Roy A. Norton
Professor & Undergraduate Curriculum Coordinator

134 Illick Hall
SUNY-ESF
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210

Telephone: (315) 470-6752
Fax: (315) 470-6934
Email: ranorton@esf.edu

Teaching

Principal Courses

EFB 355 Invertebrate Zoology (4 credit-hours). A survey course focusing on the diversity, functional biology, and ecology of non-vertebrate animals. Laboratory work with living and preserved specimens is stressed. Syllabus available upon request. No prerequisites, other than General Biology or its equivalent.

EFB 509 Concepts in Evolutionary and Systematic Biology (3 credit hours). Exploration of the core concepts of evolutionary and systematic biology, with the goal of better understanding biological diversity. Approximately 2/3 of the course deals with microevolutionary forces and processes (mutation, migration, genetic drift,natural selection) and the production of macroevolutionary patterns (speciation, radiation, extinction). The last third concerns how we discover refine such patterns (e.g. in the form of a phylogeny), and how we use this information to produce classifications and test historical hypotheses.

Research Interests

General research fields are acarology (the study of mites) and soil biology. Most projects have dealt with:

1. Oribatid mites: their comparative morphology, systematics, paleontology and evolution (particularly evolutionary aspects of their reproductive biology, life histories, and ecological roles in decomposer food webs.)
2. Impact of natural and anthropogenic perturbations on soil microarthropod (mites and collembolans) communities.

Graduate Students

• Maria Minor (PhD). Thesis topic: Ecological succession of microarthropod communities, with emphasis on temporal changes in reproductive mode.
• Jennifer Cianciolo (MS). Thesis topic: Genetic variation in parthenogenetic (thelytokous) oribatid mites.
• R. Booth Platt (MS). Thesis topic: Microhabitat affinities of aquatic oribatid mites.

Selected Publications

Swift, S. F. and Norton, R. A. 1998. Preliminary report on the diversity of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of the Hawaiian Islands. Occasional Papers of the Bishop Museum. 57: 1-44.

Hunt, G. S., Norton, R. A., Kelley J. P. H., Colloff, M. J. and Lindsay, S. M. 1998. An Interactive Glossary of Oribatid Mites, CD-ROM. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Seniczak, S., Norton, R. A. and Wang, H.-f. 1998. The morphology of juvenile stages of moss mites of the family Trhypochthoniidae (Acari: Oribatida), and the taxonomic status of some genera and species. Zoologischer Anzeiger 237: 85-95.

Norton, R. A. 1998. Morphological evidence for the evolutionary origin of Astigmata (Acari: Acariformes). Experimental and Applied Acarology 22: 559-594.

Lions, J.-C. and Norton, R. A. 1999. North American Synichotritiidae (Acari: Oribatida) 2. Synichotritia spinulosa and S. caroli. Acarologia 39(3): 265-284.

Wang, H.-f., Norton, R. A. and Lu, J.-q. 1999. Notes on the development of Afronothrus incisivus, with new distribution records from Asia and Australia. Systematic and Applied Acarology 4: 111-120.

Casanueva, M. E. and R. A. Norton. 1998 (1999). Novonothrus kethleyi spec. nov., a new nothroid mite (Acari: Oribatida) from Chile. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 33: 60-64.

Norton, R. A. and Kinnear, A. 1999. New Australian records of xerophilic acariform mites (Oribatida and Prostigmata). The Australian Entomologist 26: 53-55.

Norton, R, A,, Florian, M. E. and Manning, L. E. 2001. Ecdysial cleavage line in Paralycus sp. (Acari: Oribatida: Pediculochelidae). International Journal of Acarology 27: 97-99.

Polyak, V. J., Cokendolpher, J. C., Norton, R. A. and Asmerom, Y. 2001. A wetter and cooler late Holocene climate in the southwestern USA from mites preserved in stalagmites. Geology 29(7): 643-646.

Norton, R. A. 2001. Systematic relationships of Nothrolohmanniidae, and the evolutionary plasticity of body form in Enarthronota (Acari: Oribatida). 2001. Pp 58-75 in: Halliday, R. B., Walter, D. E., Proctor, H. C., Norton, R. A. and Colloff, M. J. Acarology - Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Acarology. (CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne).

Alberti, G., Norton, R. A. and Kasbohm, J. 2001. Fine structure and mineralization of cuticle in Enarthronota and Lohmannioidea (Acari: Oribatida). Pp 230-241 in: Halliday, R. B., Walter, D. E., Proctor, H. C., Norton, R. A. and Colloff, M. J. Acarology - Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Acarology. (CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne).

Olszanowski, Z., Szywilewska, A. and Norton, R. A. 2001. New moss mite of the genus Camisia (Acari: Oribatida: Camisiidae) from the western Nearctic region. Genus 12: 395-406

Sakata, T. and Norton, R. A. 2001 Opisthonotal gland chemistry of early-derivative oribatid mites (Acari) and its relevance to systematic relationships of Astigmata. International Journal of Acarology 27: 281-291.

