Photo of Katrin Iken

Contact Information

Institute of Marine Science
227 O'Neill
P.O. Box 757220
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220
Phone: (907) 474-5192
Fax: (907) 474-5804
iken@ims.uaf.edu

Katrin Iken Associate Professor

Marine Biology • Marine Invertebrates • Marine Plants

Specialties

Trophic interactions and food web analysis
Chemical ecology
Stable isotope analysis
Phycology and invertebrate ecology
Antarctic marine biology
Shallow water ecology and deep-sea biology

Courses

Spring 2008

Marine Biology (MSL F610)
Thesis (MSL F699)

Fall 2008

Marine Biology (MSL F610)
Sem: Proposal Writing (MSL F692AD)
Thesis (MSL F699)

Research Overview

My research is mainly centered around trophic interactions between organisms. This involves dietary composition, feeding habits and consumption rates of invertebrates, macroalgal-herbivore interactions, stable isotope analysis of food web structures etc. It also involves chemical defenses of macroalgae and invertebrates against grazers and predators. I am generally interested in shallow water community diversity, dynamics and ecology, especially in both polar regions, and in deep-sea communities. Most of my shallow water work uses scientific diving as a research tool.

Current Research Projects

BEST: Sea ice algae, a major food source for herbivorous plankton and benthos in the eastern Bering Sea (NSF)
The Hidden Ocean: Explorations under the ice of the Western Arctic - life in the crystal palace of sea ice communities, Phase 2 (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
In Darwin's footsteps: Benthic community and food web structure of the Arctic deep Canada Basin (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
Arctic Epibenthic Community Structure and Benthic Food Web Structure (CIFAR / NOAA)
Monitoring biodiversity in the Boulder Patch, Beaufort Sea (Minerals Management Service)
NaGISA
North American Natural Geography in Shore Areas: An Initial Field Project for the Census of Marine Life

Graduate Students

Angela Dubois--Dynamics of chemical defenses in four Kachemak Bay kelp species as a response to gastropod grazing patterns (M.S., 2003-2006)

Carrie Parris--The influence of selected bottom-up factors on intertidal clam communities in Kachemak Bay, Alaska (M.S., 2004-2008)

Tania Spurkland--Physiological and resource allocation responses of Alaska kelp to varying environmental conditions **(Ph.D., since spring 2005)

Megan Murphy--Larval transport of Tanner (Chionoecetes baird/) and Dungeness (Cancer magister) crab between inner and outer Kachemak Bay (MS, since fall 2006)

Publications

Iken, K., Bluhm, B.A., Dunton, K.H. Benthic food web structure serves as indicator of water mass properties in the southern Chukchi Sea. In review at Deep-Sea Research.

Hondolero, D.E., Konar, B., Iken, K., Chenelot, H. (2007). Variation in low Intertidal Communities: Submerged vs. Emerged. In: Rigby P.R. and Shirayama Y. (eds) Selected Papers of the NaGISA World Congress 2006, Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Special Publication Series Vol. VIII. pp 29-36.

Chenelot, H.A., Iken, K., Konar, B., Edwards, M. (2007). Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Echinoderms in Rocky Nearshore Areas of Alaska In Rigby P.R. and Shirayama Y. (eds) Selected Papers of the NaGISA World Congress 2006, Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Special Publication Series Vol. VIII. pp 11-28

Iken, K., Amsler, C.D., Hubbard, J.M., McClintock, J.B., Baker, B.J. (2007). Allocation patterns of phlorotannins in Antarctic brown algae. Phycologia 46: 386-395.

Rigby, R., Iken, K., Shirayama, Y. (2007). Sampling biodiversity in coastal communities. Kyoto University Press. pp. 145

Wiencke, C., Clayton, M.N., Gomez, I., Iken, K., Luder, U.H., Amsler, C.D., Karsten, U., Hanelt, D., Bischof, K., Dunton, K. (2006). Life strategy, ecophysiology and ecology of seaweeds in polar waters. Reviews in Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology 6: 95-126

Konar, B., Riosmena-Rodrigues, R., Iken, K. (2006). Rhodolith beds: a newly discovered habitat in the North Pacific. Botanica Marina 49: 355-359

Greer, S.P., Iken, K. McClintock, J.B., Amsler, C.D. (2006). Bioassay-guided fractionation of antifouling compounds using computer-assisted motion analysis of brown algal spore swimming. Biofouling 22: 125-132.

Konar, B., Iken, K. (2005). Competitive dominance among sessile marine organisms in a high Arctic boulder community. Polar Biology 29: 61-64.

Amsler, C.D., Iken, K., McClintock, J.B., Amsler, M.O., Peters, K.J., Hubbard, J.M., Furrow, F.B., Baker, B.J. (2005). Comprehensive evaluation of the palatability and chemical defenses of subtidal macroalgae from the Antarctic Pensinsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series 294: 141-159.

Burrows, F., Bellmer, F., Iken, K. (2005). Restoration monitoring of kelp and other macroalgae In: Science-based restoration monitoring of coastal habitats.

Thayer, G.W., McTigue T.A., Salz, R.J., Merkey, D.H., Burrows, F.M., Gayaldo, P.F. (eds) Vol. II, NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. 23, Chapter 5

Iken, K., Bluhm, B.A., Gradinger, R. (2005). Food web structure in the high Arctic Canada Basin: evidence from d13C and d15N analysis. Polar Biology 28: 238-249.

