Pfister Lab

2024. Younker, I.T., Molnar, N., Scorza, K., Weed, R. Light, S.H., Pfister, C.A. Bacterial on the foundational kelp in kelp forest ecosystems: insigts from culturing, whole genome sequencing, and metabolic assays. Environmental Microbiology Reports 16, e13270. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.13270

2024. Hochroth, A and CA Pfister. Ammonification by kelp associated microbes increases ammonium availability. PLoS ONE 19, e0296622. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296622

2023. Pfister, C.A., Cardini, U., Mirasole, A., Montilla, L.M., Veseli, I., Gattuso, J.-P., Teixido, N. Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification. Scientific Reports 13, 19996. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4

2022. Miranda K, BL Weigel, E Fogarty I Veseli, A. Murat Eren, A  Giblin, and CA Pfister. The diversity and functional capacity of microbes associated with coastal macrophytes. mSystems. https://journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.1128/msystems.00592-22

2022. Pfister, CA. The evolutionary past and the uncertain future of foundational species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2211134119

2022. Weigel, BL, Miranda K, Fogarty E, Watson, A, Pfister CA. Functional insights into the kelp microbiome from metagenome assembled genomes. mSystems.https://journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.1128/msystems.01422-21

2022. Ramirez-Puebla, ST, Weigel BL, Jack L, Schlundt C, Pfister CA, Mark Welch JL. Spatial organization of the kelp microbiome at micron scales. Microbiome.10(52) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01235-w link:https://rdcu.be/cJLNw

        see the Video Byte on visualizing the kelp microbiome!

2022. Pfister, C.A., Light, S. H. Bohannan, B., Schmidt, T., Martiny, A., Hynson, N.A., Devkota, S., David, L. Whiteson, K. Conceptual exchanges for understanding free-living and host-associated microbiomes. A perspective in mSystems e01374-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.01374-21

2021. Miranda, K., Weigel, B.L., McCoy, S.J., Pfister, C.A. Differential impacts of alternate primary producers on carbon cycling.  Ecology 102. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3455     pdf

2021. Bitter, M.C. ,Kapsenberg, L., Silliman, K., Gattuso, J.-P., Pfister, C.A. Magnitude and predictability of pH fluctuations shape plastic responses to ocean acidification. The American Naturalist 186:582–593    pdf

2021. Weigel, BL & CA Pfister. The dynamics and stoichiometry of dissolved organic carbon release by kelp.  Ecology 102(2):e03221  https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3221      pdf       supporting information

            Featured in the Ecological Society of America Bulletin pdf

2020. Weigel, B.L., Pfister, C.A. Oxygen metabolism shapes microbial settlement on photosynthetic kelp blades compared to artificial kelp substrates. Environmental Microbiology Reports. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12923       pdf

2020. Martiny, J.B.H., Whiteson, K.L., Bohannan, B.J.M., David, L.A., Hynson, N.A., McFall-Ngai, M., Rawls, J.F., Schmidt, T.M., Abdo, Z., Blaser, M.J., Bordenstein, S., Bréchot, C., Bull, C.T., Dorrestein, P., Eisen, J.A., Garcia-Pichel, F., Gilbert, J., Hofmockel, K.S., Holtz, M.L., Knight, R., Mark Welch, D.B., McDonald, D., Methé, B., Mouncey, N.J., Mueller, N.T., Pfister, C.A., Proctor, L., Sachs, J.L., 2020. The emergence of microbiome centres. Nature Microbiology 5, 2–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0644-x ShareIt link.

