K. David Hambright

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Limnology, Plankton and Fish Ecology, Invasive Species, Harmful Algal Blooms, and Microbial Diversity.

RESEARCH STATEMENT
Ecological interactions between freshwater consumer and prey species are the primary focus of my research. My studies have covered a broad range of organisms ranging from fishes to bacteria. I am particularly interested in understanding how consumers affect community and ecosystem level dynamics through direct and indirect effects on microbial assemblages via mechanisms such as selective consumption, alteration of competitive forces, and changes in nutrient cycling dynamics. Laboratory and field experimentation play key roles in my research, though I typically employ additional multiple but separate approaches to any particular question. Most recently, these include field demographic and biogeochemical surveys, quantitative PCR, and study of zooplankton behavior and life histories as affected by toxigenic golden algae (Prymnesium parvum). Students working in my lab are free to explore any topic in aquatic ecology and evolutionary biology. Current students are examining factors that affect golden algae distribution, both within Lake Texoma and across the Red River watershed, zooplankton feeding behaviors and life histories during acute and chronic exposures to golden algae and golden algal toxins, analytical characterization of golden algal toxins, and microbial diversity across environmental gradients.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Hambright, K.D., T. Zohary, W. Eckert, S. Schwartz, C.L. Schelske, and P.R. Leavitt. (2008). “Human engineered hydrological changes: exploitation and destabilization of the Sea of Galilee.” Ecological Applications 18:1591-1603.

Hambright, K. D., N. G. Hairston, W. R. Schaffner, and R. W. Howarth. 2007. "Grazer control of nitrogen fixation: synergisms in the feeding ecology of two freshwater crustaceans." Fundamental and Applied Limnology 170:89-101.

Hambright, K.D., T. Zohary, and H. Güde. 2007. “Microzooplankton dominate carbon flow and nutrient cycling in a warm subtropical freshwater lake.” Limnology and Oceanography 52:1018-1025.

Roelke, D.L., T. Zohary, and K.D. Hambright. 2007. “System hysteresis and complex selection of alternate stable community states: A case study using the 34-year plankton record from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel.” Freshwater Biology 52:399-411.

Hambright, K.D., W. Eckert, P. R. Leavitt, and C.L. Schelske. 2004. “Effects of historical lake level and land use on sediment and phosphorus accumulation rates in Lake Kinneret.” Environmental Science and Technology 38: 6460-6467.

Hambright, K.D. and T. Zohary. 2000. “Phytoplankton species diversity control through competitive exclusion and physical disturbances.” Limnology and Oceanography 45:110-122.

Complete CV

Complete Publications List