Jasmine E. Saros

Professor of Paleolimnology and Lake Ecology, School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute

Research Topic:
Paleolimnology, phytoplankton ecology, lake ecosystem response to global change

Research Program:
My main research interests involve paleolimnology and phytoplankton ecology, as I use diatom fossil records in lake sediments to reconstruct environmental change over time. My approach differs from conventional reconstructions involving diatom profiles in that I apply information from both field observations and bioassays to the sediment records, and I use patterns in the sediment record to pose testable hypotheses about mechanisms driving observed changes. My research also focuses on understanding current responses of lake ecosystems to climate change. I am currently conducting research in alpine, saline, and boreal lakes.

Publications:

Saros, J.E. & N.J. Anderson. 2014. The ecology of the planktonic diatom Cyclotella and its implications for global environmental change studies. Biological Reviews, DOI: 10.1111/brv.12120

Saros, J.E., Strock, K.E., McCue, J., Hogan, E. & N.J. Anderson. 2014. Response of Cyclotella species to nutrients and incubation depth in Arctic lakes. Journal of Plankton Research 36: 450-460.

Slemmons, K.E.H. & J.E. Saros. 2012. Implications of nitrogen-rich glacial meltwater for phytoplankton diversity and productivity in alpine lakes. Limnology & Oceanography 57: 1651-1663.

Saros, J.E., Rose, K.C., Clow, D.W., Stephens, V.C., Nurse, A.B., Arnett, H.A.*, Stone, J.R., Williamson, C.E. & A.P. Wolfe. 2010. Melting alpine glaciers enrich high-elevation lakes with reactive nitrogen. Environmental Science & Technology 44: 4891-4896.

Saros, J.E., Clow, D.W., Blett, T. & A.P. Wolfe. 2010. Critical nitrogen deposition loads in high- elevation lakes of the western U.S. inferred from paleolimnological records. Water, Air & Soil Pollution, DOI 10.1007/s11270-010-0526-6.

Hobbs, W.O., Telford, R.J., Birks, H.J.B., Saros, J.E., Hazewinkel, R.R.O., Perren, B.B., Saulnier-Talbot, E. & A.P. Wolfe. 2010. Quantifying recent ecological changes in remote lakes of North America and Greenland using sediment diatom assemblages. PLoS One 5(4): e10026. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010026.

Williamson, C.E., Salm, C.R.*, Cooke, S.L. & J.E. Saros. 2010. How do UV, temperature, and zooplankton influence the dynamics of alpine phytoplankton communities? Hydrobiologia 648: 73-81.

Winn, N., C.E. Williamson, R. Abbitt, K. Rose, W. Renwick, M. Henry and J.E. Saros. 2009. Modeling dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in subalpine and alpine lakes with GIS and remote sensing. Landscape Ecology 24: 807-816

Rose, K.C., C.E. Williamson, J.E. Saros, R. Sommaruga and J.M. Fischer. 2009. Differences in UV transparency and thermal structure between alpine and subalpine lakes: implications for organisms. Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences 8: 1244-1256.

Scott, C.E., Saros, J.E., Williamson, C.E., Salm, C.R., Peters, S.C. and D.L. Mitchell. 2009. Effects of nutrients and dissolved organic matter on the response of phytoplankton to ultraviolet radiation: experimental comparison in spring versus summer. Hydrobiologia 619: 155-166.

Williamson, C.E., Saros, J.E. and D.W. Schindler. 2009. Sentinels of change. Science 323: 887- 888.

Salm, C.R., J.E. Saros, S.C. Fritz, C.L. Osburn and D.M. Reineke. 2009. Phytoplankton productivity across prairie saline lakes of the Great Plains (USA): A step toward deciphering patterns through lake classification models. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 66: 1435-1448.

Salm, C.R., Saros, J.E., Martin, C.S. and J.M. Erickson. 2009. Patterns of seasonal phytoplankton distribution in prairie saline lakes of the northern Great Plains (U.S.A.) Saline Systems 5:1-13.

Saros, J.E. 2009. Integrating neo- and paleolimnological approaches to refine interpretation of environmental change. Journal of Paleolimnology 42: 243-252. Invited Deevey-Frey Review.