Publications

N. Goel, C. M. Bossu, J. J. Van Ee, E. S. Zavaleta, K. C. Ruegg, M. B. Hooten. 2025. Identifying genomic adaptation to local climate using a mechanistic evolutionary model. bioRxiv. Preprint available HERE 

McLaughlin, B.C., D.M. Vallano, J. Garcia, P.L. Koch, C.N. Morozumi, P.J. Polissar, K.M. Zilliacus, E.S. Zavaleta. 2025. A centurial signature of anthropogenic nitrogen and carbon in California serpentine ecosystems. Ecosphere 16(2): e70167 DOI: 10/1002/ecs2.70167

Skikne, S., B. McLaughlin, M. Fisher, D. Ackerly, E. Zavaleta. 2025. Constrasting demographic processes underlie uphill shifts in a desert ecosystem. Ecology 106: e4494. High resolution PDF available HERE

Czapanskiy, M.F., L.M. Arcila Hernandez, C. Munro, I. Garfield, A. Bastidas, A.R. Payne, K. Ong, N.A. Storm, T. Adachi, C.M. Hale, A. Brown, P.W. Robinson, M. Stewart, S.T. Abdel-Raheem, E. Zavaleta, R.S. Beltran. 2024. Long-term studies should provide structure for inclusive education and professional development. Ecology Letters DOI: 10.1111/ele.14482

Ellis, A.A., J.N. Beck, E.A. Howard, A.L. Rabearisoa, L.M. Alissa, B. Barasi, R.S. Beltran, G. Bernardi, K. Bernier, M.R. Cronin, N. Cruz, I. Flores, F.D. Gerraty, L. Goetz, J.G. Harencar, K.J. Kroeker, C.M. Kurle, E.Y. Lai, R. Lederman-Beach, N.J.V. Malakooti, S.E. Mason, M.M. McElfish, M. McNelis, M.M. Molinari, C.M.O. Munro, E.C. Nazario, A.R. Payne, S. Poudel, M. Guadalupe Rivera, M. Slimp, N.M. Sridhar, B.R. Tershy, G.M. Third, K.A. Uckele, F.O. Vilches, B.J. Walker, V. Wishingrad, E.C. Witte, M.E. Yeager, J.K. Young, K.M. Zilliacus, D.A. Croll. 2024. Coalition-building for labor actions in life sciences departments: lessons from the largest academic strike in history. BioScience DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biae123

DeSaix, M.G., T.L. George, A.E. Seglund, G.M. Spellman, E.S. Zavaleta, K.C. Ruegg. 2022. Forecasting climate change response in an alpine specialist songbird reveals the importance of considering novel climate. Diversity and Distributions 28: 2239-2254. High resolution PDF available HERE.

McLaughlin, B.C., S.A. Skikne, E. Beller, R.V Blakey, R.L. Olliff-Yang, N. Morueta-Holme, N.E. Heller, B.J. Brown, E.S. Zavaleta. 2022. Conservation strategies for the climate crisis: An update on three decades of biodiversity management recommendations from science. Biological Conservation 268: 109497.

Skikne, S., M. Cross, D. Press, E. Zavaleta. 2021. The landscape of climate change adaptation aspirations in the US non-profit conservation sector.Conservation Science and Practice 3:e557

Cronin, M., 25 contributing authors, and E. Zavaleta. 2021 A manual for action: Anti-racist interventions to transform ecology, evolutionary, and conservation biology departments. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 5 1213–1223.

Quadri, P., L. Silva, E. Zavaleta. 2021. Climate-induced reversal of tree growth patterns in a high-elevation tropical forest. Science Advances 7: eabb7572

Race, M. DeJesus, R. Beltran and E. Zavaleta. 2021. Comparing effects of online vs. in-person versions of an introductory field course on community, confidence and belonging. Ecology and Evolution 11: 3625-3635.

Funk, E.R., G.M. Spellman, K. Winker, J. J. Withrow, K. C. Ruegg, E. Zavaleta, S. A. Taylor. 2020. Phylogenomic data reveal widespread introgression across the range of an alpine and arctic specialist. Systematic Biology 70(3):527-541.

Zavaleta, E., R. Beltran, A. Borker. 2020. How field courses propel inclusion and collective excellence. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 35: 953-956.

