Louise Copeman
Louise Copeman
Current Research
In January of 2003 I started a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology under the co-supervision of Dr. P. Snelgrove and Dr. C. Parrish. My proposed research addresses how the flow of organic carbon sources within cold-water eelgrass beds affect the dietary inputs of nearshore marine organisms. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is widely distributed globally in shallow coastal waters. Among the most productive marine habitat, eelgrass beds are vital nursery areas for juvenile fish, and invertebrates. However, little is known about food web dynamics within the cold-water eelgrass meadows of the North Atlantic.
I will be using novel lipid biomarker techniques to examine the flow of carbon in eelgrass beds. Lipids show a vast diversity in structure and this variation has been shown to correlate with taxonomic groups, thus making lipids ideal biomarkers for food web studies. I will be performing detailed lipid analysis (sterols, fatty acids, and lipid classes by carbon number) which when combined with appropriate multivariate statistics are a powerful tool for elucidating food web linkages.
As a first step in this research, I am working on delineating pathways of carbon flow within pristine eelgrass beds. This work is being completed in Terra Nova National Park in collaboration with Dr. R. Gregory (DFO) and Dr. R. Jameson (NSERC PDF, Earth Sciences). We have been sampling nutrients, sources of primary production and freshly deposited detritus within numerous sites in Newman Sound. Furthermore, we are currently examining the relative importance of these primary producers on the diet of juvenile Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. Since 2002, we have been sampling juvenile cod and their prey items during the period of early recruitment into eelgrass areas until post-settlement. This information will allow us to assess the importance of different primary producers, including terrestrial carbon sources, in defining dietary quality for juvenile cod. These data could have important implications with relation to assessing future anthropogenic impacts of nearshore and terrestrial activity on juvenile cod habitat.
In future thesis work I will be completing complimentary laboratory studies to validate the use and interpretation of lipid biomarkers in the field. Quantification of the flow of specific lipids biomarkers through multiple trophic levels in the lab will greatly improve the certainty with which we can apply these biomakers to field data. Controlled laboratory studies, using a simplified eelgrass food web, could allow a quantification of biomarker transfer through different trophic levels. This information would include which lipids are preferentially incorporated into storage or membranes, verses those that are utilized for energy or are eliminated. Quantification of biomarkers will further validate their use in answering questions surrounding juvenile cod ecology such as: timing of dietary shifts, timing of recruitment into eelgrass habitat, timing of settlement, nutritional requirements and year class strength and differentiating between pulses or populations of newly recruited juvenile fish.
Past Work
Prior to returning to school in 2003 I worked as a research assistant with both Coasts Under Stress (CUS) and Aqua Net. As part of CUS I was involved with research that focused on Gilbert Bay, Southern Labrador. Gilbert Bay is currently designated an Area of Interest in the Marine Protected Areas Program (DFO, Canada) primarily because of the genetically distinct Atlantic cod population that inhabit this bay. Lipids were described in this previously unsampled, cold-water, marine environment in order to provide baseline environmental data and gain insight into food web linkages. Also, as part of the CUS research, the lipid composition of local seafood was analyzed and found to contain high levels of health promoting nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols. During work with AquaNet I focused on determining the sterol composition of several species of bivalves and microalgae and their implication for aquaculture diet selection.
I completed my M.Sc. in aquaculture in May 2001 under the supervision of Dr. C Parrish. My thesis examined the nutritional requirements of larval yellowtail flounder, Limanda ferruginea. Results from these studies showed that early essential fatty acid nutrition had profound effects on growth survival and pigmentation. These data provide important nutritional information for the developing aquaculture industry, while they also give basic insight into the dynamics of fatty acids within larval fish membranes.
I obtained my B.Sc. (hons) in biology from Memorial University in 1996 in Dr. J Brown’s lab. My project focused on the effects of hormonally induced spawning on the growth, survival, and behavior of yellowtail flounder larvae.
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