Research

h Biological invasions of aquatic communities: controls and impacts

h Plankton ecology, particularly in reservoirs and large rivers

h Biodiversity in large rivers and their floodplains

h Biological assessment of water quality

The primary focus of my research is area of population and community ecology in freshwater environments. My students and I use surveys and experiments to explore the factors which limit the distribution and abundance of organisms. In recent years, I have focused much attention to dispersal and how that regulates community structure in lakes and ponds. Studies of exotic species, particularly tropical Daphnia invading lakes across the continent, have provided a handy vehicle for this research. We are also doing collaborative research on large rivers, exploring community structure over large spatial scales. Finally, I am involved with collaborative studies of local lakes and streams, and have an ongoing interest in assessing water quality with surveys and bioassay experiments.

My study systems are primarily the freshwater zooplankton, the small animals that eat algae and serve as food for young fish. I have explored ponds and lakes from the Arctic to the tropics, and have done experiments in vessels ranging from small beakers to 4-story-tall mesocosms. In recent years, my students and I have put special attention on reservoirs of the Great Plains region, doing surveys to examine factors regulating dispersal and colonization of exotic species. Since 2004, my lab has been involved in collaborative studies of large rivers, focusing on the role of reservoirs and wetlands on the distribution and abundance of zooplankton.

My graduate students have allowed me to explore many more questions that I would have done alone. Some students have studied other aspects of species invasions, particularly the role of interactions with native species. Other grad students have examined water quality and impacts of global climate change on aquatic invertebrates. Each of my students writes a detailed research proposal, presents at professional meetings, and is encouraged to publish. Most of the 13 students who have completed a Master’s thesis under my direction (listed below) have completed their thesis in about two years, many have received awards and grants, and all have jobs in the field of biology. This employment success rate attests to both their motivation and the employment prospects related to aquatic ecology.

Collaborative Projects

Current grants

Havel, J.E. 2006-08. Planktonic indicators of reference conditions in great rivers: analyses for the EPA EMAP. Environmental Protection Agency (through Illinois Natural History Survey) $ 62,501

Other recent collaborations

Spatial distribution and dynamics of algae blooms in Ozark reservoirs (Missouri Department of Natural Resources)

Vertical migration and niche partitioning: tower experiments (Max Planck Institut für Limnologie, Plön, GERMANY).

Connectivity of rivers and their floodplains: Impacts on biodiversity (Missouri Department of Conservation and University of Missouri).

Invasion of an exotic cladoceran into North America (National Science Foundation and University of Kansas)

Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of plankton in large rivers (Illinois Natural History Survey and University of Louisville)

James River TMDL (Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Missouri State departments of GGP and CHM)

Estimating dispersal from patterns of spread (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, California).

Graduate Students Prospective Graduate Students

Click above link for more information

Current Graduate Students

Tammy Yelden (2007-present): Essential fatty acids as tracers of reservoir food webs

Garrett Clark (2007-present): Invasive snails and the food webs of Ozark streams

Jason Wolf (2006-present): Effects of fish cues on zooplankton vertical migration behavior

Sam Jones (2005-present): The role of bait dumping in crayfish invasions

Graduate Students Completing a Thesis

(all Master of Science, Biology, Missouri State)

Kelli McCloud Dickerson (2005-2008): Zooplankton refuges and responses to flow in experimental microcosms

Angela Bandy (2005-2007): Top-down control of algal biomass in streams: the role of snails in the Upper White River Basin, Missouri and Arkansas. Present position: Tutor, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Kim Medley (2002-2004): Zooplankton species composition and diversity in floodplain ponds: effects of flooding and local site characteristics. Present position: Ph.D. student (Conservation Biology), University of Central Florida..

Tina Tamme Hopper (2000-02): Environmental limits to invasion of ponds by Daphnia lumholtzi Sars. Present position: Laboratory Supervisor, Missouri State University.

Mark Penticuff (1999-2002): Biomonitoring of stream water quality: comparative sensitivities of macroinvertebrate indices and leaf decomposition rates. Present position: Science Teacher, Springfield Public Schools.

Kristen Pattinson (1999-2001): Blue-green algae and the seasonal succession of Daphnia. Present position: Environmental Specialist, Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Lori Soeken (1996-98): The effect of turbidity on the distribution and life history of river zooplankton. Present position: Research Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey, Brighton, IL.