Skikne, S., A. Borker, R. Terrill, E. Zavaleta. 2020. Predictors of past avian translocation outcomes inform feasibility of future efforts under climate change. Biological Conservation 247: 108597.

Jones, H., B. Nickel, T. Srebotnjak, W. Turner, M. Gonzalez-Roglich, E. Zavaleta, D. Hole. 2020. Global hotspots for coastal ecosystem-based adaptation. PLOS ONE 15: e0233005.

Beltran, R., E. Marnocha, A. Race, D. A. Croll, G. H. Dayton, E. Zavaleta. 2020. Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology & evolutionary biology. Ecology and Evolution 00: 1-13.

Zavaleta, E. 2020. How natural history shapes purpose, culture, and identity in ecology. Journal of Natural History Education & Experience 14: 27-29.

Beller, E., L. McClenachan, E. Zavaleta, L. Larsen. 2019. Past forward: recommendations from historical ecology for ecosystem management. Global Ecology & Conservation 21: e00836.

Stanford, B., K. Holl, D. Herbst, E. Zavaleta. 2019. Instream habitat and macroinvertebrate responses to riparian corridor length in rangeland streams. Restoration Ecology 28: 173-184.

Stanford, B., H. Jones, E. Zavaleta. 2019. Meta-analysis of the effects of upstream land cover on stream recovery. Conservation Biology 33: 351-360.

Beller, E., E. Spotswood, A. Robinson, M. Anderson, E. Higgs, R.J. Hobbs, K. Suding, E. Zavaleta, L. Grenier, R. Grossinger. Building ecological resilience in highly modified landscapes. Bioscience 69: 80-92. (Project case study featured in Fast Company, February 2017: https://www.fastcoexist.com/3067796/how-google-is-restoring-wildlife-habitats-in-the-middle-of-silicon-valley-office-parks)

Stanford, B., E. Zavaleta and A. Millard-Ball. 2018. Where and why does restoration happen? Ecological and sociopolitical influences on stream restoration in coastal California. Biological Conservation 221: 219-227.

Fenn, M., A. Bytnerowicz, S. L. Schilling, M D. Bell, J. O. Sickman, D. M. Vallano, E. S. Zavaleta, S. B. Weiss, C. Morozumi, L. H. Geiser, K. Hanks. 2017. On-road emissions of ammonia: an underappreciated source of atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Science of the Total Environment 625: 909-919.

Zavaleta, E., C. Aslan, W. Palen, T. Sisk, M. E. Ryan, and B. G. Dickson. 2017. Expanding career pathways in conservation science. Conservation Biology 32: 246-248

Wolf, A.A., E. Zavaleta and P.C. Selmants. 2017. Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(13): 3463-8.

Suttle, K.B., E. Zavaleta and S. Genet. 2016. Conserving grassland resources into an uncertain future. In T.L. Root and K. Hall (Eds.) Biodiversity In A Changing Climate: Linking Science and Management in Conservation. University of California Press.

Hernández, D.L., D.M. Vallano, E.S. Zavaleta, Z. Tzankova, J.R. Pasari, S. Weiss, P.C. Selmants and C. Morozumi. 2016. Nitrogen Pollution Is Linked to US Listed Species Declines. BioScience 66: 213-222. (Selected as Editor’s Choice and featured through AAAS podcast.

Zavaleta, E. and H. Mooney. 2016. Introduction. In H. A. Mooney and E. S. Zavaleta (Eds.). Ecosystems of California. University of California Press, Oakland.

Zavaleta, E., E. Olimpi, A. Wolf, B. Stanford, J. Pasari, S. Skikne, P. Quadri, K. Ennis and F. Stoike. 2016. Biological Invasions. In H. A. Mooney and E. S. Zavaleta (Eds.). Ecosystems of California. University of California Press, Oakland.

Tershy, B., S. Harrison, B. Sinervo, A. Borker, T. Cornelisse, D. Spatz, C. Li, D. Croll and E. Zavaleta. 2016. California’s Biodiversity. In H. A. Mooney and E. S. Zavaleta (Eds.). Ecosystems of California. University of California Press, Oakland.

