Carol A . Stepien
Carol Stepien specializes in the genetics and genomics of marine, estuarine, and freshwater invertebrate and fish communities, and how they respond to environmental change across their life stages and distributions. She is an elected fellow of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) for "For distinguished contributions to the fields of molecular evolutionary ecology and conservation genetics, particularly invasive and native populations, and mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students.”. She is a Research Associate at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, as well as an Affiliate Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University, and Distinguished Professor of Ecology at the University of Toledo. She also is an associate editor for the journal Environmental DNA, and for the journal Ecological Processes, and serves on the Editorial Board of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Carol has 121 scientific papers, mostly focusing on molecular ecology, evolutionary genomics, population genetics, biogeography, and systematics. She has headed >$14 million in NSF, NOAA, EPA, SeaGrant, and USDA grants. Special research interests are community and species diversity comparisons, using genomic and bioinformatic analyses for evaluating planktonic communities and environmental (e) DNA across time and space, in relation to anthropogenic and natural fluctuations in chemical, physical, and biological patterns in marine and coastal communities. Her awards also include Sigma Xi Outstanding Researcher, the University of Toledo’s Distinguished Professor of Ecology (a lifetime appointment), University of Toledo Outstanding Researcher, and Outstanding Grants"man"ship award. She served on the International Association for Great Lakes Research board, as associate editor for Journal of Great Lakes Research and the journal Biological Invasions for many years. Her recent research develops and applies, targeted high-throughput metabarcode, Environmental DNA, and whole genome sequencing assays to detect, identify, and relatively quantify invasive species, members of marine, estuarine, and freshwater communities, and evaluate their genomic adaptations and genetic connectivity patterns, in relation to environmental conditions (including warming, hypoxia, acidification, pathogens, parasites, and other invasive species).
Address: Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Address: Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
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Papers by Carol A . Stepien
Lake St. Clair, its tributaries, and the Detroit River system, and also are present in the Duluth-Superior harbor of Lake Superior. Using seines and bottom trawls, we collected 113 tubenose gobies between July 2007 and August 2009 at several locations in
western Lake Erie. The number and range of sizes of specimens collected suggest that that tubenose gobies have become established and self-sustaining in the western basin of Lake Erie. Tubenose gobies reached maximum densities in sheltered areas with abundant macrophyte growth, which also is their common habitat in native northern Black Sea populations. The diet of tubenose gobies was almost exclusively
invertebrates, suggesting dietary overlap with other benthic fishes, such as darters (Etheostoma spp. and Percina sp.), madtoms (Noturus spp.), and sculpins
(Cottus spp.). A single mitochondrial DNA haplotype was identified, which is the most common haplotype found in the original colonization area in the Lake St. Clair region, suggesting a founder effect. Tubenose gobies, like round gobies Neogobius melanostomus, have early life stages that drift owing to vertical migration, which probably allowed them to spread from areas of colonization. The Lake St. Clair-Lake
Erie corridor appears to have served as an avenue for them to spread to the western basin of Lake Erie, and abundance of shallow macrophyte-rich habitats may
be a key factor facilitating their further expansion within Lake Erie and the remainder of the Laurentian Great Lakes.
communities provide important indicators of ecosystem health. However,
such community analyses typically are limited by time and effort of sampling,
sorting, and identifications, as well as morphological character uncertainty
for some taxa, especially at early life stages. Our objective was to evaluate a
suite of targeted metabarcode high‐throughput sequencing assays to
characterize the macroinvertebrate communities (specifically targeting
Annelida, Bryozoa, Crustacea, Insecta, and Mollusca) from environmental
(e)DNA water samples along 160 km of the Maumee River, OH (a major Lake
Erie, Laurentian Great Lakes tributary). Multiple alpha (richness, Shannon
Index, and Simpson's Index) and beta (Bray–Curtis and Sørensen
dissimilarities) diversity metrics from the metabarcode assays were
compared with an Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) metric calculated from
traditional morphological sampling surveys conducted by the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency. The 15 Maumee River sites varied in their
ICI scores (ranging from 4 to 46), with seven sites rated as “poor” or “very
poor” and eight scoring “fair” or “good.” Metabarcoding assays yielded
greater gamma richness, delineating 181 Operational Taxonomic Units
versus 172 taxa from morphology (the latter often limited to family or genuslevel
identifications). Both datasets supported similar river‐wide trends, with
comparable gamma, alpha, and beta diversity patterns and community
compositions across habitat types and habitat quality scores. Metabarcode
assays revealed similar detection of important bioindicator Insecta, but
missed most Trichoptera (caddisflies). eDNA identified eight aquatic invasive
species on the GLANSIS (Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species
Information System) list, including three missed by the morphological surveys
(Branchiura sowerbyi , Potamothrix bedoti , and Skistodiaptomus pallidus;
with Lophopodella carteri , Faxonius rusticus , Corbicula fluminea ,
Dreissena polymorpha , and Valvata piscinalis in both datasets). Findings
illustrate the utility of eDNA sampling and targeted metabarcode assays to
enhance and complement environmental assessments of aquatic
ecosystems.
