Shawn Steffan
Associate Professor, USDA-ARS & UW-Madison
545 Russell Labs
1630 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Interests: Cranberry IPM, community ecology, biological control
Education:
Ph.D. Entomology – Washington State University, 2009
MS Entomology – University of Wisconsin-Madison,1997
BA Environmental Science – University of California-Berkeley,1993
Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS
As a Research Entomologist with the USDA-ARS, as well as a UW faculty member in the Dept. of Entomology, my work centers on basic and applied aspects of cranberry entomology and ecology. Studies are designed to refine IPM strategies while providing a mechanistic understanding of key ecosystem functions.
Through national and international collaborations with both public and private institutions/companies, my team is focusing on innovative crop protection strategies while doing basic science.
Near-term studies focus on biological, cultural, and chemical controls of the major insect pests of cranberry, with particular emphases on 1) pheromone-based mating disruption programs for the top cranberry pests in Wisconsin; 2) phenology of Sparganothis fruitworm, black-headed fireworm, and cranberry fruitworm; 3) refinement of flood-timing as an IPM strategy; 4) flea beetle biology and control.
Longer-term studies involve the analysis of community composition and trophic structure (the foodweb) of the cranberry system. This work will allow us to measure the “trophic niches” of an arthropod community (i.e., who tends to eat whom), which may differ between cultivated and wild/feral cranberry populations, as well as between decades (an effect of climate change). Differing trophic signatures may serve as indicators of desirable horticultural traits in a cranberry population, which ultimately could facilitate the development of improved cranberry varieties.
Applied
Online profiles: Google Scholar
Publications:
If PDF is not available via the reference links, please contact: steffan [at] entomology.wisc.edu.
2018
Steffan, S.A., P.S. Dharampal, B.N. Danforth, H.R. Gaines-Day, Y. Takizawa, Y. Chikaraishi. (In review). Omnivory in bees: Elevated trophic positions among all major bee families. American Naturalist.
Steffan, S.A., and P.S. Dharampal. (Accepted). Undead food-webs: Integrating microbes into the food-chain. Food Webs.
Dharampal, P.S., C. Carlson, C.R. Currie, and S.A. Steffan. (In revision). Solitary bee larvae require pollen-borne microbes to survive. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Dharampal, P.S., C. Carlson, and S.A. Steffan. 2018. In vitro rearing of solitary bees: A tool for assessing larval risk factors. JoVE 137: e57876.
Steffan, S. A., M. E. Singleton, M. L. Draney, E. M. Chasen, K. E. Johnson and J. Zalapa. 2018. Arthropod Fauna Associated with Wild and Cultivated Cranberries in Wisconsin. The Great Lakes Entomologist, 50: 98-110.
van Zoeren, J., Guedot, C. and S.A. Steffan. 2018. Conserving carnivorous arthropods: an example from early-season cranberry (Ericaceae) flooding. The Canadian Entomologist, 00; 1-9.
2017
Crossley, M. S., S. A. Steffan, D. J. Voegtlin, K. L. Hamilton, and D. Hogg. 2017. Variable isotopic compositions of host plant populations preclude assessment of aphid overwintering sites. Insects, 8(4): 128.
Steffan, S. A., P. S. Dharampal, L. Diaz-Garcia, C. R. Currie, J. E. Zalapa, and C. T. Hittinger. 2017. Empirical, metagenomic, and computational techniques illuminate the mechanisms by which fungicides compromise bee health. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 128.
Ohkouchi, N., Y. Chikaraishi, H. G. Close, B. Fry, T. Larsen, D. J. Madigan, M. D. McCarthy, K. W. McMahon, T. Nagata, Y. I. Naito, N. O. Ogawa, B. N. Popp, S. A. Steffan, Y. Takano, I. Tayasu, A. S. J. Wyatt, Y. T. Yamaguchi, and Y. Yokoyama. 2017. Advances in the application of amino acid nitrogen isotopic analysis in ecological and biogeochemical studies. Organic Geochemistry, 113: 150-174.