Jennifer Cacka* (1996-98): Competition between exotic and native cladocerans. Present position: Research Scientist, US Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas. (*now Ph.D.)

Matt Eisenbacher (1995-98): Effects of the exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi (Sars) on the growth rate and prey selection of bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque). Present position: Environmental Scientist, Leigh Environmental, Inc., Springfield, MO.

Robin Hurtubise (1993-96): Effects of UV-B radiation on freshwater invertebrates. Present position: Research Scientist, US Geological Survey, Columbia, MO.

Jocelyn Korsch (1992-97): Biomonitoring a stream impacted by wastewater discharges using macroinvertebrate diversity and bioassays. Present position: Park Naturalist, Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Robert Schulz (1991-96) The Central Stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum, as an indicator of heavy metal contamination, using otolith age and growth analysis. Present position: Fisheries Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation.

Frederick Dry* (1990-92): Effects of odonate predation on a littoral prey community. Present position: Assistant Professor, Arkansas State University. (*now Ph.D.)

Katherine Koontz (1990-92): Effects of landfill leachate on the behavior, feeding rate, and growth rate of the prosobranch snail Elimia potosiensis. Present position: Laboratory Coordinator, Ozarks Technical Community College.

Refereed Publications

For a reprint, email johnhavel@missouristate.edu

Havel, J.E. Cladocera. 2008. Invited chapter for Encyclopedia of Inland Waters (ed. G.E. Likens). Elsevier, online reference work (35 manuscript pages), in press.

Medley, K.A., and J.E. Havel. 2007. Hydrology and local environment influences on zooplankton communities in floodplain ponds. Wetlands, in press (December issue).

Havel, J.E., and J. Graham. 2006. Complementary population dynamics of exotic and native Daphnia in North American reservoir communities. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, in press.

Havel, J.E., and W. Lampert. 2006. Habitat partitioning of native and exotic Daphnia in gradients of temperature and food: mesocosm experiments. Freshwater Biology 51: 487-498.

Havel, J.E., and K.A. Medley. 2006. Biological invasions across spatial scales: intercontinental,

Havel, J.E., J.B. Shurin, and J.R. Jones. 2005. Environmental limits to a rapidly spreading exotic cladoceran. EcoScience 12: 376-385.

Havel, J.E., C. E. Lee, and J. Vander Zanden. 2005. Do reservoirs facilitate invasions into landscapes? BioScience 55: 518-525.

Havel, J.E., and J.B. Shurin. 2004. Mechanisms, effects, and scales of dispersal in freshwater zooplankton: a synthesis. Limnology and Oceanography 49: 1229-1238.

Havel, J.E., and K.R. Pattinson. 2004. Spatial distribution and seasonal dynamics of plankton in a terminal multiple-series reservoir. Lake and Reservoir Management 20: 14-26.

Shurin, J.B., and J.E. Havel. 2003. Hydrologic connections as dispersal routes for the spread of the exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi. Biological Invasions 4: 431-439.

Pattinson, K.R., J.E. Havel, and R.G. Rhodes. 2003. Invasibility of a reservoir to exotic Daphnia lumholtzi: Experimental assessment of diet selection and life history responses to Cyanobacteria. Freshwater Biology 48: 233-246.

Havel, J.E., J.B. Shurin, and J.R. Jones. 2002. Estimating dispersal from patterns of spread: Spatial and local control of invasion by Daphnia lumholtzi in Missouri lakes. Ecology 83: 3306-3318.

Johnson, J.L., and J.E. Havel. 2001. Competition between exotic and native Daphnia: In situ experiments. J. Plankton Res. 23: 373-387.

Havel, J.E., and J. Stelzleni-Schwent. 2000. Zooplankton community structure: The role of dispersal. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 27: 3264-3268.

Havel, J.E., J.K. Colbourne, and P.D.N. Hebert. 2000. Reconstructing the history of intercontinental dispersal in Daphnia lumholtzi by the use of genetic markers. Limnology and Oceanography 45: 1414-1419.

Shurin, J.B., J.E. Havel, M.A. Leibold, and B. Pinel-Alloul. 2000. Local and regional species richness: A scale-independent test for saturation. Ecology 81: 3062-3073.

Havel, J.E., E.M. Eisenbacher, and A.A. Black. 2000. Diversity of crustacean zooplankton in riparian wetlands: Colonization and egg banks. Aquatic Ecology 34: 63-76.

