Richard Cobb

Contact: rccobb@ucdavis.edu
                Phone: (530) 754-9894
                Fax: (530) 752-5674

Richard's personal site

Research Statement:

I am an ecologist working to improve the use of natural resources provided by forests. I am especially interested in factors that control ecosystem level processes such as the relationship between forest community structure and the cycling of nutrients and carbon. My work seeks to improve our understanding of how processes are impacted by disease and insect outbreak. I feel ecologist need a better understanding of community and structural changes and the ability to link these insights to ecosystem function during and following outbreak. This mechanistic understanding of how forest ecosystems change is the foundation of management actions designed to ameliorate the negative consequences of outbreak. My dissertation research includes a major focus on changes in N cycling, litter fall, and litter decomposition in forests impacted by Sudden Oak Death <read more>.

Richard’s ecosystem level work on Phytophthora ramorum has three components:

Publications:

Papers in press:

Cobb R.C., Eviner V.T., Rizzo D.M. 2013. Pathogen mediated community composition drives sudden oak death changes to litterfall and soil N cycling. New Phytologist In press

Cobb R.C., Rizzo D.M., Hayden K.J., Garbelotto M., Filipe J.A.N., Gilligan C.A., Dillon W., Meentemeyer R.K., Valachovic Y.S., Goheen E., Swiecki T.J., Hansen E.M., Frankel S.J. 2013. Biodiversity conservation in the face of dramatic tree declines: an integrated conservation strategy for tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) threatened by sudden oak death. Madroño In press

Dillon W., Vogler, J., Meentemeyer R.K., Cobb R.C., Metz M.R., Rizzo, DM. 2013. Range-wide risks to a foundation tree species from disturbance interactions. Madroño In press