Steffan, S. A., E. M. Chasen, A. E. Deutsch, and A. Mafra-Neto. 2017. Multi-species mating disruption in cranberries (Ericales: Ericaceae): early evidence using a flowable emulsion. Journal of Insect Science, 54: 1-6.
Steffan, S. A., Y. Chikaraishi, P.S. Dharampal, J. N. Pauli, C. Guedot, and N. Ohkouchi. 2017. Unpacking brown food-webs: animal trophic identity reflects rampant microbivory. Ecology and Evolution, 7(10): 3532-3541.
Pauli, J. N., S. D. Newsome, J. A. Cook, C. Harrod, S. A. Steffan, et al. 2017. Opinion: why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(12): 2997-3001.
Takizawa, Y., P.S. Dharampal, S.A. Steffan, Y. Takano, N. Ohkouchi, and Y. Chikaraishi. Intra-trophic isotopic discrimination of 15N/14N for amino acids in plant flowers and leaves: Implications for isotopic ecological studies. 2017. Ecology & Evolution, 7(9): 2916-2924.
Discriminating power of microsatellites in cranberry organelles for taxonomic studies in Vaccinium and Ericaceae. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 64(3): 451-466.
Steffan, S. A., M. E. Singleton, J. Sojka, E. M. Chasen, A. E. Deutsch, J. E. Zalapa, and C. Guedot. 2017. Flight synchrony among the major moth pests of cranberries in the Upper Midwest, USA. Insects, 8(1): 26.
Blanke, C., Y. Chikaraishi, Y. Takizawa, S. A. Steffan, P.S. Dharampal, and M. J. Vander Zanden. 2017. Comparing compound-specific and bulk stable nitrogen isotope trophic discrimination factors across multiple freshwater fish species and diets. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 74(8): 1291-1297.
2016
McMahon, E.E., S. A. Steffan, and C. Guédot. 2016. Population densities of lepidopteran pests in selected cranberry varieties in Wisconsin. Journal of Economic Entomology, 110(3): 1113-1119.
Covarrubias-Pazaran, G. L. Diaz-Garcia, B. Schlautman, J. Deutsch, W. Salazar, M. Hernandez-Ochoa, E. Grygleski, S. A. Steffan, M. Iorizzo, J. Polashock, N. Vorsa and J. Zalapa. 2016. Exploiting genotyping by sequencing to characterize the genomic structure of the American cranberry through high-density linkage mapping. BMC Genomics, 17: 451.
Mills, N.J., V.P. Jones, C.C. Baker, T.D. Melton, S.A. Steffan, T.R. Unruh, D.R. Horton, P.W. Shearer, K.G. Amarasakare, and E. Miliczky. 2016. Using plant volatile traps to estimate the diversity of natural enemy communities in orchard ecosystems. Biological Control, 102: 66-76.
Jones, V. P., J. M. Nicholas, J. F. Brunner, D. R. Horton, E. H.Beers, T. R. Unruh, P. W. Shearer, J. R. Goldberger, S. Castagnoli, N. Lehrer, E. Milickzy, S. A. Steffan, K. G. Amarasekare, U. Chambers, A. N. Gadino, R. K. Gallardo, and W. E.Jones. 2016. From planning to execution to the future: An overview of a concerted effort to enhance biological control in apple, pear, and walnut orchards in the western U.S. Biological Control, 102: 1-6.
Jones, V.P., D.R. Horton, N.J. Mills, T.R. Unruh, C.C. Baker, T.D. Melton, E. Miliczky, S.A. Steffan, P.W. Shearer and K. G. Amarasekare. 2016. Evaluating plant volatiles for monitoring natural enemies in apple, pear and walnut orchards. Biological Control, 102: 53-65.
Chasen, E.M., and S.A. Steffan. 2016. Temperature-mediated growth thresholds of the cranberry fruitworm, Acrobasis vaccinii (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Environmental Entomology 45: 732-736.