2019. Bitter, M.C., Kapsenberg, L., Gattuso, J.-P., Pfister, C.A., Standing genetic variation fuels rapid adaptation to ocean acidification. Nature Communications 10, 5821. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13767-1

        Read Matt Wood’s UChicago News Story here

       Listen to the NPR reporting of this work here

2019. Zou, H.-X., Anastasio, A.E., Pfister, C.A., 2019. Early succession on slag compared to urban soil: A slower recovery. PLOS ONE 14, e0224214. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224214

2019. Pfister, CA, MA Altabet, BL Weigel. Kelp beds and their local effects on seawater chemistry, productivity, and microbial communities. Ecology. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2798 pdf

See our Ecological Society of America Bulletin here

2019. Weigel, BL and CA Pfister. Seascape-level pattern of microbial communities on canopy-forming kelps Nereocystis luetkeana and Macrocystis pyrifera. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00346

2019. Pfister, CA & MA Altabet. Enhanced microbial nitrogen transformations in association with intertidal macrobiota. Biogeosciences 16, 193-206. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-193-2019

2018. McCoy, SJ,  NA Kamenos, P Chung, JT Wootton & CA Pfister. A mineralogical record of ocean change: decadal and centennial patterns in the California mussel. Global Change Biology.10.1111/gcb.14013

2018. Olack, GA, AS Colman, CA Pfister, JT Wootton. Seawater DIC analysis: the effects of blanks and long-term storage on measurements of concentration and stable isotope composition. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10235

2018. Pfister, CA, HD Berry & T Mumford. The dynamics of Kelp Forests in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the relationship with environmental drivers. Journal of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.12908 Pfister_et_al-2018-Journal_of_Ecology     Supplemental Materials

               Read the Blog post about kelp forests in the Journal of Ecology

               Read the back story and see the video at the U of Chicago’s news service

Read about Washington Department of Natural Resources long-term commitment to studying kelp forests

And explore the WDNR mapsite of historic and modern kelp beds in Washington state!

2018. Pfister, CA and S Betcher. Climate drivers and animal host use determine kelp performance over decadal scales in the kelp Pleurophycus gardneri (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae). Journal of Phycology 54:1-11. pdf

2017. Thompson, L. R., J. G. Sanders, D. McDonald, A. Amir, J. Ladau, and 298 other authors. A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity. Nature 551:457–463. http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nature24621

2017. Jackrel SL, SM Owens, J Gilbert, CA Pfister. Identifying the plant associated microbiome across aquatic and terrestrial environments:  the effects of amplification methods on taxa discovery. Molecular Ecology Resources doi:  pdf

2017. Silliman BR, P Kareiva, and CA Pfister, “In Memoriam: Robert Treat Paine III (1933–2016), An Outsized American Naturalist,” The American Naturalist 189: (-Not available-): 000.DOI: 10.1086/689447. pdf

2016. Dayton, P. K., Dethier, M. N., Duggins, D., Kareiva, P., Koehl, M., Menge, B. A., Pfister, C. A., Ruesink, J. L., Sebens, K., Silliman, B. R. and Wootton, J. T. Robert Treat Paine III, 1933–2016. Bulletin Ecological Society of America, 97: 359–363. doi:10.1002/bes2.1263. pdf

2016. Pfister CA, Roy K, Wootton JT, McCoy SJ, Paine RT, Suchanek T; Sanford E. Historical baselines and the future of shell calcification for a foundation species in a changing ocean. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 263:20160392    pdf

2016. Pfister, C. A., Altabet, M. A., Pather, S., and Dwyer, G.: Tracer experiment and model evidence for macrofaunal shaping of microbial nitrogen functions along rocky shores, Biogeosciences 13, 3519–3531, doi:10.5194/bg-13-3519-2016.  pdf

2016. Stepien, C. C. , Pfister, C. A., and J. T. Wootton. Functional traits for carbon access in macrophytes. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0159062. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159062   pdf

2016. Pfister, C. A., R. T. Paine, J. T. Wootton. The iconic keystone predator has a pathogen. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14(5):285-286. doi: 10.1002/fee.1292/  pdf

2016. Pfister, C. A. Book Review, Marine Historical Ecology in Conservation: Applying the Past to Manage for the Future. Kittinger et al. Eds. Quarterly Review of Biology 91:209-210. doi: 10.1086/686829 pdf

2016. Moulton, OM, MA Altabet, J. M Beman, LA Deegan, J Lloret, MK Lyons, JA Nelson, CA Pfister. Microbial associations with macrobiota in coastal ecosystems: patterns and implications for nitrogen cycling. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14(4):200-208. doi:10.1002/fee.1262  pdf

