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Catherine A. Toft
Department of Evolution & Ecology
College of Biological Sciences
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 752-7614; messages 752-1272; FAX 752-1449
mailto:catoft@ucdavis.edu
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Cathy Toft (third from left) with a group of students
reviewing a topo map
of her long-term study site, the sand-dune ecosystems
on the north shore
of Mono Lake. Mono Craters, on the south side of
the lake, can be seen
in the background.
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Current research interests:
Population ecology, including the study of communities and behavioral
ecology. On-going research projects include (click on link to learn more).
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plant ecology and
demography of
perennial arid-land plants, especially the desert
shrubs (Sarcobatus vermiculatus,
Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
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succession and development of sand-dune ecosystems on
former Mono Lake shorelines;
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restoration of desert ecosystems, especially
sand-dunes associated with Great Basin lake beds and shorelines.
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behavioral ecology of insects:
mating systems and demography of bee flies (
Lordotus,
Bombyliidae) and sand wasps (Microbembex, Sphecidae);
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conservation biology, population ecology, and evolution
of the parrots (Psittaciformes);
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citizen science,
applied to study of dog training.
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animal hoarding including the demography of hoarded animal
populations.
Recent
selected peer-reviewed
publications:
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Benard, R.B. and
C.A. Toft. 2008. Fine-scale spatial
heterogeneity and seed size determine early seedling survival in
a desert perennial shrub (Ericameria
nauseosa: Asteraceae).
Plant Ecology 194:195-205.
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Benard, R.B. and
C.A. Toft. 2007. Effect of seed size
on seedling performance in a long-lived desert perennial shrub (Ericameria
nauseosa: Asteraceae). International Journal of Plant
Sciences 186: 1027-1033.
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McWilliams, S.R.,
T.
Sloat,
C.A.
Toft, and D. Hatch.
2007. Effects of prescribed fall burning on a wetland plant
community with implications for management of plants and
herbivores. Western North American Naturalist 67:299-317.
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Cook, L.F. and
C.A. Toft. 2005. Dynamics of extinction: Population decline in the colonial
Tricolored Blackbird Agelaius tricolor. Bird Conservation International
15:73-88.
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Toft, C.A. and T. Fraizer.
2003. Spatial dispersion and density dependence in a perennial desert
shrub (Chrysothamnus nauseosus : Asteraceae). Ecological Monographs
73: 605-624.
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Toft, C.A. and D.L. Elliott-Fisk. 2002. Patterns of vegetation along
a spatiotemporal gradient
on shoreline strands of a desert basin lake. Plant Ecology 158:21-39.-
Wright, T.W., C.A. Toft, E. Enkerlin-Hoeflich, M. Albornoz, S. Beissinger,
V. Berovides A., A. T. Brice, J. Eberhard, X. Gálvez A., J.
Gilardi, J. Gonzalez-Elizondo, S. E. Koenig, P. Martuscelli, J. M. Meyers,
K. Renton, A. M Rodríguez, A. Rodríguez-Ferraro, F. Rojas-Suárez,
V. Sanz, M.Sosa-Asanza, S. Stoleson, A. Trujillo, F.Vilella, and J. W.
Wiley. 2001. Nest Poaching in Neotropical Parrots. Conservation
Biology, 15:710-720.
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Brown, D.M. and C.A. Toft. 1999. Molecular systematics and
biogeography of the cockatoos (Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae).
Auk 116(1):141-157.
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Toft, C.A. 1995. A ten-year demographic study of rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus
nauseosus): Growth, survival and water limitation Oecologia
101:1-12.
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Toft, C.A. 1995. Evolution of diet specialization in poison-dart frogs
(Dendrobatidae). Herpetologica 51:202-206.
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 Full
Vita |
Upcoming papers:
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Toft,
C.A.
and J.D. Gilardi, in press.
Parrots of the Wild:
A Natural History of the World’s Most Endangered Birds.
University of
California Press,
Berkeley.
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Benard, R.B. and C.A. Toft, in preparation. Seedling
establishment in a desert perennial shrub: causes and
consequences of spatial aggregation.
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Floyd, K.W. and C.A. Toft, in preparation.
Spatial demography of greasewood (Sarcobatus
vermiculatus: Chenopodiaceae) in the Mono Lake Basin,
California.
List
of former students and mentees, with their contact information and
publications.
Courses taught
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