Diane Thomson

Biography

Education

• Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
• M. Phil., Cambridge University
• B.S., University of Arizona

Research Interests

• Population and community ecology, conservation biology. Areas of particular interest include population modeling, ecology of invasions, and plant/pollinator interactions.

Thesis Topics

Conservation biology (especially for plants and insects), causes and effects of biological invasions, and pollination ecology. Thesis students in my lab carry out projects on a wide range of topics, but some examples of ongoing opportunities include research on:

• Interactions between native annual plants and invasive grasses at the Bernard Field Station.
• Effects of invasive herbivores and climate change on rare plant populations and communities of the California Channel Islands.
• Changes in pollination biology of native plants resulting from habitat fragmentation and introduced bees.
• Modeling extinction risk of rare species.

Selected Research and Publications

1. Thomson, D.M. (2019). Effects of long-term variation in pollinator abundance and diversity on reproduction of a generalist plant. Journal of Ecology 107: 491-502.
2. Thomson, D.M., Jonas M. Kwok and Emily L. Schultz. (2018). Extreme drought alters growth and interactions with exotic grasses, but not survival, for a California annual forb. Plant Ecology  219: 705-717.
3. Thomson, D.M., Rachel A. King and Emily L. Schultz. (2017). Between invaders and a risky place: exotic grasses alter demographic tradeoffs of native forb germination timing. Ecosphere 8: e01987.
4. Thomson. D.M. (2016). Local Bombus decline linked to recovery of honey bees, drought effects on floral resources. Ecology Letters : 1247-1255.
5. Thomson, D.M., Roxanne Cruz-de Hoyos, Keala Cummings, and Emily L. Schultz. (2016). Why are native annual abundances low in invaded grasslands? Testing the effects of competition and seed limitation. Plant Ecology   217: 431-442.
6. Thomson, D.M., Baythavong, B.S. and K.J. Rice. (2011). Serpentine invasions and the evolution of range limits. Serpentine: A model for Ecology and Evolution S.P. Harrison and N. Rajakuruna eds. University of California Press: 201-219.
7. Dishman, Diana L., D.M. Thomson and N.J. Karnovsky. (2009). Does simple feeding enrichment raise activity levels of captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Applied Animal Behavior Science 116: 88-95.
8. McEachern, K.A., D.M. Thomson and K. Chess. (2009). Climate alters response of an endemic island plant to removal of invasive herbivores. Ecological Applications 19: 1574-1584.
9. Thomson, D. M. (2007). Do source-sink dynamics promote the spread of an invasive grass into a novel habitat. Ecology 88: 3126-3134.
10. Thomson, D.M. and M.W. Schwartz. (2006). Using population count data to assess the effects of changing river flow on an endangered riparian plant. Conservation Biology  20: 1132-1142.
11. Thomson, D.M. (2006). Detecting the effects of introduced species: a case study of competition between Apis and Bombus. Oikos  114: 407-418.
12. Thomson, D. M. (2005). Measuring the effects of invasive species on the demography of a rare endemic plant. Biological Invasions  7: 615-624.
13. Thomson, D.M. (2005). Matrix models as a tool for understanding invasive plant and native plant interactions. Conservation Biology 19: 917-928.
14. Hastings, A., K. Cudddington, K. Davies, C. Dugaw, S. Elmendorf, A. Freestone, S. Harrison, M. Holland, J. Lambrinos, B. Melbourne, C. Taylor and D. Thomson. (2005). The spatial spread of invasions: new developments in theory and evidence. Ecology Letters 8: 91-101.
15. Thomson, D.M. (2004). Competitive effects of the invasive European honey bee on the reproductive success of a native bumble bee. Ecology 85: 458-470.
16. Brigham, C.A. and D.M. Thomson. (2003). Approaches to modeling population viability in plants. Population Viability in Plants. Brigham, C.A. and M.W. Schwartz, eds. Springer-Verlag: 145-171.
17. Doak, D.F., D.M. Thomson and E.S. Jules. (2002). PVA for plants: understanding the demographic consequences of seed banks for population health. Population Viability Analysis. Beissinger, S. and D. McCullough, eds.: 312-337.
18. Harding, E.E., B.D. Elderd, J. Hoekstra, A. McKerrow, J. Perrin, J. Regetz, L. Rissler, A. Stanley, E. Walters, and NCEAS HCP Working Group. (2001). The scientific foundations of habitat conservation plans: a quantitative assessment. Conservation Biology 15: 488-500.
19. Morris, W.F., D.F. Doak, M. Groom, P. Kareiva, J. Fieburg, L. Gerber, P. Murphy, and D. Thomson. (1999). A practical handbook for population viability analysis  The Nature Conservancy Press: 80 pp.
20. Doak, D.F., D. Bigger, E. Harding, M.A. Marvier, R. O’Malley, and D. Thomson. (1998). The statistical inevitability of stability-diversity relationships in community ecology. American Naturalist 151: 264-276.