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Bank, Michael

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Bank

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Michael

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Bank, Michael
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.ed72f5ba-ca3b-4681-9d7d-548ae4977e56

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    Loss of Foundation Species: Consequences for the Structure and Dynamics of Forested Ecosystems
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) Ellison, Aaron; Bank, Michael; Clinton, Barton D.; Colburn Mirkovic, Elizabeth; Elliott, Katherine; Ford, Chelcy R.; Foster, David; Kloeppel, Brian D.; Knoepp, Jennifer D.; Lovett, Gary M.; Mohan, Jacqueline; Orwig, David; Rodenhouse, Nicholas L.; Sobczak, William V.; Stinson, Kristina A.; Stone, Jeffrey K.; Swan, Christopher M.; Thompson, Jill; Holle, Betsy Von; Webster, Jackson R.
    In many forested ecosystems, the architecture and functional ecology of certain tree species define forest structure and their species-specific traits control ecosystem dynamics. Such foundation tree species are declining throughout the world due to introductions and outbreaks of pests and pathogens, selective removal of individual taxa, and over-harvesting. Through a series of case studies, we show that the loss of foundation treespecieschangesthelocalenvironmentonwhichavarietyofotherspeciesdepend; howthisdisruptsfun- damental ecosystem processes, including rates of decomposition, nutrient fluxes, carbon sequestration, and energy flow; and dramatically alters the dynamics of associated aquatic ecosystems. Forests in which dynam- ics are controlled by one or a few foundation species appear to be dominated by a small number of strong interactions and may be highly susceptible to alternating between stable states following even small pertur- bations. The ongoing decline of many foundation species provides a set of important, albeit unfortunate, opportunities to develop the research tools, models, and metrics needed to identify foundation species, antic- ipate the cascade of immediate, short- and long-term changes in ecosystem structure and function that will follow from their loss, and provide options for remedial conservation and management.
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    Meeting Report: Methylmercury in Marine Ecosystems—From Sources to Seafood Consumers
    (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2008) Chen, Celia Y.; Serrell, Nancy Ann; Evers, David C.; Fleishman, Bethany J.; Lambert, Kathleen; Weiss, Jeri; Mason, Robert P.; Bank, Michael
    Mercury and other contaminants in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems are an issue of great concern globally and in the United States, where consumption of marine fish and shellfish is a major route of human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg). A recent National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences–Superfund Basic Research Program workshop titled “Fate and Bioavailability of Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems and Effects on Human Exposure,” convened by the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Program on 15–16 November 2006 in Durham, New Hampshire, brought together human health experts, marine scientists, and ecotoxicologists to encourage cross-disciplinary discussion between ecosystem and human health scientists and to articulate research and monitoring priorities to better understand how marine food webs have become contaminated with MeHg. Although human health effects of Hg contamination were a major theme, the workshop also explored effects on marine biota. The workgroup focused on three major topics: a) the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in marine ecosystems, b) the trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of MeHg in marine food webs, and c) human exposure to Hg from marine fish and shellfish consumption. The group concluded that current understanding of Hg in marine ecosystems across a range of habitats, chemical conditions, and ocean basins is severely data limited. An integrated research and monitoring program is needed to link the processes and mechanisms of MeHg production, bioaccumulation, and transfer with MeHg exposure in humans.