ecological science and research to sound conservation and management practice. To that end, my work includes collaboration with conservation practitioners and elements of economics, public policy, and anthropology.
Education and Training
- B.A. Dept. of Anthropology, Stanford University
- M.A. Dept. of Anthropology, Stanford University
- Ph.D. Dept. of Biological Sciences, Stanford University
- Postdoc Smith Fellows Program, The Nature Conservancy/UC Berkeley
- Sabbatical (2005-06) Staff Ecologist, The Christensen Fund
Selected Publications
(2008). Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: a synthesis of 20 years of recommendations. In press, Biological Conservation.
(2008). Enhancing the Engagement of U.S. Private Foundations with Conservation Science. In press, Conservation Biology.
(2008). Restoration through re-assembly: plant traits and invasion. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23: 695-703.
(2008). Increasing Wildfire in the Boreal Forest: Causes, Consequences, and Pathways to Potential Solutions of a Wicked Problem. Bioscience 58: 531-540.
(2008). Naturalness and Beyond: Protected Area Stewardship in an Era of Global Environmental Change. The George Wright Forum 25: 36-56
Nelson, J. L., E. S. Zavaleta, and F. S. Chapin III (2008). Boreal fire effects on subsistence resources: landscape diversity as a critical component of subsistence livelihoods. Ecosystems 11: 156-171.
H. P. Jones, B. R. Tershy, E. S. Zavaleta, D. A. Croll, B. S. Keitt, M. E. Finklestein, G. R. Howald (2008). Review of the global severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds. Conservation Biology 22:16-26.
D. Lindenmeyer, R. Hobbs, R. Montague-Drake, J. Alexandra, A. Bennett, M. Burgman, P. Cale, A. Calhoun, V. Cramer, P. Cullen, D. Driscoll, L. Fahrig, J. Fischer, J. Franklin, Y. Haila, M. Hunter, P. Gibbons, S. Lake, G. Luck, C. MacGregor, S. McIntyre, R. Mac Nally, A. Manning, J. Miller, H. Mooney, R. Noss, H. Possingham, D. Saunders, Fiona Schmiegelow, M. Scott, D. Simberloff, T. Sisk, G. Tabor, B. Walker, J. Wiens, J. Woinarski and E. Zavaleta (2008). A Checklist for Ecological Management of Landscapes for Conservation. Ecology Letters 11: 78–91.
E. S. Zavaleta, K. Hulvey, and B. Fulfrost (2007). Regional patterns of recruitment success and failure in two endemic California oaks. Diversity and Distributions 13: 735-745.
Zavaleta, E.S., and K. Hulvey (2007). Realistic variation in species composition affects grassland production, resource use and invasion resistance. Plant Ecology 188: 39-51. PDF
F. Stuart Chapin, III, Amy L. Lovecraft, Erika S. Zavaleta, Joanna Nelson, Martin D. Robards, Gary P. Kofinas, Sarah F. Trainor, Garry Peterson, Henry P. Huntington, and Rosamond L. Naylor (2006). Policy strategies to address sustainability of Alaskan boreal forests in response to a directionally changing climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(45): 16637-16643. PDF
Kueppers, L. M., M. A Snyder, L. C. Sloan, E. S. Zavaleta, B. Fulfrost (2005). Modeled regional climate change and California endemic oak ranges. Proceedings of the National of Academy of Sciences 102: 16281-16286. PDF
Zavaleta, E. S. and K. B. Hulvey (2004). Realistic species losses disproportionately reduce grassland resistance to biological invaders. Science 306:1175-1177.
Zavaleta, E. S., M. R. Shaw, N. R. Chiariello, B. D. Thomas, E. E. Cleland, C. B. Field, H. A. Mooney (2003). Responses of a California grassland community to three years of experimental climate change, elevated CO2, and N deposition. Ecological Monographs 73(4): 585-604. PDF
Zavaleta, E. S., B. D. Thomas, N. R. Chiariello, G. P. Asner, and C. B. Field (2003). Plants reverse warming effect on ecosystem water balance. Proceedings of the National of Academy of Sciences 100: 9892-9893. PDF
Zavaleta, E. S., M. R. Shaw, Nona R. Chiariello, Harold A. Mooney, and C. B. Field (2003). Additive effects of simulated climate changes, elevated CO2, and nitrogen deposition on grassland diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 7650-7654. PDF
F. Stuart Chapin, III, T. Scott Rupp, Anthony M. Starfield, La-ona DeWilde, Erika S. Zavaleta, Nancy Fresco, Jonathon Henkelman, and A. David McGuire (2003). Planning for resilience: modeling change in human-fire interactions in the Alaskan boreal forest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(5): 255-261.
M. R. Shaw, E. S. Zavaleta, N. R. Chiariello, E.E. Cleland, H. A. Mooney, C. B. Field (2002). Grassland Responses to Global Environmental Changes Suppressed by Elevated CO2. Science 298: 1987-90. PDF
Zavaleta, E. S. (2002). It's often better to eradicate, but can we eradicate better? Pp. 393-404 in C. R. Veitch and M. N. Clout (Eds.) Turning the Tide: The Eradication of Invasive Species. Gland, Switzerland: The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
Zavaleta, E. S., R. Hobbs, and H. Mooney (2001). Viewing invasive species removal in a whole-ecosystem context. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16(8): 454-459. PDF
Zavaleta, E. S. and J. R. Royval (2001). Climate Change and the Susceptibility of U.S. Ecosystems to Biological Invasions: Two Cases of Expected Range Expansion. Pp. 277-342 in S. H. Schneider and T. L. Root (Eds.) Wildlife Responses to Climate Change: U.S. Case Studies. Washington: Island Press.
Zavaleta, E. S. (2000). The economic value of controlling an invasive shrub. Ambio 29(8): 462-67. PDF
Chapin, F. S. III, E. S. Zavaleta, V. T. Eviner, R. L. Naylor, P. M. Vitousek, O. E. Sala, H. L. Reynolds, D. U. Hooper, M. Mack, S. E. Diaz, S. E. Hobbie, and S. Lavorel (2000). Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405: 234-242.
Zavaleta, E. (1999). The emergence of waterfowl conservation among Yup’ik hunters in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Human Ecology 27(2): 231-266.