Olszanowski, Z. and Norton, R. A. 2002. Paracamisia osornensis n. gen., n. sp., (Acari: Oribatida) from Valdivian forest soil in Chile. Zootaxa 25:1-15.

Shimano, S., Sakata, T. and Norton, R.A. 2003. Occurrence of Camisia solhoeyi (Oribatida: Camisiidae) in Japan. Acta Arachnologica 51: 145-147.

Norton, R. A. 2003. Nothrolohmannia baloghi n. sp. (Acari: Oribatida), from rainforest in Papua New Guinea, and reevaluation of Nothrolohmanniidae. Acta Zoologica Hungarica 49(1): 25-42.

Norton, R. A., Sanders, F. H. and Minor, M. A. 2003. Euphthiracarus cooki n. sp., a new oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) from Michigan and New York. Pp. 201-210 In: Smith IM, editor. An Acarological Tribute to David R. Cook - From Yankee Springs to Wheeny Creek. Indira Publishing House, West Bloomfield, Indiana.

Maraun, M, Heethoff, M. Scheu, S. Norton, R. A., Weigmann, G. and Thomas, R. 2003. Radiation in sexual and parthenogenetic oribatid mites (Oribatida, Acari) as indicated by genetic divergence of closely related species. Experimental & Applied Acarology 29:265-277.

Sakata, T. and Norton, R.A. 2003. Opisthonotal gland chemistry of a middle-derivative oribatid mite, Archegozetes longisetosus (Acari: Trhypochthoniidae). International Journal of Acarology 29(4): 345-350.

Shimano, S. and Norton, R. A. 2003. Is the Japanese oribatid mite Euphthiracarus foveolatus Aoki, 1980 (Acari: Euphthiracaridae) a junior synonym of E. cribrarius (Berlese, 1904)? Journal of the Acarological Society of Japan. 12(2) 115-126.

Sanders, F.H. and Norton, R.A. 2004. Anatomy and function of the ptychoid defensive mechanism in the mite Euphthiracarus cooki (Acari: Oribatida). Journal of Morphology 259 (2): 119-154.

Minor, M. A., Volk, T. A. and Norton, R. A. 2004. Effects of site preparation techniques on communities of soil mites (Acari: Oribatida, Acari: Gamasina) under short-rotation forestry plantings in New York, USA. Applied Soil Ecology 25: 181-192.

Smrz, J. and Norton, R. A. 2004. Food selection and internal processing in Archegozetes longisetosus (Acari: Oribatida). Pedobiologia. 48: 111-120.

Maraun, M., Heethoff, M., Schneider, K, Scheu, S., Weigmann, G., Cianciolo, J. Thomas, R.H. and Norton, R.A. 2004. Molecular phylogeny of oribatid mites (Oribatida, Acari): evidence for multiple radiations of parthenogenetic lineages. Experimental and Applied Acarology 33: 183-201.

Minor, M. A. and Norton, R. A. 2004. Effects of soil amendments on assemblages of soil mites (Acari: Oribatida, Mesostigmata) in short-rotation willow plantings in central New York. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 34: 1417-1425.

Schneider, K., Migge, S., Norton, R.A., Scheu, S., Langel, R., Reineking, A and Maraun, M. 2004. Trophic niche differentiation in soil microarthropods (Oribatida, Acari): evidence from stable isotope ratios (15N/14N). Soil Biology & Biochemistry.36: 1769-1774.

Norton, R. A. 2004. John B. Kethley (1942-2004) - a personal rememberance. International Journal of Acarology 383-387.

Chen, J., Behan-Pelletier, V. M., Wang, H-f. and Norton, R. 2004. New species of Gymnodampia (Acari: Oribatida: Ameroidea) from China. Acarologia 44: 235-252.

Chen, J., Norton, R. A., Behan-Pelletier, V. M. and Wang, H-f. 2004. Analysis of Gymnodampia (Acari: Oribatida), with redescription of G. setata Jacot and description of two new species from North America. Canadian Entomologist 136: 793-821.

Oliveira, A. R., Norton, R. A. And DeMoraes, G. J. 2005. Edaphic and plant inhabiting oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from Cerrado and Mata Atlântica ecosystems in the State of São Paulo, southeast Brazil. Zootaxa 1049:49-68.

Illig, J., Langel, R., Norton, R. A., Scheu, S. and Maraun, M. 2005 Where are the decomposers? Uncovering the soil food web of a tropical mountain rain forest in southern Ecuador using stable isotopes (15N). Journal of Tropical Ecology 21: 589-593.

