Dr Stephen Thackeray

Lake Ecologist and Modeller

Current work

Lake Ecosystem Group

With Sarah Wanless I led an analysis of changes in the phenology of freshwater, marine and terrestrial organisms. This project (SPACE – Shifting Phenology: Attributing Change across Ecosystems) culminated in a meta-analysis of changing seasonality across ecosystems, highlighting differences in the phenological responses of organisms at different trophic levels. The project involved staff from most CEH sites, and also collaborators in external organisations. I am continuing in this field, by working on a series of more focussed studies aimed at resolving the drivers and consequences of phenological change.

I am also working on a zooplankton population model, to be included in the phytoplankton model PROTECH. I am involved in the EU project WISER, for which I am working with Laurence Carvalho and Mike Dunbar to examine sources of uncertainty in lake phytoplankton metrics developed for ecological status assessment, and I am working on spatial heterogeneity in lake communities with Bryan Spears and Ian Winfield. I am also examining long-term changes in the Windermere food web, as a result of the expansion of a non-native fish population (www.windermere-science.org.uk).

I provide ongoing support to the Cumbrian Lakes long-term monitoring programme.

Research interests

1. The ecology of crustacean zooplankton

The crustacean zooplankton provide an important trophic link in lake food webs, by feeding on phytoplanktonic primary producers and being themselves consumed by planktivorous fish. The abundance of these organisms is heterogeneous over a range of temporal and spatial scales, and this heterogeneity may influence the transfer of energy and materials to higher trophic levels. I am interested in the factors that govern this heterogeneity and in the ways in which the seasonal dynamics of the zooplankton may change in response to climatic change.

2. The impacts of climate change on freshwater lakes

Freshwater lakes are very sensitive to climatic changes. By influencing the physical characteristics of lakes, such climatic changes can alter the productivity and seasonality of planktonic communities. This has important implications for the quality of standing waters. I am interested in using both long-term data and ecological modelling to investigate the changes in water quality that might be expected under different climatic scenarios. I am particularly interested in long-term changes in the seasonal timing (or phenology) of lake communities, and the drivers/consequences of these changes.

Brief CV

• 2002-present: Scientific officer and higher scientific officer at CEH at Lancaster, UK
• 1999-2002: Doctoral student jointly supervised at Lancaster University and CEH at Windermere
• 1996-1999: Ecology degree student at Lancaster University, UK

Selected publications

Feuchtmayr, H., Thackeray, S. J., Jones, I. D., De Ville, M., Fletcher, J., James, J. B. & Kelly, J. (2012). Spring phytoplankton phenology – are patterns and drivers of change consistent among lakes in the same climatological region? Freshwater Biology, 57, 331-344.

Thackeray, S. J., Henrys, P. A., Jones, I. D. & Feuchtmayr, H. (2012). Eight decades of phenological change for a freshwater cladoceran: what are the consequences of our definition of seasonal timing? Freshwater Biology, 57, 345-359.

Burthe, S., Butler, A., Searle, K. R., Hall, S. J. G., Thackeray, S. J. & Wanless, S. (2011). Demographic consequences of increased winter births in a large aseasonally breeding mammal (Bos taurus) in response to climate change. Journal of Animal Ecology, 80,1134-1144.

Mackay, E. B., Jones, I. D., Folkard, A. M. & Thackeray, S. J. (2011). Transition zones in small lakes: the importance of dilution and biological uptake on lake-wide heterogeneity. Hydrobiologia, 678, 85-97.

Mackay, E. B., Jones, I. D., Thackeray, S. J. & Folkard, A. M. (2011). Spatial heterogeneity in a small, temperate lake during archetypal weak forcing conditions. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, 179, 27-40.

Jones, I. D., Page, T., Elliott, J. A., Thackeray, S. J. & Heathwaite, L. (2011) Increases in lake phytoplankton biomass caused by future climate-driven changes to seasonal river flow. Global Change Biology, 17: 1809-1820.

Thackeray, S. J., Sparks, T. H., Frederiksen, M., Burthe, S., Bacon, P. J., Bell, J. R., Botham, M. S., Brereton, T. M., Bright, P. W., Carvalho, L., Clutton-Brock, T., Dawson, A., Edwards, M., Elliott, J. M., Harrington, R., Johns, D., Jones, I. D., Jones, J. T., Leech, D. I., Roy, D. B., Scott, W. A., Smith, M., Smithers, R. J., Winfield, I. J. & Wanless, S. (2010) Trophic level asynchrony in rates of phenological change for marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. Global Change Biology, 16: 3304-3313.

Meis, S., Thackeray S. J. & Jones, I. D. (2009). Effects of recent climate change on phytoplankton phenology in a temperate lake. Freshwater Biology, 54: 1888-1898

Thackeray, S. J., Jones, I. D. & Maberly, S. C. (2008). Long-term change in the phenology of spring phytoplankton: species-specific responses to nutrient enrichment and climatic change. Journal of Ecology 96: 523-535.

Thackeray, S. J. (2007). Crustacean zooplankton species richness and productivity: to what extent do the conclusions depend upon the choice of metrics? Oikos 116: 614-628.

Smyntek, P. M., Teece, M. A., Schulz, K. L. & Thackeray S. J. (2007). A standard protocol for stable isotope analysis of zooplankton in aquatic food web research using mass balance correction models. Limnology and Oceanography 52(5): 2135-2146.

Elliott, J. A., Jones, I. D. & Thackeray, S. J. (2006). Testing the sensitivity of phytoplankton communities to changes in water temperature and nutrient load, in a temperate lake. Hydrobiologia 559: 401-411.

Madgwick, G., Jones, I. D., Thackeray, S. J., Elliott, J. A. & Miller, H. J. (2006). Phytoplankton communities and antecedent conditions: high resolution sampling in Esthwaite Water. Freshwater Biology 51: 1798-1810.

Thackeray, S. J., George, D. G., Jones, R. I. & Winfield, I. J. (2006). Statistical quantification of the effect of thermal stratification on patterns of dispersion in a freshwater zooplankton community. Aquatic Ecology 40(1): 23-32.

Elliott J. A., Thackeray S. J., Huntingford C. & Jones R. G. (2005). Combining Regional Climate Model with a phytoplankton community model to predict future changes in phytoplankton in lakes. Freshwater Biology 50: 1404-1411.

Thackeray, S. J., George, D. G., Jones, R. I. & Winfield, I. J. (2005). Vertical heterogeneity in zooplankton community structure: a variance partitioning approach. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 164 (2): 257-275.

Thackeray, S. J., George, D. G., Jones, R. I. & Winfield, I. J. (2004). Quantitative analysis of the importance of wind-induced circulation for the spatial structuring of planktonic populations. Freshwater Biology 49: 1091-1102.

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