Dr Clifton’s research interests lie in the realms of behavioral ecology and life history. He has worked with a wide variety of terrestrial and marine organisms in both tropical and temperate habitats including coral reefs, East African savanna, kelp forests, and coastal wetlands. He is particularly interested in the environmental and demographic factors that govern where organisms are found and how their distribution and abundance ultimately influences spatial and temporal patterns of reproduction. When conditions allow, he also studies the dispersion and feeding response of anadromous fishes in the Pacific NW. Dr Clifton is also a contributing faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program.
Academic Credentials
BA 1981 University of California at San Diego
PhD 1988 University of California at Santa Barbara
Selected Publications
Young, A. & Clifton, K.E. 2015. Tardigrades inhabit lichen and moss in Smith Rock State Park, Oregon. Bulletin of the California Lichen Society 22(2)
Bradbury, J.W., Vehrencamp, S.L., Clifton, K.E. 2015. The Ideal Free Antelope: foraging dispersions. Behav. Ecol. 26(5), 1303-1313.
Clifton, K.E. 2013. The ecological significance of sexual reproduction by tropical green algae. In: Research and Discoveries – The revolution of science through SCUBA. Chapter 18. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, pp. 219 – 228.
Clifton, K.E. 2012. Common reef fishes of northern Tanzania. Shutterfly Press, Portland.
Clifton, K.C., Dubey, E.M., and Woodburn, E. 2009. A quantitative assessment of reef fish distribution and abundance within near-shore reef habitats of Yap State, F. S. M. J. Ocean Sci Found. 2:1-18.
Guest, J.R., Baird, A.H., Clifton, K.E. & Heyward, A.J. 2008. From molecules to moonbeams: Spawning synchrony in coral reef organisms. Invert. Reprod. Develop. 51: 145-149.
Clifton, K.E. 2008. Spatial patterns of reproductive synchrony by four genera of tropical green seaweed across a latitudinal gradient in the Caribbean. Proc. 11th Int. Coral Reef Symp. 11:351-355.
Clifton, K.E. & Rogers, L. 2008. Sex-specific mortality explains non-sex-change by large female Sparisoma radians. Animal Behaviour, 75:e1-10.
Bernardi, G., Robertson, D.R., Clifton, K.E. and Azzuro, E. 2000. Molecular sytematics, zoogeography and evolutionary ecology of the Atlantic parrotfish genus Sparisoma. Mol. Phylo. Evol. 15:292-300.
Clifton, K.E. & Clifton, L.M. 1999. The phenology of sexual reproduction by tropical green algae. J. Phycol. 35: 24-34.
Clifton, K.E. & Clifton, L.M. 1998 A survey of fishes from various habitats within the Cayos Cochinos Marine Preserve, Honduras. J. Trop. Biol. 46: 109-124.
Clifton, K.E. 1997 Mass spawning by green algae on coral reefs. Science. 275: 1113-1116.