College of Forestry
Ripple, William J.
Professor; Director, Trophic Cascades Program
Office Location:
314 Richardson Hall
Phone:
541-737-3056
Fax:
541-737-1393
Email Address:
Faculty Websites:
Specialty:
Wildlife habitat analysis, landscape ecology
Educational Background:
- B.S., 1974, South Dakota State University
- M.S., 1978, University of Idaho
- Ph.D., 1984, Oregon State University
Courses:
- FOR 421/521 - Spatial Analysis of Forest Landscapes
- FOR/FW 547 - Trophic Cascades
Research Interests:
Wolf, ungulate, aspen ecology; trophic cascades; mesopredators; plant/animal interactions; ecology of fear; wildlife habitat analysis; landscape ecology; biodiversity; historical ecology; conservation biology; riparian ecology.
Current/Recent Programs:
- The Leopold Project - The goal of Leopold Project is to continue the work Aldo Leopold started on topics that intersect forestry and wildlife science and ecosystems especially predators, ungulates, and forests.
- The Aspen Project - An interactive web page designed to examine the decline of Quaking Aspen throughout the western United States. This site has had 13,000 hits since 1998.
- The Lewis and Clark Project - Wildlife along the Lewis & Clark Trail studying human wildlife associations as a study in historical ecology.
- The Wolves in Nature Project - The purpose here is to investigate the role of a top predator, the gray wolf (Canis Lupus), in structuring ecological communities.
- Species Range Contractions - The purpose of this study is to compare historic and current ranges of both carnivores and ungulates, identify large-scale patterns in species ranges and determine the degree of human influence on species range changes.
Graduate Students:
- Luke Painter - PhD, Forestry and Wildlife
Selected Publications:
A full list of publications, along with links to the articles, can be found on the Trophic Cascades website here.
- Beschta, R.L., and W.J. Ripple. 2010. Mexican wolves, elk, and aspen in Arizona: Is there a trophic cascade? Forest Ecology and Management 260: 915-922
- Ripple, W.J and Van Valkenburgh, B. 2010. Linking top-down forces to the Pleistocene Megafaunal extinctions. Bioscience 60(7): 516-526.
- Laundre, J.W., Hernandez, L., and Ripple, W.J. 2010 The landscape of fear: Ecological implications of being afraid. The Open Ecology Journal 3: 1-7.
- Beschta, R.L. and Ripple, W.J. 2010. Recovering riparian plant communities with wolves in northern Yellowstone, USA. Restoration Ecology 18(3): 380-389.
- Ripple, W.J., Rooney, T.P., and Beschta, R.L. 2010. Large predators, deer, and trophic cascades in boreal and temperate ecosystems. in Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature, edited by J. Terborgh and J. Estes. Island Press: 141-161.
- Manning, A.D., Gordon, I.J., and Ripple, W.J. 2009. Restoring landscapes of fear with wolves in the Scottish Highlands. Biological Conservation.
- Beschta, R.L. and Ripple, W.J. 2009. Large predators and trophic cascades in terrestrial ecosystems of the western United States. Biological Conservation 142: 2401-2414.
- Halofsky, J.S. Ripple W.J. and Beschta, R.L. 2008. Recoupling fire and aspen recruitment after wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1004-1008.
- Ripple, W.J. and Beschta, R.L. 2008. Trophic cascades involving cougar, mule deer, and black oaks in Yosemite National Park. Biological Conservation. 141: 1249-1256.
- Hollenbeck, J. P., and Ripple W.J. 2008. Aspen snag dynamics, cavity-nesting birds, and trophic cascades in Yellowstone's northern range. Forest Ecology and Management. 255:1095-1103.
- Halofsky, J.S. and Ripple W.J. 2008. Linkages between wolf presence and aspen recruitment in the Gallatin elk winter range of southwestern Montana, USA. Forestry. 81:195-207.
- Halofsky, J.S. and Ripple W.J. 2008. Fine-scale predation risk on elk after wolf-reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Oecologia. 155:869–877.
- Beschta, R.L. and Ripple, W.J. 2007. Increased willow heights along northern Yellowstone’s Blacktail Deer Creek following wolf reintroduction. Western North American Naturalist 67:613-617.
- Hollenbeck, J. P., and Ripple W.J. 2007. Aspen and conifer heterogeneity effects on bird diversity in the northern Yellowstone ecosystem. Western North American Naturalist 67:92-101.
- Ripple, W.J. and Beschta, R.L. 2007. Restoring Yellowstone's aspen with wolves. Biological Conservation 138: 514-519.
- Beschta, R.L. and Ripple W.J. 2007. Wolves, elk, and aspen in the winter range of Jasper National Park, Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 37(10): 1873-1885.
- Hollenbeck, J. P., and Ripple W.J. 2007. Aspen patch and migratory bird relationships in the northern Yellowstone ecosystem. Landscape Ecology 22:1411-1425.
- Ripple W.J., Beschta R.L. 2007. Hardwood tree decline following the loss of large carnivores on the Great Plains, USA. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment in press. 5:241-246.
Area of Focus: