Academics

Faculty & Staff

Ron Etter, PhD

  • Professor of Biology -- Evolution and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates
  • Telephone: (617) 287-6613
  • Website: Click to view website
  • Office Location: W-03-025

Areas of Expertise

Evolution and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates

Degrees

PhD, Harvard University, 1987 (Biology)
BA summa cum laude University of Massachusetts Boston, 1980 (Biology)

Professional Publications & Contributions

  • Jennings R.J. and Etter R.J. 2011. Exon-Primed, Intron-Crossing (EPIC) loci for five nuclear genes in deep-sea protobranch bivalves: primer design, PCR protocols, and locus utility. Molecular Ecology Resources DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03038.x.
  • Etter, R.J., E.E. Boyle, A. Glazier, R. M. Jennings, E. Dutra, and M. R. Chase 2011. Phylogeography of a pan-Atlantic abyssal protobranch bivalve: Implications for evolution in the deep Atlantic. Molecular Ecology 20:829-843.
  • Miller, R.J. and R.J. Etter. 2011. Rock walls: diversity hotspots in the subtidal Gulf of Maine. Marine Ecology Progress Series 425: 153-165.
  • Boyle, EE and RJ Etter. 2011. Evidence of an ancient origin for double uniparental inheritance of mitochondria in Bivalvia. (in review)
  • Rex, M.A. and R.J. Etter. 2010. Deep-Sea Biodiversity: Pattern and Scale. 354 pp. Harvard University Press.
  • Rex, M.A., C.T. Stuart, R.J. Etter and C.R. McClain. 2010. Biogeography of the deep-sea gastropod Oocorys sulcata Fischer, 1884. British Journal of Conchology 40:287-290.
  • McClain, CR, MA Rex and R.J. Etter. 2009. Patterns in deep-sea macroecology. pp 65-100. In Marine Macroecology. K. Roy and J Witman eds. University of Chicago Press.
  • Miller, R.J. and R.J. Etter. 2008. Shading facilitates sessile invertebrate dominance in the rocky subtidal Gulf of Maine. Ecology 89:452-462.
  • Avery, R. and R.J. Etter. 2006. Microstructural differences in reinforcing a gastropod shell against predation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 323:159-170.
  • Zardus, J.D., R.J. Etter, M.R. Chase, M.A. Rex, and E.E. Boyle. 2006. Bathymetric and geographic population structure in the pan-Atlantic deep-sea bivalve Demininucula atacellana (Schenck 1939). Molecular Ecology 15:639-651.
  • Etter, R.J., M.A. Rex, M. Chase, and J. Quattro. 2005. Population differentiation decreases with depth in deep-sea bivalves. Evolution 59:1479-1491. Rex, M.A., C.R. McClain, N.A. Johnson, R.J. Etter, J.A. Allen, P. Bouchet, and A. Waren. 2005. A source-sink hypothesis for abyssal biodiversity. American Naturalist 165:163-178.
  • Witman, J., Etter, R.J., and F. Smith. 2004. The relationship between regional and local diversity in marine benthic communities: a global perspective. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101: 15664-15669.
  • Levin. LA, R.J. Etter, MA Rex, AJ Gooday, CR Smith, J Pineda, CT Stuart, RR Hessler, and D Pawson. 2001. Environmental influences on regional deep-sea species diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 32: 51-93.
  • Trussell, G.D. and R.J. Etter. 2001. Integrating genetic and environmental forces that shape the evolution of geographic variation in a marine snail. Genetica 112:321-337.
  • Etter, R.J. and L. Mullineaux. 2001. Deep-Sea Communities. In Marine Ecology. pp. 367-393. Bertness, M.D., S. Gaines and M. Hay (eds). Sinauer
  • Etter, R. J. and J. F. Grassle. 1992. Patterns of species diversity in the deep sea as a function of sediment particle size diversity. Nature 360: 576-578.
  • Etter, R.J. 1988. Physiological stress and color polymorphism in the intertidal snail Nucella lapillus. Evolution 42: 660-680.

Additional Information

Current Position
Professor
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston

Research Interests
We are exploring the ecology and evolution of marine organisms to determine the forces that control the origin and maintenance of biodiversity in the oceans and identify reasonable conservation strategies. Current projects include: (1) Experimental studies on the forces that shape patterns of diversity in the deep sea; (2) Population genetic analyses of shallow and deep water organisms to investigate dispersal, gene flow, population differentiation and speciation; (3) Exploring the relative importance of local and regional processes in controlling the species richness of subtidal rock wall and coral reef communities; (4) The influence of wave energy on the biology, ecology and evolution of intertidal organisms; and (5) Theoretical metapopulation models of patch dynamics.