Chris Steiner
Title	Assistant Professor
Office#	3121 Biological Sciences Building
Research Area	Aquatic Ecology
Phone	(313) 577-0728
E-Mail	csteiner@wayne.edu

Research Interest Publications CV

Dr. Steiner is an aquatic ecologist whose research interests hover between the borders of population-community ecology and community-ecosystem ecology. The primary focus of his work has centered on the mechanisms underlying patterns of species coexistence, species dominance, and biological diversity (at both the population and community levels). Of great interest to him are factors that mediate the strength and outcome of biotic interactions, particularly the effects of spatial and temporal heterogeneity on interspecific competition and the influence of species dispersal among local communities.

Research Picture

He's also interested in understanding the flipside of this problem: how variation in community structure can affect emergent community and ecosystem properties (such as community-level stability, predator-prey dynamics, nutrient recycling, biomass partitioning and total system production).

Research Picture

The approaches he uses to address these questions are multi-faceted and have included observational and experimental work in pond planktonic systems in southern Michigan, mathematical modeling, and more controlled experimentation using laboratory microcosms.

Research Picture

Dr. Steiner's Education Experience

2008

Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, Department of Biological Sciences

2005-2008

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michigan State University, W. K. Kellogg
Biological Station. (Advisor: Christopher Klausmeier)

2004-2005

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois, Department of Animal
Biology. (Advisor: Carla Cáceres)

2002-2004

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rutgers University, Department of Ecology,
Evolution and Natural Resources. (Advisor: Peter Morin)

2001

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Chicago, Department of Ecology
and Evolution. (Advisor: Mathew Leibold)

2001

Ph. D., Michigan State University, W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Department
of Zoology, and the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program.
(Advisor: Gary Mittelbach)

1992

B. S., University of California, Los Angeles.
Major: Biology with concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Magna Cum Laude, College Honors, Departmental Honors (Undergraduate
Research Advisors: Martin Cody and Henry Hespenheide)

Laboratory Research Philosophy

(info for graduate students from Dr. Steiner!)

"In regards to the research questions and approaches pursued in my lab, my philosophy is to view the process as an intellectual free-for-all. I do not expect my graduate students to pursue questions/topics closely related to my research or to carve their thesis/dissertation work out of my existing projects. Instead, I encourage independence and creative pursuit of one’s own ecological curiosities."

-- From Dr. Steiner

Dr. Steiner will be accepting new graduate students in Fall 2009. Students who are interested in pursuing a MS or PhD in ecology are encouraged to apply directly for admissions to the Department of Biological Sciences. Students should also contact Dr. Steiner (csteiner@wayne.edu) to discuss potential opportunities.

Publications

Waide, R. B., M. R. Willig, C. F. Steiner, G. G. Mittelbach, L. Gough, S. I. Dodson, G. P. Juday, and R. Parmenter. 1999. The relationship between primary productivity and species richness. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 30: 257-300. (pdf file)

Mittelbach, G. G., C. F. Steiner, S. M. Scheiner, K. L. Gross, H. L. Reynolds, R. B.Waide, M. R. Willig, and S. I. Dodson. 2001. What is the observed relationship between species richness and productivity? Ecology 82: 2381-2396. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2001. The effects of prey heterogeneity and consumer identity on the limitation of trophic-level biomass. Ecology 82: 2495-2506. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2002. Context-dependent effects of Daphnia pulex on pond ecosystem function: observational and experimental evidence. Oecologia 131: 549-558. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2003. Variable dominance in pond communities: assessing spatiotemporal variation in competition and predation intensity. Ecology 84: 982-990. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2003. Keystone predator effects and grazer control of planktonic primary production. Oikos 101: 569-577. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., and A. H. Roy. 2003. Seasonal succession in fishless ponds: effects of enrichment and invertebrate predation on zooplankton community structure. Hydrobiologia 490: 125-134. (pdf file)

Mittelbach, G. G., S. M. Scheiner, and C. F. Steiner. 2003. What is the observed relationship between species richness and productivity: reply. Ecology 84: 3390-3395. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., and M. A. Leibold. 2004. Cyclic assembly trajectories and scale-dependent productivity-diversity relationships. Ecology 85: 107-113. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2004. Daphnia dominance and zooplankton community structure in fishless ponds. Journal of Plankton Research 26: 799-810. (pdf file)

Petchey, O., A. L. Downing, G. G. Mittelbach, L. Persson, C. F. Steiner, P. Warren, and G. Woodward. 2004. Species loss and the structure and functioning of multitrophic aquatic systems. Oikos 104: 467-478. (pdf file)

Mittelbach, G. G., T. L. Darcy-Hall, N. J. Dorn, E. A. Garcia, C. F. Steiner, and J. M. Wojdak. 2004. The impact of
density-independent mortality on species coexistence: an experimental test with zooplankton.
Oikos 107: 415-421. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2005. Temporal stability of pond zooplankton assemblages. Freshwater Biology 50: 105-112. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F. 2005. Impacts of density-independent mortality and productivity on the strength and outcome of competition. Ecology 86: 727-739. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., Z. T. Long, J. A. Krumins, and P. J. Morin. 2005. Temporal stability of aquatic food webs: partitioning the effects of species diversity, species composition and enrichment. Ecology Letters 8: 819-828. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., T. L. Darcy-Hall, N. J. Dorn, E. A. Garcia, G. G. Mittelbach, and J. M. Wojdak. 2005. The influence of consumer diversity and indirect facilitation on trophic-level biomass and community stability. Oikos 110: 556-566. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., Z. T. Long, J. A. Krumins, and P. J. Morin. 2006. Population and community resilience in multitrophic
communities. Ecology 87: 996-1007. (pdf file)

Long, Z. T., C. F. Steiner, J. A. Krumins, and P. J. Morin. 2006. Species diversity and allometric scaling jointly determine biomass in model aquatic food webs. Journal of Animal Ecology 75: 1014-1023. (pdf file)

Krumins, J. A., Z. T. Long, C. F. Steiner, and P. J. Morin. 2006. Indirect effects of food web diversity and productivity on bacterial community function and composition. Functional Ecology 20: 514-521. (pdf file)

Steiner, C. F., C. E. Cáceres, and S. Smith. 2007. Resurrecting the ghost of competition past with dormant zooplankton eggs. The American Naturalist 169: 416-422. (pdf file)

Non-peer reviewed publications

Cáceres, C. E., S. L. Mulvany, K. A. Paczolt, and C. F. Steiner. 2005. Cladoceran community assembly in a recently created lake. Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie, Verhandlungen 29:1020-1024.

Steiner, C. F. 2006. Book Review: “Aquatic Food Webs: An Ecosystem Approach” in Quarterly Review of Biology vol. 81. Manuscripts in review or preparation

Manuscripts submitted or in preparation

Steiner, C. F. Temporal heterogeneity and the evolution of evolvability in model gene networks. (in prep).

Steiner, C. F., A. Schwaderer, V. Huber, C. A. Klausmeier, and E. Litchman. Periodically forced food chain dynamics: model predictions and experimental validation. (in prep).

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Dr.Steiner's CV

http://bio.wayne.edu/profhtml/ChrisSteiner/cv.doc

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Wayne State University

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