We are interested in how environmental factors and biotic interactions control the abundance and the dynamics of HABs and how we can use traits to understand and predict HABs at present and in the future.

We investigate HABs in both freshwater and marine environments, and currently have projects on HABs in inland lakes and the Laurentian Great Lakes. We're also measuring eco-physiological traits of cyanobacterial isolates from Lake Victoria in Africa! Stay tuned for some novel findings. Below are some of our publications on HABs.

Understanding and predicting harmful algal blooms in a changing climate: a trait-based framework

E Litchman

Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2023) 8 (2), 229-246

Ecology of Algae and Cyanobacteria (Phytoplankton)

E Litchman, P de Tezanos Pinto

Wetzel's Limnology 2024 , 511-538

Decreasing groundwater supply can exacerbate lake warming and trigger algal blooms

A Safaie, E Litchman, MS Phanikumar

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (2021) 126 (9), e2021JG006455

Temperature effects on growth rates and fatty acid content in freshwater algae and cyanobacteria

JO Nalley, DR O'Donnell, E Litchman

Algal research (2018) 35, 500-507

Evaluating the role of groundwater in circulation and thermal structure within a deep inland lake

A Safaie, E Litchman, MS Phanikumar

Advances in water resources (2017) 108, 310-327

The effects of phosphorus and temperature on the competitive success of an invasive cyanobacterium

CN Ryan, MK Thomas, E Litchman

Aquatic Ecology (2017) 51, 463-472

The role of heterocytes in the physiology and ecology of bloom-forming harmful cyanobacteria

L Yema, E Litchman, P de Tezanos Pinto

Harmful Algae (2016) 60, 131-138

Environment and evolutionary history determine the global biogeography of phytoplankton temperature traits

MK Thomas, CT Kremer, E Litchman

Global Ecology and Biogeography (2016) 25 (1), 75-86

Effects of temperature and nitrogen availability on the growth of invasive and native cyanobacteria

MK Thomas, E Litchman

Hydrobiologia (2016) 763 (1), 357-369

Autonomous sampling of water columns using gliding robotic fish: Algorithms and harmful-algae-sampling experiments

F Zhang, O Ennasr, E Litchman, X Tan

IEEE Systems Journal (2015) 10 (3), 1271-1281

Autonomous sampling of water columns using gliding robotic fish: Control algorithms and field experiments

F Zhang, O En-Nasr, E Litchman, X Tan

2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 517-522

Functional traits explain phytoplankton responses to environmental gradients across lakes of the United States

KF Edwards, E Litchman, CA Klausmeier

Ecology (2013) 94 (7), 1626-1635

Eco‐evolutionary differences in light utilization traits and distributions of freshwater phytoplankton

AS Schwaderer, K Yoshiyama, P de Tezanos Pinto, NG Swenson, ...

Limnology and Oceanography (2011) 56 (2), 589-598

Interactive effects of N: P ratios and light on nitrogen‐fixer abundance

P de Tezanos Pinto, E Litchman

Oikos (2010) 119 (3), 567-575

Eco-physiological responses of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria to light

P de Tezanos Pinto, E Litchman

Hydrobiologia (2010) 639, 63-68

Trait-based community ecology of phytoplankton

E Litchman, CA Klausmeier

Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics (2008) 39 (1), 615-639

Photosynthetic and growth responses of three freshwater algae to phosphorus limitation and daylength

E Litchman, D Steiner, P Bossard

Freshwater Biology (2003) 48 (12), 2141-2148

Competition and coexistence of phytoplankton under fluctuating light: experiments with two cyanobacteria

E Litchman

Aquatic Microbial Ecology (2003) 31 (3), 241-248