2016. McCoy, S. J., C. A. Pfister, G. Olack, A. Colman. 2016. Diurnal and tidal patterns of carbon uptake and calcification in geniculate intertidal coralline algae. Marine Ecology DOI: 10.1111/maec.12295 pdf

2016. McCoy SA, S Allesina, CA Pfister. Ocean acidification affects competition for space: projections of community structure using cellular automata. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2561. pdf

2015. Wootton, J. T. and C. A. Pfister. Processes affecting extinction risk in the laboratory and in nature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516561112. pdf.  And see reply by Hufbauer et al. 2015. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1517210112

2014. Pfister, C. A., J. A. Gilbert, S. M. Gibbons. The role of macrobiota in structuring microbial communities along rocky shores. PeerJ 2:e631 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.631 pdf

2014. Pfister, C. A., M. Altabet, D. Post. Animal Regeneration and microbial retention of nitrogen along coastal rocky shores. Ecology 95:2803–2814. pdf

2014. Pfister, C. A., A. J. Esbaugh, C. A. Frieder, H. Baumann, E. E. Bockmon, M. M. White, B. R. Carter, H. M. Benway, C.A. Blanchette, E. Carrington, J. B. McClintock, D. C. McCorkle, W. R. McGillis, T. A. Mooney, P. Ziveri. Detecting the Unexpected: A Research Framework for Ocean Acidification. Environmental Science and Technology. 10.1021/es501936p.  pdf.   See the full American Chemical Society Select Issue on “Ocean Acidification:  Causes, Consequences, and Cures“.

2014. McCoy S. J., C. A. Pfister. Historical comparisons reveal altered competitive interactions in a guild of crustose coralline algae. Ecology Letters. 10.1111/ele.12247  [Check out Sophie’s cover photo!] pdf

2014. Pather, S., C. A. Pfister, M. A. Altabet, D. A. Post. Ammonium cycling in the rocky intertidal: remineralization, removal, and retention. Limnology & Oceanography 59:361-372. link pdf

2013. J. T. Wootton, C. A. Pfister. Experimental Separation of Genetic and Demographic Factors on Extinction Risk in Wild Populations. Ecology 94:2117-2123.  pdf

2012. J. T. Wootton & C. A. Pfister. Carbon System Measurements and Potential Climatic Drivers at a Site of Rapidly Declining Ocean pH. PLoS ONE 7(12): e53396. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053396  pdf  http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0053396

2011. Pfister, C. A., S.J. McCoy, J. T. Wootton, P. A. Martin, A. S. Colman, D. Archer. Rapid environmental change over the past decade revealed by isotopic analysis of the California mussel in the northeast Pacific. PLoS ONE 6(10):e25766. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025766.      pdf   http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0025766

2011. S.J. McCoy, L. F. Robinson C. A. Pfister, J. T. Wootton, N. Shimizu. Exploring B/Ca as a pH proxy in bivalves: Relationships between Mytilus californianus B/Ca and environmental data from the northeast Pacific. Biogeosciences 8, 2567-2579, doi:10.5194/bg-8-2567-2011, http://www.biogeosciences.net/8/2567/2011/bg-8-2567-2011.html

2011. Barner, A. K., C. A. Pfister, J. T. Wootton. The mixed mating system of the sea palm kelp Postelsia palmaeformis: few costs to selfing. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. 278:1710 1347-1355. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1928 pdf

2011. Paine, R. T., J. T. Wootton, C. A. Pfister. A Sense of Place-Tatoosh. The Ecology of Place: Contributions of Place-Based Research in Ecological and Evolutionary Understanding. M. Price & I. Billick, eds. University of Chicago Press.