Merenlender, A., D.D. Ackerly, K. Suding, R. Shaw and E. Zavaleta. 2016. Stewardship, Conservation and Restoration in the Context of Environmental Change. In H. A. Mooney and E. S. Zavaleta (Eds.). Ecosystems of California. University of California Press, Oakland.

Wolf, A.A. and E.S. Zavaleta. 2015. Species traits outweigh nested structure in driving the effects of realistic biodiversity loss on productivity. Ecology 96: 90-98.

Pasari, J.R., D.L. Hernández and E.S. Zavaleta. 2014. Interactive effects of nitrogen deposition and grazing on plant species composition in a serpentine grassland.Rangeland Ecology and Management 67: 693-700.

Beltran, R.S.*, N. Kreidler*, D.H. Van Vuren, S. Morrison, E. Zavaleta, K. Newton, B.R. Tershy, and D.A. Croll. 2014. Passive recovery of vegetation from herbivore eradication on Santa Cruz Island, California. Restoration Ecology. (*undergraduates)

Tadesse, G., E.S. Zavaleta, C. Shennan and M. FitzSimmons. 2014. Prospects for forest-based ecosystem services in forest-coffee mosaics as forest loss continues in southwestern Ethiopia. Applied Geography 50: 144-151.

Tadesse, G., E.S. Zavaleta and C. Shennan. 2014. Coffee landscapes as refugia for native woody biodiversity as forest loss continues in southwest Ethiopia. Biological Conservation 169: 384-391.

Selmants, P., E.S. Zavaleta and A.A. Wolf. 2014. Realistic diversity loss and variation in soil depth independently affect community-level plant nitrogen use. Ecology 95: 88-97.

Torn, M.S., M. Kleber, E.S. Zavaleta, C.B. Field, S.E. Trubmore and B. Zhu. 2013. A dual isotope approach to isolate carbon pools of different turnover times. Biogeosciences 10: 8067-8081.

Aslan, C.E., E.S. Zavaleta, B. Tershy, D. Croll, and R.H. Robichaux. 2013. Imperfect replacement of native species by non-native species as pollinators of endemic Hawaiian plants. Conservation Biology.

Nogales, M., E. Vidal, F.M. Medina, E. Bonnaud, B.R. Tershy, K.J. Campbell, and E.S. Zavaleta. 2013. Feral Cats and Biodiversity Conservation: The Urgent Prioritization of Island Management. BioScience: 63: 804-810.

Pasari, J.R., T. Levi, E.S. Zavaleta, and D. Tilman. 2013. Several scales of biodiversity affect ecosystem multifunctionality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: published online before print June 3, 2013, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1220333110.

Samberg, L.H., C. Shennan and E. Zavaleta. 2013. Farmer seed exchange and crop diversity in a changing agricultural landscape in the Southern highlands of Ethiopia. Human Ecology, 41(3), 477-485.

Aslan, C., E.S. Zavaleta, B.R. Tershy, and D. Croll. 2012. Effects of native and non-native vertebrate mutualists on plants. Conservation Biology 26: 778-789.

Cross, M.S., E.S. Zavaleta, D. Bachelet, M.L. Brooks, C.A.F. Enquist, E. Fleishman, L. Graumlich, C.R. Groves, L. Hannah, L. Hansen, G. Hayward, M. Koopman, J.J. Lawler, J. Malcolm, J. Nordgren, B. Petersen, D. Scott, S.L. Shafer, M.R. Shaw, and G.M. Tabor. 2012. The Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework: A tool for incorporating climate change into natural resource management. Environmental Management 50: 341-351.

Nelson, J. and E.S. Zavaleta. 2012. Salt marsh as a coastal filter for the oceans: changes function with experimental increases in nitrogen loading and sea-level rise. PLoS One 7: e38558.

Vallano, D., P. Selmants, and E.S. Zavaleta. 2012. Simulated nitrogen deposition enhances the performance of an exotic grass relative to native serpentine grassland competitors. Plant Ecology 213: 1015-1026.

McLaughlin, B. and E.S. Zavaleta. 2012. Predicting species’ responses to climate change: demography and climate microrefugia in California valley oak. Global Change Biology 18: 2301-2312.

Naeem, S., J.E. Duffy, E. Zavaleta. 2012. The Functions of Biological Diversity in an Age of Extinction. Science, 336: 1401-1406.

