Seasonal Succession

Seasonal changes in weather have major effects on plankton communities. In temperate lakes, there is a growing season during the warmer months, after which organisms die off or form resting stages in winter. This environmental variation leads to a regular succession of species over the growing season, called seasonal succession. Although seasonal succession has long fascinated plankton ecologists, there have been few attempts to model this process mathematically. We are investigating seasonal succession with a combination of mathematical modeling, laboratory experiments, and analysis of long-term data from a range of Swiss lakes.

Personnel

PIs

Christopher Klausmeier and Elena Litchman

Other Lab Members

Anne Schwaderer and Chris Steiner

Collaborators

Julie Bjornstad (GA Tech), Peter Bossard (EAWAG, Switzerland), Leonid Bunimovich (GA Tech), Leo Dachevsky (GA Tech) and Veronika Huber (IGB, Germany)

Publications

Litchman, E. and C.A. Klausmeier. 2001. Competition of phytoplankton under fluctuating light. American Naturalist, 157: 170–187.

Reprint (246KB PDF)

Financial Support

Klausmeier, C. A., and E. Litchman. 2005-2008. QEIB: Novel Approaches to Plankton Seasonal Succession. NSF, Ecology Program (DEB-0610532)

Last updated: March 6, 2008