2010. Pfister, C. A., F. Meyer, D. A. Antonopoulos. Metagenomic profiling of a microbial assemblage associated with the California mussel, Mytilus californianus: a node in networks of carbon and nitrogen cycling. PLoS ONE 5(5): e10518. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010518.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0010518

2010. Ma, L., M. L. Stein, M. Wang, A. O. Shelton, C. A. Pfister, K. J. Wilder. A method for unbiased estimation of population abundance along curvy margins. Environmetrics 10.1002/env.1053 pdf

2009. van der Sman, J. N. E. Phillips, C. A. Pfister. Relative effects of maternal and juvenile food availability for a marine snail. Ecology 90:3119-3125. pdf

2009. Shanks, A. & C. A. Pfister. Annual recruitment of three species of intertidal fishes is driven by variation in springtime coastal hydrodynamics. Limnology & Oceanography 54:1481-1487.pdf

2008. Wootton, J. T., C. A. Pfister, J. D. Forester. Dynamical patterns and ecological impacts of changing ocean pH in a high-resolution multiyear dataset. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.105:18848-18853. pdf, supporting material pdf

2008. W. F. Morris, C. A. Pfister, S. Tuljapurkar, C. Haridas, C. Boggs, M. S. Boyce, E. M. Bruna, D. R. Church. T. Coulson, D. F. Doak, S. Forsyth, J. M. Gaillard, C. C. Horvitz, S. Kalisz, B. E. Kendall. T. M. Knight. C. T. Lee, E. S. Menges. Longevity can buffer plant and animal populations against changing climatic variability. Ecology 89:19-25. pdf

2007. Pfister, C. A., J. T. Wootton, C. Neufeld. The relative roles of coastal and oceanic processes in determining physical and chemical characteristics of an intensively sampled nearshore system. Limnology & Oceanography 52: 1767-1775. pdf

2007. Pfister, C.A. Intertidal invertebrates locally enhance primary production. Ecology 88:1647-1653. pdf

2007. Peacor, S. D., J. R. Bence, C. A. Pfister. The effect of size-dependent growth and environmental factors on animal size variability. Theoretical Population Biology 71:80-94. pdf

2007. Pfister, C. A. Sculpins. Pages 485-486 In Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores. M. Denny & S. D. Gaines, eds. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. link

2006. Morris, W. F. , S. Tuljapurkar, C. Haridas, E. Menges, C. Horvitz, and C. Pfister. Sensitivity of the population growth rate to demographic variability within and between phases of the disturbance cycle. Ecology Letters 9:1331-1341. pdf

2006. Pfister, C. A. Concordance between short-term experiments and long-term censuses in tidepool fishes. Ecology 87:2905-2914. pdf

2006. Edwards, K. E. , C. A. Pfister, K. L. Van Alstyne. Nitrogen content in the brown alga Fucus gardneri and its relation to light, herbivory and wave exposure. Journal Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 336:99-109. pdf

2006. Peacor. S. D. & C. A. Pfister. Experimental and model analyses of the effects of competition on individual size variation in wood frog Rana sylvatica tadpoles.  J Animal Ecology 75:990-999. pdf

2006. Boyce, M.S. C. V. Haridas, C. T. Lee. (and C. L. Boggs, E. M. Bruna, T. Coulson, D. Doak, J. M. Drake, J. M. Gailliard, C. C. Horvitz, S. Kalisz, B. E. Kendall, T. Knight, M. Masrandrea, E. S. Menges, W. F. Morris, C. A. Pfister, S. D Tuljapurkar). Demography in an increasingly variable world. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21:141-148. pdf

2006. Kusumo, H., C. A. Pfister, J. T. Wootton. Small-scale genetic structure in the sea palm, Postelsia palmaeformis, Ruprecht (Phaeophyceae). Marine Biology 149:731-742. pdf

2005. Pfister, C.A. and M. Wang. Beyond size: Matrix projection models for populations where size is an incomplete descriptor. Ecology 86: 2673-2683. pdf

2005. Doak, D.F., F. M. Morris, C. Pfister, B.E. Kendall and E.M. Bruna. Correctly estimating how environmental stochasticity influences fitness and population growth. The American Naturalist 166: E14-E21. pdf

2004. Kusumo, H. , C. A. Pfister, J. T. Wootton. Dominant (AFLP) and Codominant (Microsatellite) Markers for the Kelp Postelsia palmaeformis (Laminariales). Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 372-375. pdf

2003. Pfister, C. A. The consequences of size variability in a juvenile fish. Environmental Biology of Fishes 66:383-390. pdf

