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The regulation of species' geographic range limitsWhat climatic and biological factors set geographic range limits and to what extent can these boundaries be overcome through adaptation and/or phenotypic plasticity? What ecological and evolutionary processes facilitate or impede range extensions? In New England, we have used larval rearing experiments and field studies to identify the factors that maintain the northern range limit of the mud fiddler crab (Uca pugnax) near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In California, we are addressing related questions with the volcano barnacle (Tetraclita rubescens), a species that has undergone a range extension along the coast of northern California during the past 25 years. Other projects in the lab are investigating geographic range boundaries using the tidepool copepod Tigriopus californicus, and the limpet Lottia insessa (a specialist herbivore on the feather boa kelp Egregia menziesii).
Selected publications: Sanford, E. and D.S. Swezey. 2008. Response of predatory snails to a novel prey following the geographic range expansion of an intertidal barnacle. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 354: 220–230. Sanford, E., S.B. Holzman, R.A. Haney, D.M. Rand, and M.D. Bertness. 2006. Larval tolerance, gene flow, and the northern geographic range limit of fiddler crabs. Ecology 87: 2882–2894. |
