Research Interests:
Research in our lab investigates the dynamics of communities, focusing broadly on processes involved in the turnover of plant populations: dispersal, seed banks, seedling establishment and recruitment. Current projects focus on the tidal wetlands of the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, California chaparral and Central Coast coastal scrub. Recent projects have investigated mycorrhizal ecology (recruitment dynamics between California chaparral and forests, e.g., between Arctostaphylos species and trees like Pseudotsuga menziesii; and also in Pinus contorta (lodgepole) dominated forests in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Seed dispersal within wetlands and tropical forests of southern Cameroon, Africa have also been a recent focus. Finally, the evolution of Arctostaphylos and the Arbutoideae (Ericaceae) has been investigated, as these plants are involved in seed bank, mycorrhizal and fire management studies, and their ecological evolution is critical for better understanding. All of these types of projects apply to additional goals of vegetation management, conservation and restoration. |
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Recent Publications & Presentations (**=student):
Parker, V. T., M. C. Vasey and J. E. Keeley. 2008. Arctostaphylos. Jepson Flora of Higher Plants of California. 2nd Edition. In press
Callaway, J., V. T. Parker, M. C. Vasey and L. M. Schile. 2007. Emerging issues for the restoration of tidal marsh ecosystems in the context of predicted climate change. Madroño 54 (3): In press.
Leck, M. A., A. Baldwin, V. T. Parker, L. M. Schile, and D. Whigham. In press. Freshwater tidal wetlands of North America. In: A. Barendregt, A. Baldwin, P. Meire, and D. Whigham (eds.) Tidal Freshwater Wetlands. Backhuys Publ; Leiden, The Netherlands.
O’Neil**, S. E. and V. T. Parker. 2005. Factors contributing to the seed bank size of two obligate seeding Ceanothus species in Northern California. Madroño 52 (3): 182-190.
Le Fer**, D. and V. T. Parker. 2005. Effect of seasonality of burn on seed germination in chaparral; the role of soil moisture. Madroño 52 (3): 166-174.
Boykin**, L. M., M. C. Vasey, V. T. Parker and R. Patterson. 2005. Two lineages of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae) identified using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear genome. Madroño 52 (3): 139-147.
Clark**, C. J., J. R. Poulsen**, E.F. Connor, B. Bolker and V. T Parker. 2005. Comparative seed shadows of bird-, monkey, and wind-dispersed trees in a central African tropical rain forest. Ecology 86(10) 2684-2694.
Douglas**, R.B., V. T. Parker, K. W. Cullings. 2005. Belowground ectomycorrhizal community structure of mature lodgepole pine and mixed conifer stands in Yellowstone National Park. Forest Ecology and Management 208 (2005) 303–317.
Clark**, C. J., J. R. Poulsen**, E. F. Connor and V. T. Parker. 2004 Fruiting trees as dispersal foci in a closed canopy tropical forest. Oecologia 139: 66-75.
Parker, V. T. 2004. Community of the individual: implications for the community concept. Oikos 104: 27-34.
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~parker/parkerweb/pages/publications.html
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