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Natural Science Division

Meet the Faculty

Photo of Stephen D. Davis

Stephen D. Davis
Distinguished Professor of Biology

Division: Natural Science Division
Office: Rockwell Academic Center (RAC) 110
Phone: (310) 506-4324
E-mail: stephen.davis@pepperdine.edu

  • Ph.D., Biology, Texas A&M
  • M.S., Biology, Abilene Christian University
  • B.S., Biology, Abilene Christian University
Courses:
  • Plant Physiological Ecology
  • Biology of Plants
  • Plant Ecology
  • Plants and the Environment (General Studies)
  • Tropical Forest Ecology of Costa Rica
  • Microbes and Infectious Diseases
  • SURB (Summer Undergraduate Research in Biology)
Key Awards/Affiliations:
  • 2008 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching (Baylor University)
  • 2005-2009 National Science Foundation (REU-SITE: Research Experience for Undergraduates)
  • 2002-05 National Science Foundation (RUI: Linking Xylem Functional Traits to Life-History Type)
  • Professor of the Year, Pepperdine University (2002)
  • Distinguished Professor (1997, 2002, 2007)
  • Harriet and Charles Luckman Distinguished Teaching Fellow (1990-1995)
Academic Interests:
  • Plant physiological ecology -- Investigating plant adaptations to wildfire, drought, and freezing.
  • Plant water relations in chaparral and coastal sage scrub vegetation of California
  • Relationship of cold tolerance to chaparral shrub distribution and climate change
Selected Works:
  • Jacobsen, A.L., R.B. Pratt, S.D. Davis, and F.W. Ewers. 2008 Comparative community physiology: nonconvergence in water relations among three semi-arid shrub communities. New Phytologist 80:100-113.
  • Pratt, R.B., A.L. Jacobsen, R. *Mohla, F.W. Ewers, S.D. Davis. 2008. Linkage between water stress tolerance and life history type in seedlings of nine chaparral species (Rhamnaceae). Journal Ecology 96:1252-1265.
  • Davis, S.D., A. M. *Helms, M.S. *Heffner, A.R. *Shaver, A.C. *Deroulet, N.L. *Stasiak, S.M. *Vaughn, C.B. *Leake, H.D. *Lee and E.T. *Sayegh. 2007. Chaparral Zonation in the Santa Monica Mountains: The Influence of Freezing Temperatures. Fremontia. 35: 12-15.
  • Jacobsen, A.L., R.B. Pratt, S.D. Davis, and F.W. Ewers. 2007. Cavitation resistance and seasonal hydraulics differ among three arid Californian plant communities. Plant, Cell and Environment 30: 1599-1609.
  • Witter, M., R.S. Taylor, and S.D. Davis. 2007. Fire history and vegetation response to wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains, California. In: Flora and Ecology of Santa Monica Mountains: Proceedings of 32nd Annual Southern California Botanists Symposium. D. A. Knapp (Ed.). Page 173-194. Southern California Botanists Special Publication No. 4, Fullerton, California.
  • Davis, S.D., R. B. Pratt, F.W. Ewers and J.L. Jacobsen. 2007. Freezing tolerance impacts chaparral species distribution in the Santa Monica Mountains. In: Flora and Ecology of Santa Monica Mountains: Proceedings of 32nd Annual Southern California Botanists Symposium. D. A. Knapp (Ed.). Page 159-172. Southern California Botanists Special Publication No. 4, Fullerton, California.
  • Pratt, R.B., A.L. *Jacobsen, K. *Golgotiu, J.S. Sperry, F.W. Ewers, S.D. Davis. 2007. Life history type and water stress tolerance in nine California chaparral species (Rhamnaceae). Ecological Monographs. 77:239-253.
  • Pratt, R.B., A.L. *Jacobsen, F.W. Ewers, and S.D. Davis. 2007. Relationships among xylem transport, biomechanics and storage in stems and roots of nine Rhamnaceae species of the California chaparral. New Phytologist 74:787-798.
  • Jacobsen, A.L., L. Agenbag, K.J. Esler, R.B. Pratt, F.W. Ewers, S.D. Davis. 2007. Xylem density, biomechanics and anatomical traits correlate with water stress in 17 evergreen shrub species of the Mediterranean-type climate region of South Africa. Journal of Ecology. 95:171-183.
  • *Jacobsen, A.L., R. Brandon Pratt, F.W. Ewers, and S.D. Davis. 2007. Cavitation resistance among twenty-six chaparral species of southern California. Ecological Monographs. 77:99-115.
  • Davis, S.D., F.W. Ewers, R.B. Pratt, P.L. *Brown, T.J. *Bowen 2005. Interactive effects of freezing and drought on long distance transport: A case study for chaparral shrubs of California. In: Vascular Transport in Plants, N. Michele Holbrook, Maciej A. Zwieniecki (Ed.). Elsevier/AP co-imprint, Oxford, 20:425-435.
  • *Jacobsen, A.L., F.W. Ewers, R.B. Pratt, W.A. Paddock III, S.D. Davis. 2005. Do xylem fibers affect vessel cavitation resistance? Plant Physiology. 139:546-556.
  • Pratt, R.B., F.W. Ewers, M.C. Lawson, A.L. *Jacobsen, M. *Brediger, and S.D. Davis. 2005. Mechanisms for tolerating freeze-thaw stress of two evergreen chaparral species: Rhus ovata and Malosma laurina (Anacardiaceae). American Journal of Botany 92:1102-1113.
  • Koch, G.W., S.C. Sillett, G.M. Jennings and S.D. Davis 2004. The limits of tree height. Nature. 428:851-854.
  • Baas, P., F.W. Ewers, S.D. Davis and E.A. Wheeler. 2004. Evolution of xylem physiology. In: Evolution of Plant Physiology, Imogen Poole and Alan Hemsley (Ed.). Linnean Society Symposium Series 21. Elsevier LTD (Oxford) p273-295.
  • Ewers, F.W., M.C. Lawson, T.J. *Bowen, and S.D. Davis. 2003. Freeze/thaw stress in Ceanothus of southern California chaparral. Oecologia (Berlin) 136:213-219.
  • Davis, S.D., F.W., Ewers, J.S. Sperry, K.A. *Portwood, M.C. *Crocker, and C. Adams 2002. Shoot dieback during prolonged drought in Ceanothus chaparral of California: a possible case of hydraulic failure. American Journal of Botany. 89:820-828.
  • (* denotes undergraduate students)
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