BAIley mcmeans

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research,
University of Windsor,
Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
ph. (519) 253-3000 ext. 4246
Fax (519) 971-3616
email: Bailey

Supervisor(s): 
Dr. Aaron Fisk

Hometown:    
Franklin, Tennessee, USA

Education:
Middle Tennessee State University, B.Sc.
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, M.Sc.                                                                                         

Research Title:                                                                                                             
Spatial and temporal patterns of food webs in seasonally variable marine environments

Research Summary:                                                                           
I am interested in identifying patterns, or the lack thereof, in how energy flows within marine food webs. My research is focused on food webs in seasonally variable marine environments that experience periods of ice-cover and open-water annually. Many previous studies have adopted the view that food webs are balanced structures and that the diet of organisms is predictable, whereas others have stressed that food web structure varies with time and space and that non equilibrium conditions are the norm. Using chemical tracers that integrate the signature of an animal’s diet throughout time and space, I aim to test whether patterns are apparent in the flow of energy among organisms at various scales (e.g. individuals, species, communities). I hope that my research will add to our knowledge and perception of the energy flow and trophic structure of seasonally variable marine food webs.

contributions to research:

Publications

McMeans, B. C., K. Borgå, W. Bechtol, D. Higginbotham, and A. T. Fisk. 2007. Essential and non-essential element concentrations in two sleeper shark species collected in arctic waters. Environmental Pollution 148(1): 281-290

Benz, G. W., K. Nagasawa, A. Yamaguchi, B. C. McMeans, and A. McElwain. 2006. New host and ocean records for Driocephalus cerebrinoxius (Sphyriidae, Siphonostomatoida) and a reconsideration of phylogeny within Sphyriidae.  Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 36(1): 1-9

Presentations

B. C. McMeans, J. Svavarsson, A. T. Fisk. 25-29 August 2008. Patterns of stable nitrogen isotopes and mercury in the Iceland marine food web. Applications of Stable Isotopes to Ecological Research. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (poster)

B. C. McMeans, J. Svavarsson, A. T. Fisk. 7-12 June 2008. Establishing trophic structure in the Iceland food web using a combination of biochemical tracers. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada (platform)

B. C. McMeans, A. Bergman, J. Svavarsson, A. T. Fisk. 5-9 November 2006. Element and stable isotope dynamics in a remote marine food web. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Montreal, Quebec, Canada (platform)

B. C. McMeans, K. Borgå, W. Bechtol, D. Higginbotham, and A. T. Fisk. 17-21 July 2006. Essential and non-essential element concentrations in polar sharks. Joint meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists New Orleans. Lousiana, USA (platform)