HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS
Heterosigma akashiwo is a unicellular alga that forms toxic blooms in coastal areas. Predicting where and when these aggregations occur remains elusive, in part, because the mechanism through which these groups form remains unknown. I am currently approaching this problem through the following lines of inquiry: 1). Using a model to explore the set of parameters that are potentially important in bloom formation; 2). Undertaking experiments to examine whether surface environments are selective environments for H. akashiwo; 3). Determining rates of evolution in traits related to bloom formation and; 4). Investigating variation in swimming behavior .
Movie 1. The induction of a surface aggregation of Heterosigma akashiwo. The left beaker contains seawater and the right beaker contains a low-salinity layer over seawater. The brown coloration represents Heterosigma cells. The numbers indicate minutes.
Gurarie E, D Grunbaum & MT Nishizaki. 2010. Estimating 3D movements from 2D observations using a continuous model of helical microorganism swimming. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology In Press
Grunbaum D, K Chan, E Tobin & MT Nishizaki. 2008. Non-linear advection–diffusion equations approximate swarming but not schooling populations. Mathematical Biosciences 214 : 38-48.
JUVENILE SEA URCHINS
Nishizaki MT & JD Ackerman. 2007. Juvenile–adult associations in sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and S. droebachiensis): protection from predation and hydrodynamics in S. franciscanus ). Marine Biology 151:135-145.
Nishizaki MT & JD Ackerman. 2005. A secondary chemical cue facilitates adult-juvenile associations in red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus). Limnology & Oceanography 50(1): 354-362.
Nishizaki MT & JD Ackerman. 2004. Juvenile-adult associations in sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and S. droebachiensis): Is nutrition involved? Marine Ecology Progress Series 268:93-103.
Nishizaki MT & JD Ackerman. 2001. Gimme shelter: factors influencing juvenile sheltering in Strongylocentrotus franciscanus. Pp. 515-520 In Mike Barker (editor). Echinoderms 2000. Swets & Zeitlinger. Lisse, Netherlands.
NICHE SEPARATION IN INTERTIDAL SYSTEMS
Marchinko KB, MT Nishizaki, & KC Burns. 2004. Community-wide character displacement in barnacles: A new perspective on an old pattern. Ecology Letters 7: 114-120.
Ackerman JD & MT Nishizaki. 2004. The effect of velocity on the suspension feeding and growth of the marine mussels Mytilus trossulus and M. californianus: Implications for competition and niche separation. Journal of Marine Systems 49: 195-207.
PHYSICAL BIOLOGY
Woodson CB et al. 2007. Local diurnal upwelling driven by sea breezes in northern Monterey Bay Continental Shelf Research 27: 2289-2302.
Ackerman JD & MT Nishizaki. 1999. How stiff is a French fry? Teaching biomechanics to biology students. The Journal of Biological Education 34(1): 36-40.
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