Galat, D.L., L. H. Frederickson, D. D. Humberg, K.J. Bataille, J.R. Bodie, J. Dohrenwend, G.T. Gelwicks, J. E. Havel, D.L. Helmers, J.B. Hooker, J.R. Jones, M. Knowlton, J. Kubisiak, J. Mazourek, A. McColpin, R.D. Semlitsch, and R.B. Renken. 1998. Natural and controlled flooding of channelized Missouri River wetlands: Complementary processes for restoring river-floodplain connectivity. BioScience 48: 721-733.

Hurtubise, R.D., E.E. Little, and J.E. Havel. 1998. Methods for assessing the impacts of UV-B radiation on aquatic invertebrates. Pp. 31-44 in Little, E.E., A.J. DeLonay, and B.M. Greenburg (eds.) Environmental toxicology and risk assessment. Vol. 7. ASTM STP 1333, American Society of Testing and Materials, Philadelphia.

Hurtubise, R.D., J.E. Havel, and E.E. Little. 1998. Effects of ultraviolet-B radiation on freshwater invertebrates: Experiments with a solar simulator. Limnology and Oceanography 43: 1082-1088.

Havel, J.E., M.C. Barnhart, and J. Schnake Greene. 1997. Experimental investigations of water quality: The bioassay. American Biology Teacher 59: 349-352.

Havel, J.E., W.R. Mabee, and J.R. Jones. 1995. Invasion of the exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi into North American reservoirs. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 52: 151-160.

Havel, J.E., and B.L. Talbott. 1995. Life history characteristics of the freshwater ostracod Cyprinotus incongruens and their application to sediment toxicity tests. Ecotoxicology 4: 50-62.

Chaplin, J.A., J.E. Havel, and P.D.N. Hebert. 1994. Sex and ostracodes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9: 435-439.

Havel, J.E., and P.D.N. Hebert. 1993a. Clonal diversity in parthenogenetic ostracodes. Pages 353-368 in: McKenzie, K.G., and P.J. Jones (eds.). Ostracoda in the Earth and Life Sciences, Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam.

Havel, J.E., and P.D.N. Hebert. 1993b. Daphnia lumholtzi from North America: Another exotic zooplankter. Limnology and Oceanography 38: 1837-1841.

Havel, J.E., J. Link, and J. Niedzwiecki. 1993. Selective predation by Lestes sp. (Odonata, Lestidae) on littoral microcrustacea. Freshwater Biology 29: 47-58.

Havel, J.E., P.D.N. Hebert, and L.D. Delorme. 1990a. Genetics of sexual Ostracoda from a low arctic site. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 3: 65-84.

Havel, J.E., P.D.N. Hebert, and L.D. Delorme. 1990b. Genotypic diversity of asexual Ostracoda from a low arctic site. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 3: 391-410.

Havel, J.E., and P.D.N. Hebert. 1989. Apomictic parthenogenesis and genotypic diversity in Cypridopsis vidua (Ostracoda, Cyprididae). Heredity 62: 383-392.

Havel, J.E., C.C. Wilson, and P.D.N. Hebert. 1989. Reproductive investment and sex ratios in the viviparous onychophoran Plicatoperipatus jamaicensis. Oikos 56: 224-234.

Dodson, S.I., and J.E. Havel. 1988. Prey response in Daphnia: Growth and life history. Limnology and Oceanography 33: 1276-1287.

Havel, J.E. 1987. Predator-induced defenses: A review. Pages 263-278 in Kerfoot, W.C., and A. Sih. Predation: Direct and indirect effects on aquatic communities. University Press of New England, Hanover.

Havel, J.E., and S.I. Dodson. 1987. Reproductive costs of Chaoborus-induced polymorphism in Daphnia pulex. Hydrobiologia 150: 273-281.

Havel, J.E. 1985a. Predation of common invertebrate predators on long-and short-featured Daphnia retrocurva. Hydrobiologia 124: 141-149.

Havel, J.E. 1985b. Cyclomorphosis of Daphnia pulex spined morphs. Limnology and Oceanography 30: 853-861.

Havel, J.E., and S.I. Dodson. 1985. Environmental cues for cyclomorphosis in Daphnia retrocurva. Freshwater Biology 15: 469-478.

Havel, J.E., and S.I. Dodson. 1984. Chaoborus predation on typical and spined morphs of Daphnia pulex: Behavioral observations. Limnology and Oceanography 29: 487-494.

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