Jones, H.P., D. Hole, and E.S. Zavaleta. 2012. Harnessing nature to help people adapt to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 2: 504-509.

Selmants, P.C., E.S. Zavaleta, J.R. Pasari and D.L. Hernandez. 2012. Realistic plant species losses reduce invasion resistance in a California serpentine grassland.Journal of Ecology, 100: 723–731.

Hulvey, K.B. and E.S. Zavaleta. 2012. Abundance declines of a native forb have nonlinear impacts on grassland invasion resistance. Ecology 93, 378-388.

Bonnaud, E., F. Medina, E. Vidal, M. Nogales, B. Tershy, E. Zavaleta, J. Donlan, B. Keitt, M. Le Corre and S.V. Horwath. 2011. The diet of feral cats on islands: a review and a call for more studies. Biological Invasions 13: 581-603.

Tzankova, Z., D. Vallano, E. Zavaleta. 2011. Can the ESA Address the Threats of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition? Insights from the Case of the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. Harvard Environmental Law Review 35, 433-475.

Medina, F.M., E. Bonnaud, E. Vidal, B. Tershy, E. Zavaleta, J. Donlan, B. Keitt, M. Le Corre, S. Horwarth and M. Nogales. 2011. A global review of the impacts of invasive cats on island endangered vertebrates. Global Change Biology 17: 3503-3510.

Hobbs, R.J., D.N. Cole, L. Yung, E.S. Zavaleta, G.H. Aplet, F.S. Chapin, III, P.B. Landres, D.J. Parsons, N.L. Stephenson, P.S. White, D.M. Graber, E.S. Higgs, C.I. Millar, J.M. Randall, K.A. Tonnessen, and S. Woodley. 2010. Guiding concepts for park and wilderness stewardship in an era of global environmental change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8, 483-490.

Zavaleta E.S., J.R. Pasari, K.B. Hulvey and G.D. Tilman. 2010. Sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in grassland communities requires higher biodiversity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: published online before print January 4, 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.0906829107.

Heller, N.E. and E.S. Zavaleta. 2009. Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations. Biological Conservation 142, 14-32.

Zavaleta, E., J. Pasari, J. Moore, D. Hernandez, K.B. Suttle, and C.C. Wilmers. 2009. Ecosystem Responses to Community Disassembly. Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology 2009 1162, 311-333.

Chapin, F.S., III, S.F. Trainor, O. Huntington, A.L. Lovecraft, E. Zavaleta, D.C. Natcher, A.D. McGuire, J.L. Nelson, L. Ray, M. Calef, N. Fresco, H. Huntington, T.S. Rupp, L. DeWilde and R.L. Naylor. 2008. Increasing Wildfire in the Boreal Forest: Causes, Consequences, and Pathways to Potential Solutions of a Wicked Problem.Bioscience 58: 531-540.

Jones, H.P., B.R. Tershy, E.S. Zavaleta, D.A. Croll, B.S. Keitt, M.E. Finkelstein, G.R. Howald. 2008. Severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds: A global review. Conservation Biology 22, 16-26.

Nelson, J.L., E.S. Zavaleta, and F.S. Chapin III. 2008. Boreal fire effects on subsistence resources in Alaska and adjacent Canada. Ecosystems 11, 156-171.

Cole, D.N., L. Yung, E.S. Zavaleta, G.H. Aplet, F.S. Chapin III, D.M. Graber, E.S. Higgs, R.J. Hobbs, P.B. Landres, C.I. Millar, D.J. Parsons, J.M. Randall, N.L. Stephenson, K.A. Tonnessen, P.S. White and S. Woodley. 2008. Naturalness and Beyond: Protected Area Stewardship in an Era of Global Environmental Change. The George Wright Forum 25: 36-56.

Lindenmeyer, D., R. Hobbs, R. Montague-Drake, J. Alexandra, A. Bennett, M. Burgman, P. Cale, A. Calhoun, V. Cramer, P. Cullen, D. Driscoll, L. Fahrig, J. Fischer, J. Franklin, Y. Haila, M. Hunter, P. Gibbons, S. Lake, G. Luck, C. MacGregor, S. McIntyre, R. Mac Nally, A. Manning, J. Miller, H. Mooney, R. Noss, H. Possingham, D. Saunders, F. Schmiegelow, M. Scott, D. Simberloff, T. Sisk, G. Tabor, B. Walker, J. Wiens, J. Woinarski and E. Zavaleta. 2008. A Checklist for Ecological Management of Landscapes for Conservation. Ecology Letters 11: 78–91.

