Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Earth & Marine Sciences A308
Phone: 831.459.5358
Fax: 831.459.5353
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TERRIE M. WILLIAMS Professor of EEBiology M.S., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Ph.D., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 1981-1984 NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Scripps Institution of Oceanography 1984-1986 Kaiser Environmental Fellow, San Diego Zoological Society WILLIAMS LAB

Center for Ocean Health 100 Shaffer Road University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95060 phone 831.459.5123 fax 831.459.3383 williams@biology.ucsc.edu office hours

Environmental and Exercise Physiology; Functional Biodiversity

Our research program investigates common morphological features and physiological limitations of marine and terrestrial animals. Primary areas of study include swimming and running energetics, thermoregulation during exercise, and the plasticity of mammalian skeletal muscle. By examining the functional relationships between animals and their environment, we can begin to understand the ecological significance of a species and the adaptive changes that may be necessary for its survival. This research approach provides a powerful tool that enables our group to predict the responses of animals to novel environmental perturbations and to speculate about the physiology and biomechanics of ancestral forms. For example, the thermal lability of marine mammals indicates the level of vulnerability of individual species to natural (El Niño) and anthropogenic (pollution, over-fishing) events. Current research projects in our laboratory that address this problem include metabolic regulation in swimming and diving dolphins, hunting behavior and physiology of Weddell seals in the Antarctic, and the effects of pregnancy on nutritional status of declining populations of Steller sea lions.

The regulation of oxygen uptake and utilization in the skeletal muscles of exercising mammals is another major research area in our laboratory. In the diving or sprinting mammal, the contracting muscle must operate as a closed system. These animals afford an opportunity to examine the expression of molecular and cellular mechanisms that promote enhanced performance while preventing tissue damage during anoxia or hypoxia.

Selected Publications

Springer, A.M., Estes, J.A., van Vliet, G.B., Williams, T.M., Doak, D.F., Danner, E.M., Forney, K.A., and Pfister, B. 2003. Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: an ongoing legacy of industrial whaling? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Williams, T.M., Ben-David, M., Noren, S., Rutishauser, M., McDonald, K. and Heyward, W. 2002. Running energetics of the North American river otter: Do short legs necessarily reduce efficiency on land? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 133:203-212.

Williams, T.M., Haun, J., Davis, R.W., Fuiman, L. and Kohin, S. 2001. A killer appetite: Metabolic consequences of carnivory in marine mammals. G.L. Kooyman Symposium, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 129:785-796.

Noren, S.R., Williams, T.M., Pabst, D.A., McLellan, W. and Dearof, J. 2001. The development of diving in marine endotherms: preparing the skeletal muscles of dolphins, penguins, and seals for activity during submergence. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 171:127-134.

Williams, T.M., Davis, R.W., Fuiman, L.A., Francis, J., LeBoeuf, B.J., Horning, M., Calambokidis, J. and Croll, D.A. 2000. Sink or swim: Strategies for cost-efficient diving by marine mammals. Science 288:133-136.

Noren, S.R. and Williams, T.M. 2002. Body size and skeletal muscle myoglobin of cetaceans: adaptations for maximizing dive duration. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 126:181-191.

Williams, T.M., Haun, J.E. and Friedl, W.A. 1999. The diving physiology of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) I. Balancing the demands of exercise for energy conservation at depth. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 2739-2748.

Skrovan, R.C., Williams, T.M., Berry, P.S., Moore, P.W and Davis, R.W. 1999. The diving physiology of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) II. Biomechanics and changes in buoyancy at depth. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 2749-2761.

Williams, T.M., Noren, D., Berry, P., Estes, J.A., Allison, C. and Kirtland, J. 1999. The diving physiology of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) III. Thermoregulation at depth. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 2763-2769.

Williams, T.M. 1999. The evolution of cost-efficient swimming in marine mammals: Limits to energetic optimization. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 354, 193-201.

Estes, J.A., Tinker, M.T., Williams, T.M. and Doak, D.F. 1998. Killer whale predation on sea ortters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Science 282:473-476.

Williams, T.M., Dobson, G.P., Mathieu-Costello, O., Morsbach, D., Worley, M.B. and Phillips, J.A. 1997. Skeletal muscle histology and biochemistry on an elite sprinter, the African Cheetah. J Comp. Physiology B. 167:527-535.

Williams, T.M. 1990. Heat transfer in elephants: Thermal partitioning based on skin temparature profiles. J. Zool., London. 222:234-245.