Temple Biology
Robert W. Sanders
Department of Biology
347 Biological Life Sciences Building
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122 phone: (215) 204-2056
e-mail:robert.sanders@temple.edu
web page: http://astro.temple.edu/~sanders1/
Dr. Sanders is an ecologist who studies planktonic organisms in marine and fresh waters, with emphasis on protists (algae and protozoa), invertebrates and their trophic interactions. Recent work has focused on feeding ecology and remineralization of nutrients by protists, interspecific competition by protists, the ecological importance and physiology of mixotrophic algae, the utilization of protozoa as food resources by crustacean zooplankton, the availability of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon to estuarine microorganisms and its role in eutrophication, and the effect of metals and other potentially toxic materials on protistan populations. The consolidating theme of his research is understanding how populations of microorganisms are controlled by a combination of factors including their nutritional requirements and predation by larger organisms. Sample paper: Sanders, R.W. et al. Reproductive success of "herbivorous" zooplankton fed algal and non-algal food resources. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41:1295-1305, 1996.