Szywilewska, A., Olszanowski, Z. and Norton, R.A. 2005. New oribatid mite of the genus Crotonia (Acari: Oribatida: Crotoniidae) from Chile. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 55(3): 449-452

Schaeffer, I., Domes, K., Heethoff, M., Schneider, K., Scheu, S., Norton, R. A. and Maraun, M. 2006. No evidence for the Meselson effect in parthenogenetic oribatid mites (Oribatida, Acari). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 184-193.

Heethoff, M., Domes, K., Laumann, M., Maraun, M., Norton, R.A. and Scheu, S.  2006. High genetic divergences indicate ancient separation of parthenogenetic lineages of the oribatid mite Platynothrus peltifer (Acari, Oribatida).  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20 (2007): 392-402.

Peschel, K., Norton, R.A., Scheu, S. and Maraun, M. 2006.  Do oribatid mites live in enemy-free space? Evidence from food choice experiments with the predatory mite Pergamasus septentrionalis.  Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38: 2985-2989.

Cianciolo, J.M. and. Norton, R.A. 2006. The ecological distribution of reproductive mode in oribatid mites, as related to biological complexity.  Experimental and Applied Acarology 40:1-25

Norton, R. A.  2006. First record of Collohmannia (C. schusteri n. sp.) and Hermannia (H. sellnicki n. sp.) from Baltic amber, with notes on Sellnick=s genera of fossil oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida). Acarologia 46:  111-125

Heethoff, M, Bergmann, P. and Norton, R. A.  2006. Karyology and sex determination of oribatid mites.  Acarologia 46: 127-131.

Domes, K. Norton, R.A., Maraun, M and Scheu, S. 2007. Re-evolution of sexuality breaks Dollo’s law. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 7139-7144.

Saporito, R.A., Donnelly, M.A., Norton, R.A., Garraffo, H.M., Spande, T.K. and Daly, J.W.  2007. Oribatid mites as a major dietary source for alkaloids in poison frogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 8885-8890.

Laumann, M., Norton, R.A., Weigmann, G., Scheu, S., Maraun, M. and Heethoff, M.  2007. Speciation in the parthenogenetic oribatid mite genus Tectocepheus (Acari, Oribatida) as indicated by molecular phylogeny.  Pedobiologia 51: 111-122.

Domes, K., Althammer, M., Norton, R.A., Scheu, S. and Maraun, M.  2007. The phylogenetic relationship between Astigmata and Oribatida (Acari) as indicated by molecular markers. Experimental and Applied Acarology 42: 159-171.

Bayartogtokh, B. and Norton, R.A.2007. The Dyobelba tectopediosa species-group (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeidae) from Eastern North America, with notes on ecology and biogeography of world Dyobelba. Zootaxa 1591: 39-66.

Root, H., McGee, G.G. and Norton, R. A.  2007. Arboreal mite communities on epiphytic lichens of the Adirondack Mountains of New York.  Northeastern Naturalist. 14(3): 425-438.

Norton, R. A. and Behan-Pelletier, V. M.  2007. Eniochthonius mahunkai sp. n. (Acari: Oribatida: Eniochthoniidae), from North American peatlands, with a redescription of Eniochthonius and a key to North American species.  Acta Zoological Hungarica 53: 295-333.

Norton, R.A. 2007. Holistic acarology and ultimate causes:  examples from the oribatid mites. Pp. 3-20 in: Acarology XI: Proceedings of the International Congress. Morales-Malacara, J.B., Behan-Pelletier, V., Ueckermann, E., Pérez, T.M., Estrada-Venegas, E.G. and Badii, M. (Eds.). Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City. (Plenary Address.)

Oliveira, A. R, Norton, R. A., Moraes, G.J. de and Faccini, J. L.H. 2007 Preliminary observations on courtship behavior in Mochloribatula (Oribatida: Mochlozetidae). Pp. 715-718 in: Acarology XI: Proceedings of the International Congress. Morales-Malacara, J.B., Behan-Pelletier, V., Ueckermann, E., Pérez, T.M., Estrada-Venegas, E.G. and Badii, M. (Eds.). Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City. (Refereed)

Maraun, M., Illig, J., Sandmann, J.D.,  Krashevskaya, V., Norton, R.A. and Scheu, S.  2008. Soil Mites.  Pp 181-192 (Chapter 11.4) in: Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies 198 (E. Beck et al., Eds). Springer-Verlag Berlin. (Refereed).

Norton, R.A, Oliveira, A.R. and Moraes, G.J. de.  2008. First Brazilian records of the acariform mite genera Adelphacarus  and Gordialycus (Adelphacaridae and Nematalycidae).  International Journal of Acarology 34: 91-94. Canada, Ottawa

Papers in press:

Illig, J., Langel, R., Norton, R. A., Scheu, S. and Maraun, M. Where are the decomposers? Uncovering the soil food web of a tropical mountain rain forest in southern Ecuador using stable isotopes (15N). Journal of Tropical Ecology