Research Interests
I am interested in the causes and consequences of variability in biological
communities. My research focuses on patterns of variation in giant
kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests at multiple spatial and temporal scales
throughout the species’ geographic range in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.
As part of my research program, I have been examining the relative importance
of numerous physical and biological factors in the structuring of kelp
forest communities, as well as how these factors modify interactions among
co-occurring species, with particular emphasis on large-scale phenomena
(such as El Niño Southern Oscillations and global climate change).
A second focus of my research program has been to examine how opportunistic
marine algae maintain populations in spatially and temporally heterogeneous
environments, with particular attention on the role of dormant microscopic
life-history stages. My future research plans involve continuing
to assess the causes and consequences of variation in kelp forests while
attempting to assess how different life-history traits allow some species
to either take advantage of or buffer against variation in environmental
conditions. By examining these processes at multiple scales over
large geographic areas and long time periods, I hope my research will ultimately
offer insights into the issue of generality, an often contentious but poorly
understood issue in ecology.
Publications
Foster, M.S., M.S Edwards,
D.C Reed, D.R. Schiel and R.C. Zimmerman (2006). Top-down vs. bottom-up effects
in kelp forests. Science 313: 1737-1738.
Edwards, M.S. and J. A.
Estes (2006). Catastrophe, recovery, and range limitation in NE Pacific kelp
forests: a large-scale perspective. Marine Ecology Progress Series 320: 79-87.
Carney, L.C. and M.S.
Edwards (2006). Cryptic processes in the sea: a review of delayed development in
the microscopic stages of marine macroalgae. Algae
21: 161-168.
Matson, P.G. and M.S.
Edwards (2006). Stipe hollowing in Eisenia arborea (Phaeophyta:
Laminariales): variation across a latitudinal gradient. Phycologia 45: 343-348.
Edwards, M.S. and G. Hernández-Carmona
(2005). Delayed recovery of giant
kelp near its southern range limit in the North Pacific following El Niño.
Marine Biology 147: 273-279.
Edwards, M.S. (2004). Estimating scale dependency in disturbance impacts:
El Niños and giant kelp forests in the Northeast Pacific. Oecologia 138:
436-447.
Clark, R.P., M.S. Edwards and M.S. Foster. (2004). Effects of shade from
multiple kelp canopies on an understory algal assemblage. Marine Ecology
Progress Series 267: 107-119.
Edwards, M. S. 2001. Scale-dependent patterns of community
regulation in giant kelp forests. Ph.D. dissertation.
University of California Santa Cruz. 140 pp.
Graham, M. H. and Edwards, M. S (2001). Statistical significance
vs. fit: estimating the relative importance of individual factors
in ecological analysis of variance. Oikos 93: 503-513.
Edwards, M. S. 2000. The role of microscopic life-history stages
in the persistence of marine macroalgae in seasonally variable environments.
Ecology 81(9): 2404-2415.
Edwards, M. S. 1999. Using in situ substrate sterilization and
fluorescence microscopy in studies of microscopic stages of marine
macroalgae. Proceedings form the 16th Annual International
Seaweeds Symposium. Hydrobiologia 398/399: 253-259.
Edwards, M. S. 1998. Effects of long-term kelp canopy exclusion
on the abundance of the annual alga Desmarestia ligulata. Journal
of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 228: 309-326.
Edwards, M. S. 1996. Factors regulating the recruitment of the
annual alga Desmarestia ligulata along the central California coast.
M. S. Thesis. San Francisco State University. 67 pp.
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