Dr. Elizabeth Dahlhoff
Associate Professor
Alumni Science 308
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
Tel. 408-551-1889
Fax 408-554-2710
edahlhoff@scu.edu
Educational Background
B.S. 1986 University of California Santa Cruz
Ph.D. Scripps Intstitution of Oceanography UCSD
Andrew Mellon Post-doctoral Fellow, OSU (1993-1995)
Teaching
Biology 6 Oceans
Biology 21 Physiology
Biology 23 Investigations in Evolution & Ecology
Biology 120 Animal Physiology
Biology 180 Marine Physiological Ecology
Research
My research focuses on the mechanisms by which animals 
adapt and respond to environmental change, both over time and along geographic gradients. I am especially interested in integrating the effects of environmental change across organizational levels, from biochemical and physiological processes to ecological interactions and evolutionary adaptation. My research includes investigations of animals in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Selected Publications
Dahlhoff, E.P., S.L. Fearnley, D.A. Bruce, A.G. Gibbs, R. Stoneking*, D.M. McMillan*, K.Deiner*, J.T. Smiley and N.E. Rank. 2008. Effects of temperature on physiology and reproductive success of a montane leaf beetle: implications for persistence of native populations enduring climate change. Accepted for publication in a focused collection in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, "Predicting Extinction: Investigating the Interface of Physiology, Ecology, and Climate Change."
Dahlhoff, E. P. and N. E. Rank. 2007. The role of stress proteins in responses of a montane willow leaf beetle to environmental temperature variation. Journal of Bioscience, 32 (3):477-488.
Rank, N. E., D. A. Bruce, D. M. McMillan*, C. Barclay* and E. P. Dahlhoff. 2007. Phosphoglucose isomerase genotype affects running speed and heat shock protein expression after exposure to extreme temperatures in a montane willow beetle. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210: 750-764.
Rank, N. E., K. Yturralde and E.P. Dahlhoff. 2006. Role of contests in the scramble competition mating system of a leaf beetle. Journal of Insect Behavior, 19 (6): 699-716.
McMillan*, D. M., S. L. Fearnley, N. E. Rank and E. P. Dahlhoff. 2005. Natural temperature variation affects larval survival, development, and Hsp70 expression in a leaf beetle. Functional Ecology 19:844-852.
J.S. Edgerly, A. Tadimalla and E.P. Dahlhoff. 2005. Adaptation to thermal stress in lichen-eating webspinners (Embioptera): habitat choice, domicile construction and the potential role of heat shock proteins. Functional Ecology 19:255-262.
Dahlhoff, E. P. 2004. Biochemical indicators of stress and metabolism: Applications for ecological studies. Annual Review of Physiology 66:183-207.
Neargarder, G. G., E. P. Dahlhoff and N. E. Rank. 2003. Variation in thermal tolerance and HSP70 expression is linked to phosphoglucose isomerase genotype in a montane leaf beetle. Functional Ecology, 17: 213-221.
Dahlhoff, E. P., J. S. Stillman and B. A, Menge. 2002. Physiological community ecology: Variation in metabolic activity of ecologically important rocky intertidal invertebrates along environmental gradients. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 42(4): 862-871.
Rank, N. E. and E. P. Dahlhoff. 2002. Allele frequency shifts in response to climate change and physiological consequences of allozyme variation in a montane insect. Evolution, 56(11): 2278-2289.
Dahlhoff E. P., B. A. Buckley and B. A. Menge. 2001.Physiology of the rocky intertidal predator Nucella ostrina along an environmental stress gradient. Ecology 82:10 2816-2829.
Dahlhoff, E. P. and N. E. Rank. 2000. Functional and physiological consequences of genetic variation at phosphoglucose isomerase: heat shock protein expression depends on enzyme genotype in a montane beetle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 97: 10056-10061.
Menge, B. A., B. A. Daley, P. A. Wheeler, E. P. Dahlhoff, E. S. Sanford and P. T. Strub. 1997. Benthic-pelagic links and rocky intertidal communities: evidence for bottom-up effects on top-down control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94: 14530-14535.
Dahlhoff, E. P. and B. A. Menge. 1996. Influence of phytoplankton concentration and wave exposure on the ecophysiology of the California mussel Mytilus californianus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 144:97-107.
Dahlhoff, E. P. and G. N. Somero. 1993. Kinetic and structural adaptations of cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenases of eastern Pacific abalone from different thermal habitats: Biochemical correlates of biogeographical patterning. Journal of Experimental Biology 185: 137-150.
Dahlhoff, E. P. and G. N. Somero. 1993. Effects of temperature on mitochondria from abalone (genus Haliotis): Adaptive limits of thermal plasticity. Journal of Experimental Biology, 185: 151-168.
Dahlhoff, E. P., J. O'Brien, G. N. Somero and R. D. Vetter. 1991. Temperature effects on mitochondria from hydrothermal vent invertebrates: Evidence for adaptation to elevated and variable habitat temperatures. Physiological Zoology 64(6): 1490-1508.
Dahlhoff, E. P. and G. N. Somero. 1991. Pressure and temperature adaptation of cytosolic malate dehydrogenases of shallow- and deep-living marine invertebrates: Evidence for high body temperatures in hydrothermal vent animals. Journal of Experimental Biology 159: 473-487.
Work in Progress
Dahlhoff, E. P., C. Sorte*, A. Keil*, J. Freeto*, C. A. Blanchette and B. A. Menge. 2006. Links between food availability and physiology of California mussels varies among upwelling regions. Marine Ecology Progress Series, in revision.
Dahlhoff, E. P., S. L. Tarpley*, T. J. Hayes* and N. E. Rank. Is color pattern variation the result of temperature adaptation in coastal willow beetles?
*indicates undergraduate author.
