Norma Fowler
- Professor Emeritus
- Integrative Biology
- Texas Field Station Network
- Biodiversity Center
Contact Information
Biography
Norma Fowler is a Professor Emerita of the Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas as Austin. She retired from the department in 2025, but continues be involved in research and public outreach. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Chicago, followed by a Ph.D. in botany from Duke University in 1978 and a postdoc (Leverhulme Fellow) at the School of Plant Biology, University College of North Wales. She joined the faculty of the Department of Botany at the University of Texas at Austin in 1979. When the UT biology departments were re-organized she became a faculty member of Integrative Biology.
Throughout these transitions, Fowler's research and that of her students has primarily focused on plant population and community ecology and plant conservation biology.
Research
Fowler and her students have studied a variety of questions in several areas of plant population ecology, plant community ecology, and plant conservation biology. Recently, these areas have included (1) the dynamics, spatial structure, and regulation of plant populations; (2) the effects of fire and herbivory on plant population dynamics, plant-plant interactions, and plant community structure and dynamics; (3) the impacts and control of invasive non-native grasses; and (4) the biology and conservation of several endangered plant species. A majority of recent projects have focused on central Texas savannas and woodlands. Many have conservation applications, including the preservation of bracted twistflower (an endangered local wildflower), and the management of woodland and savanna preserves.
Research Areas
- Biodiversity, Ecology or Sustainability
Fields of Interest
- Ecology and Global Change Biology
- Plant Biology
Education
- Leverhulme Fellow (postdoctoral), School of Plant Biology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K. (Fall 1978 - Summer 1979)
- Ph.D., Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (1978)
- B.A. in Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (1973)
Publications
Selected publications
Fowler, N.L. and D.W. Dunlap. 1986. Grassland vegetation of the eastern Edwards Plateau. American Midland Naturalist 115:146-155.
Fowler, N.L. 1986. The role of competition in plant communities in arid and semiarid regions. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:89-110.
Fowler, N.L. 1990. The effects of competition and environmental heterogeneity on three co-occurring grasses. Journal of Ecology 78:389-402.
Miller, R.E. and N.L. Fowler. 1994. Life history variation and local adaptation within two populations of Bouteloua rigidiseta (Texas grama). Journal of Ecology 82:855-864.
Fowler, N.L. and K. Clay. 1995. Environmental heterogeneity, fungal parasitism and the demography of the grass Stipa leucotricha. Oecologia 103: 55-62.
Fowler, N. L. 1995. Density-dependent demography in two grasses: a five-year study. Ecology 76(7):2145-2164.
Miller, R.E., J.M. ver Hoef, and N.L. Fowler. 1995. Spatial heterogeneity in eight central Texas grasslands. Journal of Ecology 83:919-928.
Pease, C. L., and N. L. Fowler. 1997. A systematic approach to some aspects of conservation biology. Ecology 78(5):1321-1329.
Russell, F.L., D. B. Zippin, and N. L. Fowler. 2001. Effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on plants, plant populations, and communities: a review. American Midland Naturalist 146:1-26.
Russell, F. L., and N. L. Fowler. 2004. Effects of white-tailed deer on the population dynamics of acorns, seedlings and small saplings of Quercus buckleyi. Plant Ecology 173:59-72.
Fowler, N. L., R. D. Overath, and C. M. Pease. 2006. Detection of density dependence requires density manipulations and calculation of λ. Ecology 87:655-664.
Gabbard, B. L., and N. L. Fowler. 2007. Wide ecological amplitude of a diversity-reducing invasive grass. Biological Invasions 9:149-160.
Noel, J. M., and Fowler, N.L. 2007. Effects of fire and neighboring trees on Ashe juniper. Rangeland Ecology and Management 60:596-603.
Fowler, N.L., and M.T. Simmons. 2009. Savanna dynamics in central Texas: just succession? Applied Vegetation Science 12: 23-31.
Alofs, K. M., and N. L. Fowler. 2010. Habitat fragmentation caused by woody plant encroachment inhibits the spread of an invasive grass. Journal of Applied Ecology 47(2):338-347.
Fowler, N. L., and C. M. Pease. 2010. Temporal variation in the carrying capacity of a perennial grass population. American Naturalist 175(5):504-512.
Fowler, N. L., C. F. Best, D. M. Price, and A. L. Hempel. 2011. Ecological requirements of the Zapata bladderpod Physaria thamnophila, an endangered Tamaulipan thornscrub plant. Southwestern Naturalist 56:341-352.
Fowler, N. L., A. Center, and E. A. Ramsey. 2012. Streptanthus bracteatus (Brassicaceae), a rare annual woodland forb, thrives in less cover: evidence of a vanished habitat? Plant Ecology 213:1511–1523.
Terry, M., K. Trout, B. Williams, T. Herrera, and N. Fowler. 2012. Limitations to natural production of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) II. Effects of repeated harvesting at two-year intervals in a South Texas population. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 6:567-577.
Alofs, K. A., and N. L. Fowler. 2012. Loss of native herbaceous species due to woody plant encroachment facilitates the establishment of an invasive grass. Ecology 94:751-760.
Fowler, N. L., and C. M. Pease. 2013. Temporal variation in density dependence in an herbaceous community. pp. 123-139 in C. K. Kelly, M. G. Bowler, and G. A. Fox, editors. Temporal dynamics and ecological process. Cambridge University Press. 325 pp.
Alofs, K. A., A. V. González, and N. L. Fowler. 2014. Local native plant diversity responds to habitat loss and fragmentation over different time spans and spatial scales. Plant Ecology 215:1139-1151.
Andruk, C. M., C. Schwope, and N. L. Fowler. 2014. Is fire enough? The joint effects of fire and herbivory on hardwood regeneration in central Texas woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 334:193–200.
Terry, M., K. Trout, B. Williams, T. Herrera, and N. Fowler. 2014. Limitations to natural production of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) III. Effects of repeated harvesting at two-year intervals for six years in a south Texas population. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 8(2): 541 – 550.
Gurevitch, J., G. A. Fox, N. L. Fowler, and C. H. Graham. 2016. Landscape demography: population change and its drivers across spatial scales. Quarterly Review of Biology 91(4):459-485.
De Jong, G. L., and N. L. Fowler. 2018. Duration of propagule pressure affects non-native plant species abundances. American Journal of Botany 105(2)197-206.
Fowler, N, T. Keitt, O. Schmidt, M. Terry, and K. Trout. 2018. Border wall: bad for biodiversity. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 16:137-138.
Fowler, N. L., and B. Beckage. 2019. North American savannas. Pp. 123-150 in P. Scogings and M. Sankaran, eds. Savanna woody plants and large herbivores. Wiley, NY.
Booth, E. M., G. Creacy, and N. L. Fowler. 2019. Burn severity and post-fire erosion control affect post-fire woody plant recruitment. Natural Areas Journal 39:189-196.
Fowler, N. L. and R. E Carden. 2024. Roles of fire in the plant communities of the eastern Edwards Plateau of Texas. Fire Ecology 20:55. (16 pages)
Behr, W. L., C. Andruk, C. Schwope, and N. L. Fowler. 2024. Benefits to native grasses from a summer fire still present 12 years later. Natural Areas Journal 44 (3): 172-182.
Awards
- Society for Ecological Restoration, Texas Chapter, Recognition of Excellence in Restoration Research, 2025
- Teaching Excellence Award, College of Natural Science, University of Texas, April 2000