| Thomas Weisse | |||||||
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1998 – present Senior Scientist and Director at the Institute for Limnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Mondsee, Austria, and Adjunct (Honorary) Professor for Limnology at the University of Salzburg 1995 – 1998 Senior scientist (Associate Professor level) and head of working group Microbial Ecology' at the Max-Planck-Institute for Limnology, Plön, Germany 1995 University lecturer (Privatdozent, Venialegendi for Limnology) at the Christian-Albrechts-University at Kiel 1993 – 1995 Guest researcher at the West Vancouver Laboratory,Fisheries & Oceans Canada (hosted by Dr. J. G. Stockner) 1992 University lecturer (Privatdozent, Venia legendi for Hydrobiology) at Konstanz. 1988 – 1993 Assistant Professor (Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, C1) at the Limnological Institute Konstanz 1986 – 1988 Research Scientist at the Limnological Institute Konstanz 1980 – 1985 Research Associateat the Institute for Marine Research Kiel and the Biological Station Helgoland at List/Isle of Sylt |
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| Research | |||||||
My research focuses on microbial food webs and microbial diversity in aquatic ecosystems (see Weisse 2003, 2006a, 2006b, 2008 for reviews). Lately, I studied niche separation among sympatric freshwater ciliates; in particular, I investigated the effect of temperature, pH food, competitors and predators on growth and production rates of prostome and oliogotrich ciliates. We use flow cytometry to analyze the population dynamics of picocyanobacteria and protists. I am intrigued by the ecological significance of clonal variability among asexuelly reproducing microbes. The recent "Meseres" project (see current projects and publications, below) investigates the significance of local adaptation among globally dispersed oligotrich ciliates. Currently we study the “Patterns and processes of adaptation and tolerance to low pH of freshwater plankton” (Abstract). We also investigate the consequences of global warming for biodiversity in alpine lakes. Our long-term goal is to assess phenotypic flexibility relative to genotypic variability in relation to environmental conditions, i. e. we want to measure microbial diversity and understand the inherent processes creating and maintaining the diversity. Graduate students, PostDoc and guest researchers are welcome to join our working group. |
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| Staff | |||||||
Ulrike Scheffel (Laboratory technician) - Culture collection, laboratory experiments Peter Stadler (Laboratory technician) - Culture collection, flow cytometry, image analysis |
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| Projects | |||||||
“DEcadal deTECTion of biodIVErsity in alpine lakes, DETECTIVE - Global warming threatens biodiversity in (ultra)-sensitive Alpine lakes: an assessment of past, present and future scenarios” funded by the Alpine Research Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Dec 2009 - Dec 2012), National and International Research Programme (together with R. Kurmayer) Patterns and processes of adaptation and tolerance to low pH of freshwater plankton. FWF project P 20118 (Summary and publications) Ecological significance of phenotypic and genotypic variability in freshwater protists – a test case using the oligotrich ciliate Meseres corlissi (together with W. Foissner, Univ. Salzburg; H. Müller, Konstanz; D. Lynn & M. Strüder-Kypke, Univ. Guelph, Ontario, Canada) FWF project P 16796 finished; (Summary of final report and publications) Ecophysiological impact of pH on aquatic protists (Weisse & Stadler 2006) PDF Distribution, diversity, and population dynamics of autotrophic picoplankton in the lakes of the 'Salzkammergut' area (Austria) , funded by the Austrian Science Fund (Project no. P14238-Bio, finished (Summary) |
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| Teaching | |||||||
