Amy Anne Erickson, Ph.D.

  Ph.D., University of South Florida

  Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences

  Office: SC 125

  Phone: 797-5105

  Fax: 797-5222

  E-mail: amy.erickson@lsus.edu

  Regular Teaching Assignments:

  Bios 101 General Biology

  Bios 104 Marine Biology

  Bios 440/440L Principles of Ecology

  Bios 446/446L Aquatic Biology

  Bios 491 Research

  Recent Special Topic Classes:

  Bios 490 Marine Biology

  Bios 490 Marine Feeding Ecology Seminar

  Research Interests:

  My research focuses on marine plant-animal interactions.  I specifically am   interested in feeding ecology, including feeding preferences, mechanisms   responsible for such preferences, the effect of diet on animal survival,   growth, and fitness, behavioral strategies that consumers use to maximize   benefit from food resources, and how symbiosis affects feeding ecology.    Most of my work has been conducted in mangrove and coral reef   ecosystems in Florida and Belize.  In mangroves, I have been studying   feeding by the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii, which feeds   predominantly on leaves of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle.    However, this crab can be considered an opportunistic omnivore.    Presently, I am trying to understand 1) how chemical defenses and   stimulants of mangrove leaves influence feeding preferences and 2)   whether diet mixing and compensatory feeding are used by this crab to   increase growth, reproduction, and survival.  I also am interested in   assessing whether predation on this crab influences diet choice.  In coral   reef systems, I have examined how sea urchin feeding preferences are   influenced by chemical defenses of marine algae through the use of   bioassay-guided fractionation and artificial feeding assays, where   chemical extracts or compounds are incorporated into an agar-based   food.  I am especially interested in bloom-forming and invasive algal   species that have the potential to cause phase shifts in community  structure and alter ecosystem function.  In addition, I have examined and   maintain continued interest in associational defense to herbivory, whereby   plants or algae will be fed upon less when in close proximity to another   species which is avoided, and in associational susceptibility, whereby   plants or algae are fed upon more when in close proximity to another   species which is frequented.  In relation to symbiosis, I am interested in 1)   how herbivore gut symbionts alter digestion and absorption of food   resources, and 2) how fungal endophytes contribute to plant defense   through the production of secondary metabolites.  Finally, I plan to develop   a research program locally examining feeding ecology in aquatic systems.

  Selected Publications:

  Erickson, A.A., Feller, I.C., Paul, V.J., Kwiatkowski, L.M., and Lee, W.   (2008). Selection of an omnivorous diet by the mangrove tree crab Aratus   pisonii.  J. Sea Res. 59:59-69.

  Erickson, A.A., Paul, V. J., Van Alstyne, K.L., and Kwiatkowski, L.M.   (2006) Palatability of green algae that may employ different types of   activated chemical defenses.  J. Chem. Ecol. 32:1883-1895.

  Ellis, W. L., Bowles, J. W., Erickson, A. A., Stafford, N., Bell, S. S., and   Thomas, M. (2006). Alteration of the chemical composition of mangrove   (Laguncularia racemosa) leaf litter fall by freeze damage. Estuar. Coast.   Shelf. Sci. 68:363-371.

  Erickson, A.A., Bell, S.S., and Dawes, C.J. (2004). Does mangrove leaf   chemistry help explain crab herbivory patterns?  Biotropica 36(3):333-   343.   

  Erickson, A.A., Saltis, M., Bell, S.S., and Dawes, C.J. (2003). Herbivore   feeding preferences as measured by leaf damage and stomatal ingestion:   a mangrove crab example.  J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 289(1):123-138.