2015
Steffan, S.A., Y. Chikaraishi, C.R. Currie, H. Horn, H.R. Gaines-Day, J.N. Pauli, J.E. Zalapa, and N. Ohkouchi. 2015. Microbes are trophic analogs of animals. PNAS 112, 15119-15124.
Bernauer, O.M., H.R. Gaines-Day, and S.A. Steffan. 2015. Colonies of bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) produce fewer workers, less bee biomass, and have smaller mother queens following fungicide exposure. Insects 6, 478-488.
S.A. Steffan, Chikaraishi, Y., Horton, D.R., Miliczky, E., Zalapa, J.E., Jones, V.P. and N. Ohkouchi. 2015. Beneficial or not? Decoding carnivore roles in plant protection. Biological Control 91, 34-41
Chikaraishi, Y., S.A. Steffan, Y. Takano, and N. Ohkouchi. Diet quality influences isotopic discrimination among amino acids in an aquatic vertebrate. Ecology and Evolution 5, 2048-2059.
Deutsch, A.E., C.R. Rodriguez-Saona, J.E. Zalapa, and S.A. Steffan. 2015. Temperature-mediated development thresholds of Sparganothis sulfureana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in cranberries. Environmental Entomology 44: 400-405.
Jones, V.P., D.R. Horton, N.J. Mills, T.R. Unruh, C.C. Baker, T.D. Melton, E. Miliczky,S.A. Steffan, and P.W. Shearer. 2015. Evaluating herbivore-induced plant volatiles and floral volatiles for monitoring natural enemies in apple, pear and walnut orchards.Biological Control.
Schlautman, B., D. Fajardo, T. Bougie, E. Wiesman, J. Polashock, N. Vorsa, S. Steffan, J. Zalapa. Development and validation of 697 novel polymorphic genomic and EST-SSR markers in the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.). Molecules 20, 2001-2013.
Pauli, J.N., S.A. Steffan, and S.D. Newsome. 2015. It is time for IsoBank. BioScience 65, 229-230.
2014
Deutsch, A.E., C.R. Rodriguez-Saona, V. Kyryczenko-Roth, J. Sojka, J.E. Zalapa, and S.A. Steffan. 2014. Degree-day benchmarks for Sparganothis sulfureana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) development in cranberries. Journal of Economic Entomology 107:2130-2136.
Zalapa, J.E., T.C. Bougie, T.A. Bougie, B.J. Schlautman, E. Wiesman, A. Guzman, D.A. Fajardo, S.A. Steffan, and T. Smith. 2014. Clonal diversity and genetic differentiation revealed by SSR markers in wild Vaccinium macrocarpon and Vaccinium oxycoccos. Annals of Applied Biology 66: 196-207.
Pauli, J., J. Mendoza, S.A. Steffan, C. Cayelan, P.J. Weimer, and Z. Peery. 2014. A syndrome of mutualism reinforces the life history of a sloth. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281: 20133006.
Fajardo, D., B. Schlautman, S.A. Steffan, J.J. Polashock, N. Vorsa, and J.E. Zalapa. 2014. The American cranberry mitochondrial genome reveals the presence of selenocysteine (tRNA-Sec and SECIS) insertion machinery in land plants. Gene 536(2): 336-343.
Chikaraishi, Y., S.A. Steffan, N.O. Ogawa, N.F. Ishikawa, Y. Sasaki, and N. Ohkouchi. 2014. High-resolution food webs based on nitrogen isotopic composition of amino acids. Ecology & Evolution doi: 10.1002/ece3.1103.
2013
Steffan, S.A., Y. Chikaraishi , D.R. Horton, N. Ohkouchi, M.E. Singleton, E. Miliczky, D.B. Hogg, V.P. Jones. 2013. Trophic hierarchies illuminated via amino acid isotopic analysis. PLoS ONE 8(9): e76152.
