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Research Interests
Degrees
Ph.D. (Alberta), B.Sc., M.Sc. (Toronto)
Research Outline
My research deals with the behaviour and ecology of aquatic invertebrates. I am most interested in explaining how behaviour accounts for the distribution of aquatic invertebrates with respect to the microhabitats they select and with each other. My students and I study stream and lake habitats in the Windsor area, the Alberta foothills, and the Athabasca Oil Sands region of northeast Alberta.
Recent stream studies have dealt with group formation and filter feeding among black fly larvae. I have found that larvae will select specific positions and body postures relative to their neighbours that maximize their feeding rates.
The best positions change with food levels and flow patterns. Game theory models can be used to explain changes in individual positioning behaviour and transitions from aggregation to uniform spacing.
Lake-based projects have involved studies of burrowing, lake-dwelling mayflies, midges and amphipods. We have contrasted the relative roles of endogenous effects (dispersal, maternal investment, aggregation, substrate selection) vs. exogenous factors (food, temperature, oxygen, sediment-bound pollutants, etc.) in explaining mayfly growth and survival.This work has evolved into the development of sediment bioassays for mayflies and midges, an studies examining toxicokinetics, genotoxic and teratogenic effects.
Lake Erie Millennium Plan (LEMP)
Dr. Ciborowski, through GLIER, is a leader in the Lake Erie Millennium Plan, which seeks to define and understand Lake Erie's most pressing problems, propose solutions and track changes. Through a series of events, the plan takes a cooperative approach to Lake Erie's environmental issues, benefitting from the expertise and concerns of the public, regulatory agencies and the academic community.
Potential Projects for New Students
- developing and evaluating environmental indicators of ecological condition in the Great Lakes coastal zone
- studying community assemblage patterns of profundal zoobenthos in Lake Erie
- midge (Chironomidae, black fly (Simuliidae), and phantom midge (Chaoboridae) chromosomal puff induction and suppression by environmental stressors
- modelling Hexagenia mayfly populations and their role in ecosystem processes in western Lake Erie
- examining how black flies use aggressive behaviour to maintain monogeneric aggregations
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 1997-2000
Refereed Journals
- Gerlofsma, J. and J.J.H. Ciborowski. 1998. "The effects of anoxia on Hexagenia mayfly (Ephemeroptera:Ephemeridae) eggs and implications for populations in western Lake Erie." Bull. N. Amer. Benthol. Soc.15:206.
- Burt, J.A., J.J.H. Ciborowski and T.B. Reynoldson. 1998. "Baseline levels of mouthpart deformities in chironomids of the Great Lakes." Bull. N. Amer. Benthol. Soc.15:193.
- Chase, M.E., J.J.H. Ciborowski, T.B. Reynoldson and M.N. Charlton. 1998. "Modeling the recovery of Hexagenia mayfly populations in western Lake Erie." Bull. N. Amer. Benthol. Soc.15:184.
- Ciborowski, J.J.H., D.A. Craig and K.M. Fry. 1997. "Dissolved organic matter as food for black fly larvae: Laboratory evidence." J. N. Amer. Benthol. Soc.16:771-780.
- Corkum, L.D., J.J.H. Ciborowski and R. Lazar. 1997. "Contaminant burdens of recovering populations of Hexagenia (Ephemeroptera) in western Lake Erie." J. Great Lakes Res. 23:383-390.
- Corkum, L.D., J.J.H. Ciborowski and R. Poulin. 1997. "Effects of maternal size on egg development and sizes of eggs and first instar nymphs of Hexagenia limbata mayflies (Ephemeroptera)." Oecologia 111:69-75.
- Corkum, L.D., J.J. Ciborowski and R. Lazar. 1997. "The recovery of Hexagenia, the burrowing mayfly, in Lake Erie and an analysis of contaminants in adults." J. Great Lakes Res. 23:383-390.
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Selected Papers to Professional Associations and Abstracts
- Paonessa, D., J.J.H. Ciborowski, T.B. Reynoldson, D.W. Schloesser and K.W. Krieger. 1998. "Relative efficiency of eight benthic samplers in Western Lake Erie." IAGLR Conf., Hamilton, ON., p. 147.
- Ciborowski, J.J.H., K.R. Solomon, M.L. Harris, L. Cervi, J. Bestari and K.E. Day. 1998. "Ordinating sensitivity of bioindicators of persistent contaminant-induced stress: Responses to chronic exposures to a persistent contaminant." Proc. Ann. Meet. SETAC, Charlotte, NC.
- Ciborowski, J.J.H., L.D. Corkum, D.W. Schloesser and K.A. Krieger. 1997. "Burrowing mayfly (Hexagenia) populations in Lake Erie." Proc. 24th Ann. Aquat. Toxicol. Workshop, Niagara Falls, ON.
- Ciborowski, J.J.H., L.D. Corkum, D.W. Schloesser and K.A. Krieger. 1997. "Burrowing mayfly (Hexagenia) populations in Lake Erie." Proc. IAGLR Conf., Hamilton, ON., p. 140.
- Ciborowski, J.J.H., K.R. Solomon, M.L. Harris, J. Bestari, L. Cervi and K. Day. 1997. "Community responses of midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) to gradual vs. sudden exposures to a persistent contaminant." Proc. Ann. Meeting SETAC, San Francisco, CA. p. 76.
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