Bluhm, B.A., MacDonald, I.R., Debenham, C., Iken, K. (2005) Macro- and megabenthic communities in the high Arctic Canada Basin: initial findings. Polar Biology 28: 218-231.

Lippert, H., Iken, K., Volk, C., Kock, M., Rachor, E. (2004) Chemical defense against predators in a sub-Arctic fjord. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 310: 131-146.

Lippert, H. and Iken, K. (2003) Biochemical composition and palatability of invertebrates in a sub-Arctic fjord. The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83: 1215-1219.

Riemann-Zurneck, K and Iken, K. (2003) A deep water corallimorpharian in shallow Antarctic habitats: Bionomics, histology, and systematics of Corallimorphus profundus Moseley, 1877 (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia). Zool. Verh. Leiden 345: 367-386.

Iken, K., Greer, S.P., McClintock, J.B., Amsler C.D. (2003) A new antifouling bioassay monitoring brown algal spore swimming behavior in the presence of echinoderm extracts. Biofouling, 19 (5): 327-334.

Greer, S., Iken, K., McClintock, J., Amsler, C. (2003). Individual and coupled effects of sea star extracts and surface hydrophobicity on spore settlement and germination in the brown alga Hincksia irregularis. Biofouling, 19 (5): 315 - 326.

Lippert H., Brinkmeyer R., Mulhaupt T., Iken K. (2003). Antimicrobial activity in sub-Arctic marine invertebrates. Polar Biology, 26: 591-600.

Iken, K., Baker, B. (2003). Ainigmaptilones: New sesquiterpenes from the Antarctic gorgonian coral Ainigmaptilon antarcticus (Octocorallia, Gorgonacea). Journal of Natural Products, 66 (6): 888-890.

Iken, K., Avila, C., Fontana, A., Gavagnin, M. (2002). Chemical ecology and origin of chemical defense in the Antarctic nudibranch Austrodoris kerguelenensis. Marine Biology, 141, 101-109.

Iken, K., Amsler. C.D., Greer, S.P., McClintock, J.B. (2001). Quantitative and qualitative studies of the swimming behaviour of Hincksia irregularis spores (Phaeophyceae): Ecological implications and parameters for quantitative swimming assays. Phycologia, 40, 359-366.

Lippert, H., Iken, K., Rachor, E., Wiencke, C. (2001). Macrofauna associated with macroalgae at Kongsfjord (Spitsbergen)-- Species composition and distribution on abundant macroalgal species. Polar Biology, 24, 512-522.

Iken, K., Brey, T, Wand, U., Voigt, J., Junghans, P. (2001). Trophic relationships in the benthic community at Porcupine Abyssal Plain (NE Atlantic): a stable isotope analysis. Progress in Oceanography, 50, 383-405.

Amsler, C.D., Iken, K.B., McClintock, J.B., Baker B.J. (2001). Secondary Metabolites from Antarctic Marine Organisms and their Ecological Implications. In: Marine Chemical Ecology, J.B. McClintock and B.J. Baker (eds), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 267-300

Amsler, C.D., Iken, K.B. (2001). Chemokinesis and chemotaxis in marine bacteria and algae. In: Marine Chemical Ecology, J.B. McClintock and B.J. Baker (eds), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 413-430

Avila, C., Iken, K., Fontana, A., Cimino, G. (2000). Chemical ecology of the Antarctic nudibranch Bathydoris hodgsoni Eliot, 1907: defensive role and origin of its natural products. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 252(1), 27-44.

Amsler, C.D., Moeller, C.B., McClintock, J.B., Iken, K.B., Baker, B.J. (2000). Chemical defenses against diatom fouling in antarctic marine sponges. Biofouling, 16(1), 29-45.

Gavagnin, M., De Napoli, A., Cimino, G., Iken, K., Avila, C., Garcia, F.J. (1999). Absolute stereochemistry of diterpenoid diacylglycerols from the Antarctic nudibranch Austrodoris kerguelenensis. Tetrahedron Asymmetry, 10, 2647-2650.

Iken, K. (1999). Feeding ecology of the Antarctic herbivorous gastropod Laevilacunaria antarctica Martens. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 236 (1), 133-148.

Iken, K., Quartino, M.L., Wiencke, C. (1999). Histological identification of macroalgae from stomach contents of the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps gives new insights in its feeding ecology. Marine Ecology, 20 (1), 11-18.

Iken, K., Avila, C., Ciavatta, M.L., Fontana, A., Cimino, G. (1998). Hodgsonal, a new drimane sesquiterpene from the mantle of the Antarctic nudibranch Bathydoris hodgsoni. Tetrahedron Letters, 39, 5635-5638.

Iken, K., Barrera-Oro, E.R., Quartino, M.L., Casaux, R.J., Brey, T. (1997). Grazing in the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps: Evidence for selective feeding on macroalgae. Antarctic Science, 9 (4), 386-391.

Weykam, G., Gomez, I., Wiencke, C., Iken, K., Kloser, H. (1996). Photosynthetic characteristics and C:N ratios of macroalgae from King George Island (Antarctica). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 204, 1-22.