Fajardo D., J. Morales, H. Zhu , S. Steffan, R. Harbut, N. Bassil, K. Hummer, J. Polashock, N. Vorsa, and J. Zalapa. 2012. Discrimination of American cranberry cultivars and assessment of clonal heterogeneity using microsatellite markers. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 31:264-271.
Steffan, S.A., J.C. Lee, M.E. Singleton, A. Vilaire, D.B. Walsh, L.S. Lavine, and K. Patten. 2013. Susceptibility of cranberries to Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 106:2424-2427.
2012
Gable, J.T., D.W. Crowder, T.D. Northfield, S.A. Steffan, and W.E. Snyder. 2012. Niche engineering reveals complementary resource use. Ecology 93(9): 1994-2000.
Zalapa J.E., H. Cuevas, S. Steffan, H. Zhu, D. Senalik, E. Zeldin, B. McCown, R. Harbut, and P. Simon. 2012. Using next generation sequencing approaches to isolate simple sequence repeat (SSR) in the plant sciences. Methods and Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing in Botany. American Journal of Botany 99:193-208.
2011
Jones, V.P. S.A. Steffan, N.G. Wiman, D.R. Horton, E. Miliczky, Q.H. Zhang, C.C. Baker. Evaluation of herbivore-induced plant volatiles for monitoring green lacewings in Washington apple orchards. Biological Control 56:98-105.
2010
Steffan, S.A., and W.E. Snyder. 2010. Cascading diversity effects transmitted exclusively by behavioral interactions. Ecology 91: 2242-52.
Jones, V.P., S.A. Steffan, L.A. Hull, J.F. Brunner, and D.J. Biddinger. 2010. Effects of the loss of organophosphate pesticides in the US: Opportunities and needs to improve IPM programs. Outlooks on Pest Management 21:161-166.
Pre-2010
Prischmann, D.A., S.A. Steffan, and C.M. Anelli. 2009. Insect myths: an interdisciplinary approach fostering active learning. American Entomologist. 55: 228-233.
Daane, K.M., G.Y. Yokota, R. Krugner, S.A. Steffan, P.G. da Silva, R.H. Beede, W.J. Bentley, and G.B. Weinberger. 2005. Large bugs damage pistachio nuts most severely during midseason. California Agriculture. 59: 95-102.
Gullan, P.J., D.A. Downie, and S.A. Steffan. 2003. A new pest species of the mealybug genus Ferrisia Fullaway (hemiptera: pseudococcidae) from the United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 96:723-737.
Millar, J.G., R.E. Rice, S.A. Steffan, K.M. Daane, E. Cullen, and F.G. Zalom. 2001. Attraction of female digger wasps, Astata occidentalis Cresson (hymenoptera: sphecidae) to the sex pheromone of the stink bug Thyanta pallidovirens (hemiptera: pentatomidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 77: 244-48.
Steffan, S.A., K.M. Daane, and D.L. Mahr. 2001. 15N-enrichment of plant tissue to mark phytophagous insects, associated parasitoids, and flower-visiting entomophaga. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 98: 173-180.
Steffan, S.A., C. Garvey, and D. Sexson. 1998. The 1996 farm bill will enhance the long-term adoption of ecologically sound IPM: the con argument. American Entomologist. 44: 161-162.
Steffan, S.A. 1997. Flower-visitors of Baccharis pilularis De Candolle subsp. consanguinea (De Candolle) C.B. Wolf (Asteraceae) in Berkeley, California. Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 73: 52-54.
Wallin, K.F., R. Hofstetter, S. Steffan, and T. Rabey. 1996. Environmental issues associated with enhancing the impact of biological control agents. American Entomologist. 42: 164-165.
Daane, K.M., L.E. Williams, G.Y. Yokota, and S.A. Steffan. 1995. Leafhopper prefers vines with greater amounts of irrigation. California Agriculture. 3: 28-32.
Professional Societies:
- Member, Ecological Society of America
- Member, Entomological Society of America