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Dr.
Richard Ambrose,
Professor, joined UCLA in 1992. He received his B.S. in Biological Sciences
at the University of California, Irvine (1975) and his Ph.D. in Marine Ecology
at UCLA (1982). After postdoctoral research at Simon Fraser University in
Canada, he joined the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.
Current research
Professor Ambrose's research focuses on ways to protect and maintain the
ecology of coastal areas; much of his work is conducted at the interface
between environmental biology and resource management policy. Current
research focuses on (1) restoration of degraded habitats, especially for
coastal marine environments, and (2) assessment of the health of coastal
ecosystems. Professor Ambrose's restoration research has included a major
restoration project incorporating large-scale field experiments to assess
the feasibility of restoring an abandoned sewage oxidation pond back to a
salt marsh. He has also assessed the success of wetland mitigation projects
completed in California under the Clean Water Act. The results of this
project, the largest evaluation ever completed of mitigation in a single
state, is being used to improve wetland regulations in California.
A second
general area of research focuses on assessment of the health of ecosystems.
Professor Ambrose has established a network of monitoring stations at
intertidal sites from Orange County to San Luis Obispo County in order to
be able to detect any large ecological impacts that might occur to this
section of coast, including short-term impacts such as an oil spill and
long-term effects from global climate change. He is also assessing the
impacts of anthropogenic inputs (especially metals and excess nutrients) on
the health of coastal wetlands. His work in coastal watersheds includes
studies determine the link between land use and aquatic community health. He
is also evaluating the degree to which coastal wetlands influence the delivery
of fecal indicator bacteria and human pathogens to coastal waters.
All of these projects provide information on the status of important
coastal ecological communities, including the nature and extent of
anthropogenic impacts to them, which serves as the foundation for their management
and protection.
Selected Publications
Rothenberg, S.E., M.B. DeRose, C. Lin, M.E. Kirby, B.W. Bird, R.F. Ambrose and J.A. Jay. “The impact of over 100 years of wildfires on mercury levels and accumulation rates in two lakes in southern California, USA.” Environmental Earth Sciences 60: 993–1005.
Myers, M.R. and R.F. Ambrose. 2009. “Differences in benthic cover inside and outside marine protected areas on the Great Barrier Reef: influence of protection or disturbance history?” Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 19: 736-747.
Willette, D.A. and R.F. Ambrose. 2009. “The distribution and expansion of the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea in Dominica, West Indies, with a preliminary report from St. Lucia.” Aquatic Botany 91:137-142.
Smith, J.R., P. Fong and R.F. Ambrose. 2009. “Spatial patterns in recruitment and growth of the mussel Mytilus californianus (Conrad) in southern and northern California, USA, two regions with differing oceanographic conditions.” Journal of Sea Research 61: 165-173.
Rothenberg, S.E., R.F. Ambrose and J.A. Jay. 2008. “Mercury cycling in surface water, pore water and sediments of Mugu Lagoon, CA., USA.” Environmental Pollution 154: 32-45.
Rothenberg, S.E., R.F. Ambrose and J.A. Jay. 2008. “Evaluating the potential efficacy of mercury Total Maximum Daily Loads on aqueous methylmercury levels in four coastal watersheds.” Environmental Science and Technology 42: 5400-5406.
Smith, J.R., P. Fong and R.F. Ambrose. 2008. “The impacts of human visitation on mussel bed communities along the California coast: Are regulatory marine reserves effective in protecting these communities?” Environmental Management 41: 599-612.
Tetreault, I. and R.F. Ambrose. 2007. “Temperate marine reserves enhance targeted but not untargeted fishes in multiple no-take MPAs.” Ecological Applications 17: 2251-2267.
Swenson, D.P. and R.F. Ambrose. 2007. “A Spatial Analysis of Cumulative Habitat Loss in Southern California under the Clean Water Act Section 404 Program.” Landscape and Urban Planning 82: 41-55.
Miller, A.W., G.M. Ruiz, M.S. Minton and R.F. Ambrose. 2007. “Differentiating successful and failed molluscan invaders in marine ecosystems.” Marine Ecology Progress Series 332: 41-51.
Armitage, A.R., S.M. Jensen, J.E. Yoon, and R.F. Ambrose. 2007. “Wintering shorebird assemblages and behavior in restored tidal wetlands in southern California.” Restoration Ecology 15: 139-148.
Sagarin, R.D., Richard F. Ambrose, Bonnie J. Becker, John T. Engle, Janine Kido, Steven F. Lee, C. Melissa Miner, Steven N. Murray, Peter T. Raimondi, Daniel V. Richards, Christy Roe. 2007. “Ecological impacts on the limpet Lottia gigantea populations: human pressure over a broad scale on islands and mainland intertidal zones.” Marine Biology 150: 399-415.
Smith, J.R., R.F. Ambrose, and P. Fong. 2006. “Dramatic declines in mussel bed community diversity: Response to climate change?” Ecology 87: 1153-1161.
Evanson, M. and R.F. Ambrose. 2006. “Sources and growth dynamics of fecal indicator bacteria in a coastal wetland system and potential impacts to adjacent waters.” Water Research 40: 475-486.
Sudol, M.F. and R.F. Ambrose. 2002. “The Clean Water Act and habitat replacement: Evaluation of mitigation sites in Orange County, California.” Environmental Management 30: 727-734.
Murray, S.N., R.F. Ambrose, J.A. Bohnsack, L.W. Botsford, M.H. Carr, G.E. Davis, P.K. Dayton, D. Gotshall, D.R. Gunderson, M.A. Hixon, J. Lubchenco, M. Mangel, A. MacCall, D.A. McArdle, J.C. Ogden, J. Roughgarden, R.M. Starr, M.J. Tegner and M.M. Yoklavich. 1999. “No-take reserve networks: Protection for fishery populations and marine ecosystems.” Fisheries 24: 11-25.
M.A. Palmer, R.F. Ambrose and N.L. Poff. 1997. “Ecological theory and community restoration ecology.” Restoration Ecology 5: 291-300.
Recent Publications
Current Courses
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