Field and laboratory courses, lecture courses and seminars in Limnology, Biological Oceanography and Protozoology at the Universities in Kiel, Konstanz, Freiburg and Salzburg. Current courses at the Univ. of Salzburg: Applied Limnology, Evolution and Diversity Supervisor of 12 Diploma (masters) and 6 Doctorate (PhD) students. |
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| Publications | |||||||
Moser, M. & Weisse, T. (2011a). The outcome of competition between the two chrysomonads Ochromonas sp. and Poterioochromonas malhamensis depends on pH. Eur. J. Protistol. 47: 79-85. Moser, M., Callieri, C. and Weisse, T. (2009):. Photosynthetic and growth response of freshwater picocyanobacteria are strain-specific and sensitive to photoacclimation. J. Plankton Res. 31: 349-357. LINK: PDF 2008 Montagnes, D.J.S., Morgan, G., Bissinger, J. E., Atkinson, D. and Weisse, T. (2008): Short-term temperature change may impact freshwater carbon flux: a microbial perspective. Global Change Biology 14: 2810-2822. Weisse, T., Strüder-Kypke, M., Berger, H. & Foissner, W. (2008): Genetic, morphological, and ecological diversity of spatially separated clones of Meseres corlissi Petz and Foissner, 1992 (Ciliophora, Spirotrichea). J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 55: 257-270. Gächter, E. and Weisse, T. (2008): Long-term acclimation of growth rates in the oligotrich freshwater ciliate Meseres corlissi.Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 30: 218-222. Weisse, T. (2008): Distribution and diversity of aquatic protists: an evolutionary and ecological perspective. Biodivers. Conserv. 17: 243-259. Link PDF Weisse, T. (2008a): Limnoecology - The Ecology of Lakes and Streams (Book review of Lampert, W. u. Sommer, U., 2nd edition 2007). J Plankton Res.; doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbn013 PDF Weisse, T. (2008b): Wilhelm FOISSNER and the German Society for Protozoology. Denisia 23: 9. PDF Weisse, T. (2008c): The meaning of protist diversity: ecology meets taxonomy. Denisia 23: 297-306. PDF 2007 Weisse, T. (2007): Limnology in Austria and at Mondsee - Going Against the Trend? SILnews 51: 7-8. PDF Weisse, T., Scheffel, U., Stadler , P. and Foissner, W. (2007): Local adaptation among geographically distant clones of the cosmopolitan freshwater ciliate Meseres corlissi. II. Response to pH. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 47: 289-297. PDF Weisse, T. (2007a): Der Artbegriff bei Bakterien, Ein- und Vielzellern (The Species concept of bacteria, protists and metazoa). Denisia 20: 149-154 (in German, with English abstract). PDF 2006 Weisse, T. (2006 c): Biodiversity of aquatic protists – what can we learn from bacteria and Daphnia? Endocytobiosis Cell Res. 17: 154-163. PDF Weisse, T. (2006b): Biodiversity of freshwater microorganisms - achievements, problems, and perspectives. In: Gliwicz, Z. M. Mazurkiewicz-Boron, G. & Rouen, K. (eds.): Reviewing European Freshwater Sciences, 2005. Pol. J. Ecol. 54: 633-652. PDF Foissner, W., Pichler, M., Al-Rahsheid, K. and Weisse, T. (2006): The unusual, Lepidosome-coated resting cyst of Meseres corlissi (Ciliophora: Oligotrichea): encystment and genesis and release of the lepidosomes. Acta Protozool. 45: 323-338. Gächter, E. and Weisse, T. (2006): Local adaptation among geographically distant clones of the cosmopolitan freshwater ciliate Meseres corlissi. I. Temperature response. Aquat. Microb. Ecol.: 45: 291-300. PDF Weisse, T. (2006a): Freshwater ciliates as ecophysiological model organisms - lessons from Daphnia, major achievements, and future perspectives. Arch. Hydrobiol. 167: 371-402. PDF Weisse, T. and Stadler, P. (2006a): Effect of pH on growth, cell volume, and production of freshwater ciliates, and implications for their distribution. Limnol. Oceanogr. 51: 1708-1715. PDF Müller, H., Foissner, W. and Weisse, T. (2006): The role of soil in the life cycle of Meseres corlissi (Ciliophora: Oligotrichea): experiments with two clonal strains from the type locality, an astatic meadow pond. