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John Downing
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235 Bessey
Ames, Iowa 50011
(515) 294-8880
downing@iastate.edu
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Specialty: Limnology
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Narrative:
Downing's research interests span the range from aquatic to
terrestrial ecology; from microbial ecology to biogeochemistry;
and from population conservation to whole ecosystem restoration
and management. Scales of study range from the organismal to
comparative analyses of ecosystems across the globe. Research
in aquatic ecology and limnology is centered upon the highly
impacted, eutrophic to hypereutrophic lakes and streams of the
US Midwest. These are some of the most nutrient-rich systems
in the world and so are perfect testing grounds for current
theories concerning aquatic ecosystem structure and function,
as well as important foci for restoration. Whole watershed analyses
stress the tight links between land use and water quality, utilizing
a strong GIS component. The Limnology Lab also is the home of
the Iowa Lakes Survey and collects annual data on the water
quality of 130+ lakes across the state, yielding an important
understanding of the consequences of nutrient extremes. Iowa
waters supply significant amounts of nutrients to the Gulf of
Mexico, thus the biogeochemistry of our watersheds are of great
relevance to marine ecology and oceanography. The conservation
of aquatic biodiversity is also a principal interest in Downing's
laboratory, thus several of us study freshwater mussel ecology.
Iowa was once a world center for freshwater mussel biodiversity
but they are declining precipitously here. We are working to
understand the reasons behind their decline around the world.
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Education:
B.S. (Biology), 1973 , Hamline University
M.S. (Zoology), 1975 , North Dakota State University
Ph.D. (Biology), 1979 , McGill University
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Dr. Downing's laboratory has played a major role in the Iowa Lakes survey.
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