James A. Rusak

North Temperate Lakes LTER
Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin - Trout Lake Station
jarusak@wisc.edu
phone: 715-356-9494 / fax: 315-356-6866

 



Research Interests:

My research focuses on understanding the interactions and feedbacks between a lake's biology and its physical and chemical attributes as well as the environmental context (e.g., regional landscape and climate) in which it is embedded. One way to understand biological pattern and process is via an examination of its spatial and temporal variability.
Variability is a fundamental property of nature and its quantification and interpretation cross the boundaries between many different disciplines. My research combines experimental manipulations, paleoecology, and long-term monitoring to provide a better understanding of variability in lakes by 1) quantifying and comparing its spatial and temporal extent, 2) investigating the mechanisms controlling its transmission among trophic levels, and 3) determining how it scales between populations, communities and ecosystems. I am also interested in using changes in variability (of freshwater zooplankton in particular) as a tool to detect environmental change. Ultimately, incorporating a better understanding of variability will improve our attempts to monitor, manage, and manipulate aquatic ecosystems.

Education:

B.S., Marine Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, 1985.
M.S., Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1993.
Ph.D., Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, 2000.


Research Experience:

Postdoctoral Fellow, Limnology Laboratory, University of Regina, 1999-2002.


Selected Publications:

White, E.P., P.B. Adler, W.K. Lauenroth, R.A. Gill, D. Greenberg, D.M. Kaufman, A. Rassweiler, J.A. Rusak, M.D. Smith, J.R. Steinbeck, R.B. Waide, and J. Yao. 2006. A comparison of the species-time relationship across ecosystems and taxonomic groups. Oikos 112: 185-195.

P.B. Adler, E.P. White, W.K. Lauenroth, D.M. Kaufman, A. Rassweiler, and J.A. Rusak. 2005. Evidence for a general species-time-area relationship. Ecology 86: 2032-2039.

Legendre, P., J.A. Rusak, and D. Borcard. Zooplankton community resistance following a whole-lake acidification experiment. Submitted to Limnology and Oceanography.

Rusak, J.A., P.R. Leavitt, S. McGowan, G. Chen, O. Olson, S. Wunsam, and B. Cumming. 2004. Millennial-scale relationships of diatom species richness and production in two prairie lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 49: 1290-1299.

Laird, K.R., B.F. Cumming, S. Wunsam, J.A. Rusak, R.J. Oglesby, S.C. Fritz and P.R. Leavitt. 2003. Lake sediments record large-scale shifts in moisture regimes across the northern prairies of North America during the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 2483–2488.

Rusak, J.A., N.D. Yan, K.M. Somers, K.L. Cottingham, F. Micheli, S.R. Carpenter, T.M. Frost, M.J. Paterson, and D.J. McQueen. 2002. A regional catalogue of crustacean zooplankton variability: temporal, spatial, and taxonomic patterns in unmanipulated north-temperate lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 47: 613-625.

Rusak, J.A., N.D. Yan, K.M. Somers, D.J. McQueen, and C.W. Ramcharan. 2001. Differences in the variability of crustacean zooplankton communities between manipulated and reference lakes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Advances in Limnology 56: 171-186.

Ramcharan, C.W., N.D. Yan, D.J. McQueen, A. Perez-Fuentetaja, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. Complex responses of Chaoborus to changes in fish populations. Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Advances in Limnology 56: 81-100.

Ramcharan, C.W., D.J. McQueen, A. Perez-Fuentetaja, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. Analyses of lake food webs using individual-based models to estimate Chaoborus production and consumption. Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Advances in Limnology 56: 101-126.

Yan, N.D., A. Perez-Fuentetaja, C.W. Ramcharan, D.J. McQueen, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: changes in the crustacean zooplankton communities of Mouse and Ranger lakes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Advances in Limnology 56: 127-150.

Ramcharan, C.W., A. Perez-Fuentetaja, D.J. McQueen, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. Dynamics of zooplankton productivity under two different predatory regimes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Advances in Limnology 56: 151-170.

Cottingham, K.L., J.A. Rusak, and P.R. Leavitt. 2000. Increased ecosystem variability and reduced predictability following nutrient enrichment: evidence from paleolimnology. Ecology Letters 3: 340-348.

Rusak, J.A., N.D. Yan, K.M. Somers, and D.J. McQueen. 1999. The temporal coherence of zooplankton population abundance in neighboring north-temperate lakes. The American Naturalist 153: 46-58.

Micheli, F., K.L. Cottingham, J. Bascompte, O.N. Bjørnstad, G.L. Eckert, J.M. Fischer, T.H. Keitt, B.E. Kendall, J.L. Klug, and J.A. Rusak. 1999. The dual nature of community variability. Oikos 85: 161-169.

Rusak, J. A. and T. Mosindy. 1997. Seasonal movements of lake sturgeon in Lake of the Woods and Rainy River, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75: 383-395.