Drivers of algal composition and cyanotoxins in rivers and lakes

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Rivers and lakes are critical resources and an understanding of the ecology of these ecosystems is important to the Canadian economy and society at large. My long term goal is to determine the drivers of algal biomass and composition in rivers and lakes in order to develop models that explain their variability through space and time and their response to human impacts. Since algae along with aquatic vascular plants are the base of aquatic food webs, what controls their biomass and composition has both direct and indirect consequences for higher trophic levels and water quality. Algae are also convenient for testing and developing ecological theory: because of their relatively small size and concomitant short generation times they can be manipulated both in the laboratory and in the field.