Directory

Christopher G. Peterson, PhD

About

Chris Peterson received his PhD in Aquatic Ecology in 1989 from the University in Louisville. He has been a member of Loyola's faculty since 1991 and generally teaches 'Plants & Civilization'. Peterson  has mentored Masters students and many undergraduate students  through his research career.  He is now primarily focused on his responsibilities as SES Associate Dean of Academics. 

Research Interests

Peterson's research has focused on understanding how the structure, dynamics, and function of attached microalgal communities, the primary transducers of sunlight energy in aquatic systems, vary with spatial and temporal change in chemical, physical, and biological attributes of the environment. Because of their small size and rapid turnover, algal communities within biofilms are an ideal model system for addressing general ecological questions. Within a week of biofilm development, microalgal communities can support >1 million cells/cm2 of colonization surface and contain dozens or even hundreds of species that differ widely in growth habit, resource requirements, and susceptibility to removal by physical disturbance or ingestion by grazing macro- or microinvertebrates, fish, or amphibians. Because algae are microscopic, cells residing within developing algal mats experience significant changes in availability of light or dissolved nutrients as communities thicken, and they interact with bacteria involved in important biogeochemical processes involving the cycling of Carbon and Nitrogen; successional processes are driven by these internal changes. Community attributes at any given time are a product of the interaction between these internal factors and external factors such as the density and identity of grazers, heterogeneity in nutrient supply, variation in current regime, and the timing and magnitude of physical disturbance events. 

Peterson's primary goal has been equate the sensitivity of algal community attributes to environmental variation, and ultimately to assess whether variation in algal communities induced by such changes influences the ecological functioning of stream ecosystems. His most recent research has examined the influence of algal species composition one the diversity and activity of denitrifying bacteria in stream biofilms, influence of exposure to nano-titanium on stream-ecosystem function and the effects of microplastics on phytoplankton community structure and function. 

Courses Taught

• ENVS 280: Principles of Ecology Lab
• ENVS 390: Integrative Seminar
• ENVS 207: Plants and Civilization

Selected Publications

Current Projects

Binh, C. T. T., C. G. Peterson, T. Tong, K. A. Gray, J.-F. Gaillard, & J. J. Kelly (2015) Comparing acute effects of a nano-TiO2 pigment on cosmopolitan freshwater phototrophic microbes using high-throughput screening.  PLOS-One.  DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125613 

Kalscheur, K. N., M. Rojas, C. G. Peterson, J. J. Kelly, & K. A. Gray (2012) Algal Exudates and Stream Organic Matter Influence Structure and Function of Denitrifying Bacterial Communities.  Microbial Ecology  64(4): 881-892  DOI: 10.1007/s00248-012-0091-1 

Peterson, C. G., A. D. Daley, S. M. Pechauer, K. N. Kalscheur, M. J. Sullivan, S. L. Kufta, M. Rojas, K. A. Gray, & J. J. Kelly (2011)  Development of associations between microalgae and denitrifying bacteria in streams of contrasting anthrophogenic influence.  FEMS Microbiology Ecology   77: 477 – 592. 

Arnon, S., C. G. Peterson, K. A. Gray, & A. I. Packman (2007) Influence of flow conditions and system geometry on nitrate use by benthic biofilms: Implications for nutrient mitigation.  Environmental Science & Technology. 41: 8142-8148. 

Peterson, C. G.  (2007) The Ecology of Non-Marine Algae: Streams. Pages 434-558  In: (T. Orchard, J. Huisman, & T. Entwisle, eds.)  The Algae of Australia.  Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. 

Peterson, C. G., H. M. Vallet, & C. N. Dahm .  (2001) Shifts in habitat templates for lotic microalgae linked to interannual variation in snowmelt intensity.  Limnology & Oceanography.  46: 858-870. 

Peterson, C. G., & A. J. Boulton. (1999) Stream permanence influences food availability to grazing tadpoles in arid-zone streams.  Oecologia.  118:340-352. 

PETERSON, C. G. (1996) Response of benthic algal communities to natural physical disturbance. Pages 375-402 In: (R. J. STEVENSON, M. L. BOTHWELL, & R. L. LOWE, eds) Algal Ecology in Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. 

PETERSON, C. G. (1996) Mechanisms of lotic microalgal colonization following space-clearing disturbances acting at different spatial scales. Oikos.  77:417-435. 

PETERSON, C. G. & R. J. STEVENSON (1992) Resistance and resilience in lotic algal communities: Importance of disturbance timing and current. Ecology  73:1445-1461 

PETERSON, C. G. & N. B. GRIMM (1992) Temporal variation in enrichment effects during periphyton succession in a nitrogen-limited desert stream ecosystem. Journal of the North American Benthological Society  11:20-36 

For a complete list of publications, awards and affiliations, please request his CV.