Greg Cronin
Dr.Cronin stands in a tropical stream in
Trophic relations: Water lilies are primary producers, herbivores (primary consumers) chew holes in the water lilies' leaves, and the fish (secondary consumers) eat herbivores.
Research Interests: Aquatic Ecology
Freshwater macrophytes (big plants) form the base of many aquatic food webs and are a living, photosynthetic link between anoxic sediments, water, and in the case of emergent plants, the atmosphere. I am interested in (1) trophic relations of plants and herbivores, including plant defenses against grazers and feeding preferences and impacts of aquatic herbivores, (2) the influence of higher trophic levels on plant-herbivore interactions (trophic cascades), (3) the influence of macrophytes on aquatic communities, sediment and water chemistry, and ecosystem processes, and (4) the roles of plants in sediment-water-atmosphere interactions.
Current Projects
- Influence of macrophytes and herbivores on sediment and water chemistry
- Emissions of biogenic trace gases from vegetated and unvegetated lakes
- Influence of reservoir construction on biosphere-atmosphere interactions
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Professional Information
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Univ. of Colorado at Denver
· Select Publications: (click on my CV to see all of my publications, including entire articles as PDFs)
1) Cronin G, and D. M. Lodge. 2003. Effects of light and nutrient availability on the growth, allocation, carbon/nutrient balance, phenolic chemistry, and resistance to herbivory of two freshwater macrophytes. Oecologia in press.
2)
Cronin, G.
David M. Lodge, M. E. Hay, M. Miller, A. M. Hill, T. Horvath, R. C. Bolser, N. Lindquist, and M. Wahl. 2002. Crayfish
feeding preferences for freshwater macrophytes: the influence of plant
structure and chemistry. Journal of Crustacean Biology: Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 708–718 abstract
3)
Dorn, N. J.,
Cronin, G, Lodge D.M. 2001. Feeding
preferences and performance of an aquatic lepidopteran
on aquatic macrophytes: Plant hosts as food and habitat. Oecologia 128:406-415
4)
Smith, L.K.,
W.M. Lewis, Jr., J.P. Chanton, G. Cronin, and S.K.
Hamilton. 2000. Methane
emissions from the Orinoco River Floodplain, Venezuela. Biogeochemistry 51: 113-140.
5)
Cronin, G., T.
Schlacher, D. M Lodge, and E. L. Siska. 1999. Intraspecific
variation in feeding preference and performance of Galerucella
nymphaeae (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) on aquatic macrophytes. J. North
American Benthological Society 18:391-405.
6)
Lodge, D.M., G.
Cronin, E. Van Donk, and A.J. Froelich.
1998. Impact
of herbivory on plant standing crop: Comparisons among biomes, between vascular
and nonvascular plants, and among freshwater herbivore taxa.
In: Jeppesen, E, Sondergaard,
Ma.,
7) Cronin, G, K. D. Wissing, and D. M. Lodge. 1998. Comparative feeding selectivity of herbivorous insects on water lilies: Aquatic vs. semi-terrestrial insects and submersed vs. floating leaves. Freshwater Biology 39: 243-257 abstract
Recent synoptic publication:
Cronin, G. 2001 Resource allocation in seaweeds and marine invertebrates: Chemical defense patterns in relation to defense theories. In: Marine Chemical Ecology, J. B. McClintock and B.J. Baker, eds. CRC Press. 325-353.
Lodge, D.M., G. Cronin, E. Van Donk,
and A.J. Froelich. 1998. Impact of herbivory on
plant standing crop: Comparisons among biomes, between vascular and nonvascular
plants, and among freshwater herbivore taxa. In: Jeppesen, E, Sondergaard, Ma.,
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Biographical Information
Postdoctoral Associate/Concurrent Asst. Professor, 1995-1997, University of Notre Dame
Visiting Scientist, 1997-1998, Center for Limnology, CIRES/Univ. of
Colorado at Boulder
Ph.D., 1994. University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Curriculum in Marine Sciences
B.A., 1989. University
of Kansas, highest distinction,
Biochemistry and Chemistry.
What I like to do when I'm not working....
Contact Information
Office, NC 3016B
Department of Biology, CB# 171
U. Colorado - Denver
Denver, CO 80217
Electronic mail address: gcronin@carbon.cudenver.edu
Office phone: 303-556-6036
Fax: 303-556-4352