Expertise: Community Ecology and Plant-Insect Interactions
Research Interests: I came from a plant-insect interaction background working with Dr. Peter W. Price on willows and galling sawflies during my dissertation. Currently, my research is focused on the arthropod communities and performance of Fremont Cottonwoods (Populus fremontii), Gooddings Willow (Salix gooddingii), and Coyote Willow (Salix exiguae). I am particularly interested in how plant performance traits and the arthropod communites change as a function of genotype and source population. Most of my research is focused at what we call the "PVER" garden. "PVER" stands for Palo Verde Ecological Reserve and is located on the California side of the Lower Colorado River just north of Blythe, CA. This garden became established through a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and working under the Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP).
2004
Ferrier, S. M. and P. W. Price 2004. Oviposition Preference and Larval Performance of a Rare Bud-Galling Sawfly (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) on Willow in Northern Arizona. Environmental Entomology 33:700-708.abstract.fulltext PDF.
Price, P.W.; T. Ohgushi; H. Roininen; M. Ishihara; T.P. Craig; J. Tahvanainen and S.M. Ferrier 2004. Release of phylogenetic constraints through low resource heterogeneity: the case of gall-inducing sawflies. Ecological Entomology 29:467-481.abstract.fulltext PDF.
