John McLaughlin

PhD Candidate
I am interested in the structure and dynamics of food webs. By tracing the flow of energy through ecosystems, food webs can function as ecological maps. Further, they provide a means of quantifying ecological complexity, allowing us to compare qualitatively different types of ecosystems. Current projects include: 1. Quantifying the impact of parasites and infectious diseases on the richness, topology and energetics of a tropical marine food web. 2. Examining the variation of a temperate sandy beach food web in space and time. 3. Exploring the impacts of system size and nutrient availability on tropical forest food webs. 4. Testing models of food web dynamics and stability with the experimental eradication of invasive rats on islands. 5. Biological control of Schistomiasis in East Africa

Email: 

Phone: 

(805) 893-3998

Mailing Address: 

UCSB Marine Science Institute Bldg 520 Rm 4002 Fl 4L Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 United States

Publications

Kevin D Lafferty, John P McLaughlin, Daniel S Gruner, Taylor A Bogar, An Bui, Jasmine N Childress, Magaly Espinoza, Elizabeth S Forbes, Cora A Johnston, Maggie Klope, Ana Miller-ter Kuile, Michelle Lee, Katherine A Plummer, David A Weber, Ronald T Young, Hillary S Young. Biology letters 14 (2), 20170743
Víctor Manuel Vidal-Martínez, Lilia Catherinne Soler-Jimenez, Ma Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo, John Mclaughlin, Alejandra G Jaramillo, Jenny C Shaw, Anna James, Ryan F Hechinger, Armand M Kuris, Kevin D Lafferty. Zookeys 713:1
Armand M. Kuris, Alejandra G. Jaramillo, John P. McLaughlin, Sara B. Weinstein, Ana E. Garcia-Vedrenne, George O. Poinar Jr.*, Maria Pickering†, Michelle L. Steinauer‡, Magaly Espinoza, Jacob E. Ashford, and Gabriela L. P. Dunn. Journal of Parasitology, 101(1): 41–44
Vidal-Martínez, V. M., Aguirre-Macedo, M. L., McLaughlin, J. P., Hechinger, R. F., Jaramillo, A. G., Shaw, J. C., ... & Lafferty, K. D.. (2012). Digenean metacercariae of fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Eastern Indo-Pacific. Journal of helminthology, 86(04), 493-509.
Hechinger, R. F., Lafferty, K. D., McLaughlin, J. P., Fredensborg, B. L., Huspeni, T. C., Lorda, J., ... & Kuris, A. M.. (2011). Food webs including parasites, biomass, body sizes, and life stages for three California/Baja California estuaries: Ecological Archives E092-066. Ecology, 92(3), 791-791.
Lafferty, K. D., Allesina, S., Arim, M., Briggs, C. J., De Leo, G., Dobson, A. P., ... & Thieltges, D. W.. (2008). Parasites in food webs: the ultimate missing links. Ecology letters, 11(6), 533-546.