Université du Québec à Montréal
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Beatrix Beisner
Start: 2011-09-01
End: 2014-01-01

Project

Phytoplankton niche segregation in relation to a lac's vertical structure in the TIMEX project
My thesis focuses on phytoplankton ecology, more precisely, the relationship between phytoplankton spatial overlap and diversity. It is part of the TIMEX (Thermocline Induced Mixing EXperiment) project which involves 4 researchers: Marc Amyot (Univeristé de Montréal, Montréal), Beatrix Beisner (UQAM, Montréal), John Gunn (Laurentian University, Sudbury) and Yves Prairie (UQAM). It ran form 2007 to 2012 in Lac Croche at the Station de biologie des Laurentides. It involved the thermocline deepening of one of the lake's three basin through the use of a lake mixer. My project looks specifically at how an increased mixed layer can increase phytoplankton dispersion through wind effects and how it can affect competition through spatial overlap.

Keywords

Phytoplancton, competition, thermocline, mixing, climate change