Lake St. Clair, its tributaries, and the Detroit River system, and also are present in the Duluth-Superior harbor of Lake Superior. Using seines and bottom trawls, we collected 113 tubenose gobies between July 2007 and August 2009 at several locations in
western Lake Erie. The number and range of sizes of specimens collected suggest that that tubenose gobies have become established and self-sustaining in the western basin of Lake Erie. Tubenose gobies reached maximum densities in sheltered areas with abundant macrophyte growth, which also is their common habitat in native northern Black Sea populations. The diet of tubenose gobies was almost exclusively
invertebrates, suggesting dietary overlap with other benthic fishes, such as darters (Etheostoma spp. and Percina sp.), madtoms (Noturus spp.), and sculpins
(Cottus spp.). A single mitochondrial DNA haplotype was identified, which is the most common haplotype found in the original colonization area in the Lake St. Clair region, suggesting a founder effect. Tubenose gobies, like round gobies Neogobius melanostomus, have early life stages that drift owing to vertical migration, which probably allowed them to spread from areas of colonization. The Lake St. Clair-Lake
Erie corridor appears to have served as an avenue for them to spread to the western basin of Lake Erie, and abundance of shallow macrophyte-rich habitats may
be a key factor facilitating their further expansion within Lake Erie and the remainder of the Laurentian Great Lakes.
communities provide important indicators of ecosystem health. However,
such community analyses typically are limited by time and effort of sampling,
sorting, and identifications, as well as morphological character uncertainty
for some taxa, especially at early life stages. Our objective was to evaluate a
suite of targeted metabarcode high‐throughput sequencing assays to
characterize the macroinvertebrate communities (specifically targeting
Annelida, Bryozoa, Crustacea, Insecta, and Mollusca) from environmental
(e)DNA water samples along 160 km of the Maumee River, OH (a major Lake
Erie, Laurentian Great Lakes tributary). Multiple alpha (richness, Shannon
Index, and Simpson's Index) and beta (Bray–Curtis and Sørensen
dissimilarities) diversity metrics from the metabarcode assays were
compared with an Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) metric calculated from
traditional morphological sampling surveys conducted by the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency. The 15 Maumee River sites varied in their
ICI scores (ranging from 4 to 46), with seven sites rated as “poor” or “very
poor” and eight scoring “fair” or “good.” Metabarcoding assays yielded
greater gamma richness, delineating 181 Operational Taxonomic Units
versus 172 taxa from morphology (the latter often limited to family or genuslevel
identifications). Both datasets supported similar river‐wide trends, with
comparable gamma, alpha, and beta diversity patterns and community
compositions across habitat types and habitat quality scores. Metabarcode
assays revealed similar detection of important bioindicator Insecta, but
missed most Trichoptera (caddisflies). eDNA identified eight aquatic invasive
species on the GLANSIS (Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species
Information System) list, including three missed by the morphological surveys
(Branchiura sowerbyi , Potamothrix bedoti , and Skistodiaptomus pallidus;
with Lophopodella carteri , Faxonius rusticus , Corbicula fluminea ,
Dreissena polymorpha , and Valvata piscinalis in both datasets). Findings
illustrate the utility of eDNA sampling and targeted metabarcode assays to
enhance and complement environmental assessments of aquatic
ecosystems.