Michael J. Vanni

Biographical Information

My lab studies the ecology of food webs, ecosystems, and watersheds, and most of our research occurs in freshwaters. Current research areas include:

• Animal-mediated nutrient cycling, including understanding variation among individuals using principles of ecological stoichiometry and metabolic ecology, and the importance of animals at the ecosystem scale
• Long-term response of a lake (reservoir) ecosystem to changes in agricultural practices, and how internal processes such as animal-mediated nutrient cycling provide resilience in terms of the lake response
• How nutrients, light, and other factors mediate energy and nutrient flow through food chains

My lab takes a diverse approach to research, including whole-ecosystem studies, field and lab experiments, meta-analyses/syntheses, and modeling. In my lab, research is a collaboration among undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs and research associates.

Selected Publications

• Vanni, MJ, PB McIntyre, and 72 others. 2017. A global database of nitrogen and phosphorous excretion rates of aquatic animals. Ecology 98:1475. doi 10.1002/ecy.1792
• Sitters, J, ES Bakker, MP Veldhuis, GF Veen, HO Venterink and MJ Vanni. 2017. The stoichiometry of nutrient release by terrestrial herbivores and its ecosystem consequences. Frontiers in Earth Scicence 5:32 doi 10.3389/feart.2017.00032
• Atkinson, CL, KA Capps, AT Rugenski and MJ Vanni. 2017. Consumer-driven nutrient dynamics in freshwater ecosystems: from individuals to ecosystems. Biological Reviews. Early online doi: 10.1111/brv.12318
• Vanni, MJ and PB McIntyre. 2016. Predicting nutrient excretion of aquatic animals with metabolic ecology and ecological stoichiometry: a global synthesis. Ecology. 97:3460-3471 doi: 10.1002/ecy.1582
• *Downs, KN, NM Hayes**, AM Rock**, MJ Vanni and MJ González. 2016. Light and nutrient supply mediate intraspecific variation in the nutrient stoichiometry of juvenile fish. Ecosphere 7(9):e01452 doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1452
• Mehner, T, K Attermeyer, M Brauns, S Brothers, J Diekmann, U Gaedke, H-P Grossart, J Kohler, B Lischke, N Meyer, K Scharnweber, J Syväranta, MJ Vanni and S Hilt. 2016. Weak response of animal allochthony and production to enhanced supply of terrestrial leaf litter in nutrient-rich lakes. Ecosystems 19:329-341 doi: 10.1007/s10021-015-9933-2
• Hölker, F, MJ Vanni, J Kuiper, C Meile, H-P Grossart, P Stief, R Adrian, A Lorke, O Dellwig, A Brand, M Hupfer, W Mooji, G Nützmann and J Lewandowski. 2015. Tube-dwelling invertebrates: tiny ecosystem engineers have large effects in lake ecosystems. Ecological Monographs 85:333-351.
• **Hayes, NM, MJ Vanni, WH Renwick and MJ Horgan**. 2015. Drought and land use interactively affect lake phytoplankton nutrient limitation status. Ecology 96:392-402.
• Scharnweber K, J Syväranta, S Hilt, M Brauns, MJ Vanni, and T Mehner. 2014. Whole-lake experimental addition of particulate organic carbon increases allochthony of benthic consumers. Ecology 95:1496-1505.
• Schmitz, OJ, PR Raymond, JA Estes, WA Kurz, GW Holtgrieve, ME Ritchie, DE Schindler, AC Spivak, RW Wilson, MA Bradford, V Christansen, L Deegan, V Smetacek, MJ Vanni, and CC Wilmers. 2014. Animating the carbon cycle. Ecosystems 17:344-359.
• Vanni, MJ, G Boros and PB McIntyre. 2013. When are fish sources vs. sinks of nutrients in ecosystems? Ecology 94:2195-2206.
• Solomon, CT, DA Bruesewitz, DC Richardson, KC Rose, MC Van de Bogert, PC Hanson, TK Kratz, B Larget, R. Adrian, BL Babin, C-Y Chu, DP Hamilton, EE Gaiser, S Hendricks, V Istánovics, A Laas, DM O'Donnell, ML Pace, PA Staehr, T Torgersen, MJ Vanni, KC Weathers and G Zhu. 2013. Ecosystem respiration: drivers of daily variability and background respiration in lakes around the globe. Limnology and Oceanography 58:849-866. 10.4319/lo.2013.58.3.0849
• **Knoll, LB, MJ Vanni, WH Renwick, EK Ditman* and JA Gephart*. 2013. Temperate reservoirs are large carbon sinks and small CO2 sources: Results from high-resolution carbon budgets. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 27:52-64. 10.1002/gbc.20020, 2013

**graduate student author

*undergraduate student author

Courses Taught

• BIO 209H Fundamentals of Ecology (honors section)
• BIO 463/563 Limnology
• BIO 672 Ecosystem and Global Ecology

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• Department of Biology
• Miami Ecological Big Data Initiative