Quantitative Ecologist
PUBLICATIONS
Research Outputs and Scholarly Work
My research spans biodiversity science, community ecology, dryland and wetland systems, plant ecology, and applied conservation. This page highlights selected contributions alongside my complete peer-reviewed publication record and current manuscripts under review.
Google Scholar: 279 Citations · h-index 10 · i10-index 11
Updated as of October 2026
Highlighted Publications
Manuscripts Under Review
Zuliani, M., Lucero, J. E., & Lortie, C. J. (2026). First detections of non-native plant species decline in spatial novelty as biodiversity observations accumulate. Manuscript submitted for publication in Ecography.
Zuliani, M., Hitchcock, C., Francis, J. S., Mason, B. M., & Callaghan, C. T. (2026). iNaturalist as research infrastructure for teaching ecology: Moving from observation to inference in hypothesis-driven classrooms. Manuscript submitted for publication in Ecology and Evolution.
Callaghan, C. T., Mason, B., Bowler, D., Hochmair, H., Mesaglio, T., Owuor, I., Pernat, N., & Zuliani, M. (2026). Looking for the little things: Experience shapes the biodiversity people observe. Manuscript submitted for publication in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Nix, E., Gaudenti, N., Weaver, S., Axsom, I., Ghazian, N., Owen, M., Zuliani, M., Westphal, M. F., Lortie, C. J., Taylor, E., & Todd, B. D. (2026). The influence of naturally occurring drought and habitat variation on space use in an endangered desert lizard. Manuscript submitted for publication in Animal Conservation.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
2026
Gallivan L, Zuliani M, Mason BM, Callaghan CT. 2026 iNaturalist and Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System provide complementary data for monitoring non-native herpetofauna in Florida. R. Soc. Open Sci. 13: 251218. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251218
Hoskins, L. P., Mason, B. M., Heitmann, J. B., Alvarez-Abreu, O., Bearhs, K., Carnevale, S., Fussell, C. A., Lilkendey, T., Marquis, M., Sellers, B. A., Song, J., Swigris, A., Zuliani, M., & Callaghan, C. T. (2026). Bioblitzes Provide Valuable Biodiversity Data. Natural Areas Journal, 46(2). https://doi.org/10.3375/2162-4399-46.2.4
Ghazian, N., Zuliani, M., MacDonald, S. E., & Lortie, C. J. (2026). Artificial shelters provide microclimatic refuges from increasing desertification for resident vertebrates. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 7(1), e70188.
2025
Zuliani, M., Chen, S., Braun, J., Owen, E., Lortie, C. J. (2025). The Effects of Conspecific Cylindropuntia Ramosissima Density on Morphology and Animal Associations in the Mojave Desert, California. The Southwestern Naturalist, 70(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1894/0038-4909- 70.1.3
Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., MacDonald, S. E., & Lortie, C. J. (2025). The shrub density effect: Unraveling vertebrate community dynamics along an aridity gradient in Southern California. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 13, 1648121. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2025.1648121
Zuliani, M., & Lortie, C. J. (2025). Using Open Science Tools to Teach Environmental Sciences. Ecology and Evolution, 15(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71837
Hillier-Weltman, Z., Lortie, C., & Zuliani, M. (2025). The influence of native shrub density on bird communities in the southern drylands of California, USA. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 25(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02410-x
Zuliani, M., Haas-Desmarais, S., Brussa, L., Cunsolo, J., Zuliani, A., Lortie, C.J. (2025). Controlled temperature contrasts of three native and one highly invasive annual plant species in California. PeerJ 13:e18794 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18794
2024
Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., MacDonald, S., & Lortie, C. J. (2024). The relative effects of artificial shrubs on animal community assembly. Restoration Ecology, e14121. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14121
Owen, E., Zuliani, M., Goldgisser, M., & Lortie, C. (2024). The importance of native shrubs on the distribution and diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the central drylands of Southwestern USA. Biodiversity and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02851-8
Owen, E., Lortie, C. J., & Zuliani, M. (2024). Native shrub densities predict burrow co-occurrence patterns in Central California Drylands. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 24(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02259-6
Ghazian, N., King, R., Zuliani, M., & Lortie, C. J. (2024). The microclimatic effects of the native shrub Ephedra californica (Mormon tea) in California drylands. Frontiers in Plant Science, 15, 1396004. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1396004
2023
Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., Owen, M., Westphal, M. F., Butterfield, H. S., & Lortie, C. J. (2023). Shrub density effects on the presence of an endangered lizard of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, California. Ecology and Evolution, 13(5), e10128. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10128
Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., & Lortie, C. J. (2023). A meta‐analysis of shrub density as a predictor of animal abundance. Wildlife Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01042
2022
Lucero, J. E., Filazzola, A., Callaway, R. M., Braun, J., Ghazian, N., Haas, S., Miguel, M. F., Owen, M., Seifan, M., Zuliani, M., & Lortie, C. J. (2022). Increasing global aridity destabilizes shrub facilitation of exotic but not native plant species. Global Ecology and Conservation, 40, e02345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02345
Ivey, Kathleen N, Margaret B Cornwall, Nicole Gaudenti, Paul H Maier, Nargol Ghazian, Malory Owen, Emmeleia Nix, et al. 2022. "Temperature-Based Activity Estimation Accurately Predicts Surface Activity, but Not Microhabitat Use, in the Endangered Heliothermic Lizard Gambelia Sila." Amphib. Reptile Conserv. 16 (1): 10.
Lortie, C. J., Ghazian, N., & Zuliani, M. (2022). A workflow for selecting seeding density in desert species experiments. Journal of Arid Environments, 198, 104701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2021.104701
2021
Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., & Lortie, C.J. 2021. "Shrub Density Effects on the Community Structure and Composition of a Desert Animal Community." Wildlife Biology 2021 (2). https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00774.
Lortie, C. J., Filazzola, A., Brown, C., Lucero, J., Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., Haas, S., Owen, M., Butterfield, H. S., Nix, E., & Westphal, M. (2021). Facilitation promotes plant invasions and indirect negative interactions. Oikos, 130(7), 1056–1061. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08443
Lortie, C. J., Zuliani, M., Ghazian, N., Haas, S., Braun, J., Owen, M., Miguel, F., Seifan, M., Filazzola, A., & Lucero, J. (2021). Too much of a good thing: Shrub benefactors are less important in higher diversity arid ecosystems. Journal of Ecology, 109(5), 2047–2053. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13596
2020
Ghazian, N., Zuliani, M., & Lortie, C. (2020). Micro-Climatic Amelioration in a California Desert: Artificial Shelter Versus Shrub Canopy. Journal of Ecological Engineering, 21(8), 216–228. https://doi.org/10.12911/22998993/126875
Ivey, K. N., Cornwall, M., Crowell, H., Ghazian, N., Nix, E., Owen, M., Zuliani, M., Lortie, C. J., Westphal, M., & Taylor, E. (2020). Thermal ecology of the federally endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila). Conservation Physiology, 8(1), coaa014. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coaa014
Lortie, C. J., Braun, J., Westphal, M., Noble, T., Zuliani, M., Nix, E., Ghazian, N., Owen, M., & Scott Butterfield, H. (2020). Shrub and vegetation cover predict resource selection use by an endangered species of desert lizard. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 4884. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61880-9