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 42: 199-208. PDF Weisse, T. and Rammer, S. (2006): Pronounced ecophysiological clonal differences of two common freshwater ciliates, Coleps spetai (Prostomatida) and Rimostrombidium lacustris (Oligotrichida), challenge the morphospecies concept. J. Plankton Res. 28: 55-63. PDF 2005 Callieri, C., Moro, S., Crosbie, N.D. and Weisse, T. (2005): Strain-specific photosynthetic response of freshwater picocyanobacteria. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 29: 777-782. Foissner, W., Müller, H. and Weisse, T. (2005): The unusual, Lepidosome-coated resting cyst of Meseres corlissi (Ciliophora: Oligotrichea) 1. Light and scanning electron microscopy, cytochemistry. Acta Protozool. 44: 201-215. 2004 Weisse, T. (2004): Meseres corlissi : a rare oligotrich ciliate adapted to warm water and temporary habitats. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 37: 75-83. PDF 2003 Weisse, T. (2003): Pelagic Microbes - Protozoa and the Microbial Food Web. In: O'Sullivan, P. & Reynolds, C.S. (eds.), The Lakes Handbook, Vol. I, Blackwell Scientific Publ., Oxford, pp. 417-460. Crosbie, N.D., Pöckl, M. and Weisse, T. (2003): Rapid establishment of clonal isolates of freshwater autotrophic picoplankton by single-cell and single-colony sorting. J. Microbiol. Meth. 55: 361-370. PDF Crosbie, N.D., Pöckl, M. and Weisse, T. (2003): Dispersal and phylogenetic diversity of non-marine picocyanobacteria, inferred from 16S rRNA gene and cpcBA -intergenic spacer sequence analyses. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69 : 5716-5721. PDF Crosbie, N.D., Teubner, K. and Weisse, T. (2003): Flow-cytometric mapping provides novel insights into the seasonal and vertical distribution of freshwater autotrophic picoplankton. Aquat. Microb. Ecol 33.: 53-66. PDF Lindström, E.S., Stadler, P. and Weisse, T. (2003): Live sorting and survival of unstained and DAPI-stained ciiates by flow cytometry. Arch. Hydrobiol. 157 : 173-184. 2002 Weisse, T. and Lettner, S. (2002): The ecological significance of intraspecific variation among freshwater ciliates. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 28: 1880-1884. Weisse, T. (2002): The significance of inter- and intraspecific variation in bacterivorous and herbivorous protists. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 81: 327-341. PDF Weisse, T. and Mindl, B. (2002): Picocyanobacteria - sensitive bioindicators of contaminant stress in an alpine lake (Lake Traunsee, Austria). Water, Air, and Soil Pollution: Focus 2: 191-210. Müller, H., Stadler, P. and Weisse, T. (2002): Seasonal dynamics of cyst formation of strombidid ciliates in alpine Lake Mondsee Austria. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 29: 181-188. PDF Weisse, T. Stadler, P., Lindström, E.S., Kimmance, S.A. and Montagnes, D.J.S. (2002): Interactive effect of temperature and food concentration on growth rate: A test case using the small freshwater ciliate Urotricha farcta Limnol. Oceanogr. 47: 1447-1455. PDF Lindström, E.S., Stadler, P. and Weisse, T. (2002): Quantification of small cultured ciliates by flow cytometry is superior to electronic particle counting and light microscopy. J. Microb. Methods 49: 173-182. PDF Weisse, T. and Frahm, A. (2002): Direct and indirect impact of two common rotifer species (Keratella spp.) on two abundant ciliate species (Urotricha furcata, Balanion planctonicum). Freshwater Biology 47: 53-64. PDF |
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| Professional Memberships and Honours | |||||||
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology (SIL) SIL-Austria (http://www.uibk.ac.at/sil-austria/index.php) - Member of the Managing Committee since 2007 Leipniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (http://www.igb-berlin.de) - Member of the Scientific Advisory Board (since 2004, vice-chairman 2008-) Wasser Cluster Lunz (http://www.wasserkluster-lunz.ac.at) - Member of the Scientific Advisory Board (since 2007) |
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| Editorial Advisorship/Editorial Board Service | |||||||
European Journal of Protistology (Editor, 2009-) LINK Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Soc. (AEHMS, Editorial Board 2002-2006) |
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