Meredith Holgerson

Overview

I am a freshwater ecologist studying how ponds and lakes function and respond to environmental change. My research program focuses on community and ecosystem ecology, and I am interested in how organisms and ecosystem processes interact. I ask questions about freshwater food webs, community composition, greenhouse gas production, and ecosystem metabolism. My research relies on field studies, small-scale and whole-ecosystem experiments, and collaborations to scale local observations to global patterns.

Research Focus

Our lab focuses on freshwater community and ecosystem processes. Current research questions include:

1. What are the drivers of greenhouse gas production and emissions in ponds and lakes?
2. How do nutrient and carbon loads interact to affect lake community and ecosystem dynamics?
3. What is a pond? Are ponds just little lakes, or are they functionally distinct?
4. How are aquatic communities and ecosystems altered by environmental change, such as land use and non-native species?

Publications

For a complete list, please see Google Scholar

• Holgerson, M.A., A. Duarte, M. Hayes, M. Adams, J. Tyson, K. Douville, and A. Strecker. 2019. Floodplains provide important amphibian habitat despite multiple ecological threats. Ecosphere: e02853.
• Homan, R.N., M.A. Holgerson, and L.M. Biga. 2018. A long-term demographic study of a spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) population in central Ohio. Herpetologica 74: 109-116.
• Holgerson, M.A., M.R. Lambert, L.K. Freidenburg, and D.K. Skelly. 2018. Suburbanization alters small pond ecosystems: Shifts in nitrogen and food web dynamics.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 75: 641-652.
• Holgerson, M.A., E. Farr, and P.A. Raymond. 2017. Gas transfer velocities in small forested ponds. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences 122: 1011-1021.
• Holgerson, M.A., C.J. Zappa, and P.A. Raymond. 2016. Substantial overnight reaeration by convective cooling discovered in pond ecosystems. Geophysical Research Letters 43: 8044-8051.
• Holgerson, M.A., D.M. Post, and D.K. Skelly. 2016. Reconciling the role of terrestrial leaves in pond food webs: A whole-ecosystem experiment. Ecology 97: 1771-1782.
• Kolozsvary, M.B.= and M.A. Holgerson=. 2016. Creating temporary pools as wetland mitigation: How well do they function?  Wetlands 36: 335-345.
• Holgerson, M.A. and P.A. Raymond. 2016. Large contribution to inland water CO2 and CH4 emissions from very small ponds. Nature Geoscience 9: 222-226.
• Holgerson, M.A. 2015. Drivers of carbon dioxide and methane supersaturation in small, temporary ponds. Biogeochemistry 124 (1): 305-318.
• Atwood, M.A.  2013. Effects of euthanasia method on stable-carbon and stable-nitrogen isotope analysis for an ectothermic vertebrate. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 27: 909-913.
• Atwood, M.A.†, J.W. Mora†, and A.W. Kaplan. 2010. Learning to lead: Evaluating leadership and organizational learning. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal 31 (7): 576-595.
• Homan, R.N., M.A. Atwood†, A.J. Dunkle†, and S.B. Karr†. 2010. Movement orientation by adult and juvenile wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) and American toads (Bufo americanus) over multiple years. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 5 (1): 64-72.