Zavaleta E., D.C. Miller, N. Salafsky, E. Fleishman, M. Webster, B. Gold, D. Hulse, M. Rowen, G. Tabor, and J. Vanderryn. 2008. Enhancing the Engagement of the U.S. Private Foundations with Conservation Science. Conservation Biology 22:1477-1484.

Zavaleta E.S., K.B. Hulvey, and B. Fulfrost. 2007. Regional patterns of recruitment success and failure in two endemic California oaks. Diversity and Distributions 13: 735-745.

Zavaleta E.S. and K.B. Hulvey. 2007. Realistic variation is species composition affects grassland production, resource use and invasion resistance Plant Ecology 188, 39-51.

Chapin, F.S., III, A.L. Lovecraft, E.S. Zavaleta, J. Nelson, M.D. Robards, G.P. Kofinas, S.F. Trainor, G.D. Peterson, H.P. Huntington, and R.L. Naylor. 2006. Policy strategies to address sustainability of Alaskan boreal forests in response to a directionally changing climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103, 16637-16643.

Zavaleta, E.S. 2006. Shrub establishment under experimental global changes in a California grassland. Plant Ecology 184, 53-63.

Zavaleta, E.S., L.S. Kettley. 2006. Ecosystem change along a woody invasion chronosequence in a California grassland. Journal of Arid Environments 66, 290-306.

Kueppers, L.M., M.A. Snyder, L.C. Sloan, E.S. Zavaleta, and B. Fulfrost. 2005. Modeled regional climate change and California endemic oak ranges. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102, 16281-16286.

Zavaleta E.S. and K.B. Hulvey. 2004. Realistic species losses disproportionately reduce grassland resistance to biological invaders. Science. 306, 1175–1177.

Zavaleta, E.S., M.R. Shaw, N.R. Chiariello, H.A. Mooney, C.B. Field. 2003a. Additive effects of simulated climate changes, elevated CO2, and nitrogen deposition on grassland diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100, 7650-7654.

Zavaleta, E.S., M.R. Shaw, N.R. Chiariello, B.D. Thomas, E.E. Cleland, C.B. Field, H.A. Mooney. 2003b. Grassland responses to three years of elevated temperature, CO2, precipitation, and N deposition. Ecological Monographs 73, 585-604.

Zavaleta, E.S., B.D. Thomas, N.R. Chiariello, G.P Asner, M.R. Shaw, C.B. Field. 2003c. Plants reverse warming effect on ecosystem water balance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100, 9892-9893.

Chapin, F.S., III, T.S. Rupp, A.M. Starfield, L. DeWilde, E.S. Zavaleta, N. Fresco, J. Henkelman, and A.D. McGuire. 2003. Planning for resilience: modeling change in human-fire interactions in the Alaskan boreal forest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(5): 255-261.

Shaw, M.R., E.S. Zavaleta, N.R. Chiariello, E.E. Cleland, H.A. Mooney, C.B. Field. 2002. Grassland responses to global environmental changes suppressed by elevated CO2. Science 298, 1987-1990.

Zavaleta, E.S., R.J. Hobbs, H.A. Mooney. 2001. Viewing invasive species removal in a whole-ecosystem context. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 454-459.

Chapin, F.S., III, E.S. Zavaleta, V.T. Eviner, R.L. Naylor, P.M. Vitousek, H.L. Reynolds, D.U. Hooper, S. Lavorel, O.E. Sala, S.E. Hobbie, M.C. Mack, S. Diaz. 2000. Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405, 234-242.

Zavaleta, E.S. 2000. The economic value of controlling an invasive shrub. Ambio 29(8): 462-67.

Zavaleta, E. 1999. The emergence of waterfowl conservation among Yup’ik hunters in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Human Ecology 27(2): 231-266.

Naylor, R., W. Falcon and E. Zavaleta. 1997. Variability and growth in grain yields, 1950-94: does the record point to greater instability? Population & Development Review 23(1): 41-58.