2003. Pfister, C. A. and S. D. Peacor. Variable performance of individuals: the role of population density and endogenously formed landscape heterogeneity. Journal of Animal Ecology 72:725-735. pdf

2003. Pfister, C. A. and K. L. Van Alstyne. An experimental assessment of the effects of nutrient enhancement on the intertidal kelp Hedophyllum sessile (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae). Journal of Phycology 39:285-290. pdf

2003. Pfister, C. A. and F. R. Stevens. Individual variation and environmental stochasticity: implications for matrix model predictions. Ecology 84:496-510. pdf

2002. Pfister, C. A. and F. R. Stevens. The genesis of size variability in plants and animals. Ecology 83:59-72. pdf

2001. Lopez, J. E. and C. A. Pfister. Local population dynamics in metapopulation models: implications for conservation. Conservation Biology 15:1700-1709.  pdf

2000. Heppell, S. , Pfister, C. A. and de Kroon, H. Elasticity analysis in population biology: methods and applications. Ecology 81:605-606.

1999. Pfister, C. A. Recruitment. Pages 181-196 in: M. H. Horn, K. L. M. Martin, and M. A. Chotkowski (eds.). Intertidal Fish Ecology, Behavior, and Physiology, Academic Press. pdf

1999. Carlson, H. R. and C. A. Pfister. A seventeen-year study of the rose star Crossaster papposus population in a coastal bay in southeast Alaska. Marine Biology 133:223-230. pdf

1998. Pfister, C. A. Extinction, colonization, and species occupancy in tidepool fishes. Oecologia 114:118-126. pdf

1998. Pfister, C. A. Patterns of variance in stage-structured populations: evolutionary predictions and ecological implications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 95:213-218. pdf

1997. Wootton, J. T. and C. A. Pfister. The motivation and context for experiments in ecology. Pages 350-369 in: W. J. Resetarits and J. Bernardo (eds.). Issues and Perspectives in Experimental Ecology. Oxford University Press. pdf

1997. Pfister, C. A. Demographic consequences of within-year variation in recruitment. Marine Ecology Progress Series.153:229-238. pdf

1996. Pfister, C. A. and A. Bradbury. Harvesting red sea urchins: recent effects and future predictions. Ecological Applications 6:298-310. pdf

1996. Wootton, J. T., M. E. Power, R. T. Paine, and C. A. Pfister. Effects of productivity, consumers, competitors, and El Niño events on food chain patterns in a rocky intertidal community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93:13855-13858. pdf

1996. Pfister, C. A. Consequences of recruitment variation in an assemblage of tidepool fishes. Ecology 77:1928-1941. pdf
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2265795?origin=crossref

1995. Pfister, C. A. Estimating competition coefficients from census data: a test with field manipulations of tidepool fishes. The American Naturalist 146:271-291. pdf

1992. Pfister, C. A. The cost of reproduction in an intertidal kelp: patterns of allocation and life history consequences. Ecology 73:1586-1596. pdf

1991. Pfister, C. A. Sculpin diversity in tidepools. Northwest Environmental Journal. 8:156-157.

1991. Pfister, C. A. Reproductive plasticity in the kelp Alaria nana (Phaeophyceae). Journal of Phycology 27:763-766. pdf

1988. Pfister, C. A. and M. E. Hay. Associational plant refuges: convergent patterns in marine and terrestrial systems result from differing mechanisms. Oecologia 77:118-129. pdf

1987. Hay, M. E., J. E. Duffy, C. A. Pfister, and W. Fenical. Chemical defense against diverse marine herbivores: are amphipods insect equivalents? Ecology 68:1567-1580. pdf
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1939849?origin=crossref

Data Repositories for Pfister’s research

Regenerated Nitrogen:

https://darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org/handle/1912/6420.

http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/489045

Tatoosh Island seawater data: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/OAS/prd/accession/details/99812

Pfister C, Roy K, Wootton T, McCoy S, Paine R, Suchanek T, Sanford E (2016) Data from: Historical baselines and the future of shell calcification for a foundation species in a changing ocean. Dryad Digital Repository. http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr853