Brenda Konar Professor

Specialties

• phycology
• research scuba diving
• biodiversity
• monitoring programs
• nearshore ecology
• ecosystem change
• benthic ecology

Office Hours

Current Research Projects

• Mapping and characterization of Alaska's unexplored Arctic coastal rocky habitats (NOAA/OE)
• Epifaunal communities in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas (BOEMRE)
• Kelp forest interaction webs in the Aleutian archipelago: patterns and mechanisms of change following the collapse of an apex predator (NSF)
• NaGISA (Sloan Foundation)
  Global biodiveristy program that focuses on nearshore rocky habitats
• Recovery in a high arctic kelp community (CMI)

Links

• UA Scientific Diving Program
• International NaGISA
• COMIDA CAB
  The Chukchi Sea Offshore Monitoring in Drilling Area (chemical and benthos)

Syllabi

• MSL 220 Scientific Diving (21 KB PDF)
• MSL 421/623 Field Studies in Subtidal Ecology (Advanced Scientific Diving - 26 KB PDF)
• MSL 456/656 Kelp Forest Ecology (14 KB PDF)

Kelp Forest Ecology class images

Scientific Diving class images

Current Students

Nathan Stewart
Relating habitat type and prey availability to patterns in sea otter resource selection in Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Terril Efird
Variability of resident and transient fish communities in changing kelp forest habitats

Martin Schuster
Effects of habitat fragmentation on the holdfast fauna and phlorotannin concentrations of the kelp Druehlia fistulosa

Nick Harman
Role of grazers in the recolonization of hard bottom communities in Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Steven Savard
Direct and indirect effects of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bivalve foraging behavior on a soft sediment community

Alexandra Ravelo
Epibenthic community variability in the Chukchi and central Beaufort Seas

Graduate Students

Reid Brewer
Chemosensory ability of seastars in the Pacific Northwest (2003)

Heloise Chenelot
Impacts of salinity and turbidity on the spatial distribution of kelp beds in Kachemak Bay, Alaska (2003)

Cathy Hegwer
Shallow water nearshore fish assemblages around Steller sea lion haulouts near Kodiak, Alaska (2003)

Judy Hamilton
Utilization of Alaska kelp beds by commercially important fishes (2004)

Heather Patterson
The effects of freezing on the intertidal in Kachemak Bay, Alaska (2004)

Casey Debenham
Isotope analysis of a high arctic kelp community and its surrounding area (2005)

Ben Daly
Habitat use by larval, juvenile and adult crab populations in the nearshore communities (2007)

Joel Markis
Essential larval and juvenile fish habitat in the nearshore waters of Kachemak Bay (2007)

Tracie Merrill
Evaluation of walrus foraging grounds in the Bering Sea (2008)

Melissa Deiman
Susceptibility of microscopic life stages to sedimentation and light attenuation in canopy-forming kelp species in Alaska (2010)

Brooke McFarland
Physical and biological habitat preferences of black oystercatchers breeding territories in Prince William Sound, Alaska (2010)

Selected Publications

Pohle G, K Iken, KR Clarke, T Trott, B Konar, JJ Cruz-Motta, M Wong, L Benedetti-Cecchi, A Mead, P Miloslavich, N Mieszkowska, R Milne, L Tamburello, A Knowlton, E Kimani, Y Shirayama. 2011. Aspects of benthic decapod diversity and distribution from rocky nearshore habitat at geographically widely dispersed sites. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18606.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018606 Download PDF (346KB PDF)

Merrill, T, B Konar and B Bluhm. 2010. A temporal comparison of a benthic polynya community southwest of St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea between 2006 and 1970-1974. Polar Biology 33:1439-1444. Download PDF (231KB PDF)

Konar B, K Iken, JJ Cruz-Motta, L Benedetti-Cecchi, A Knowlton, G Pohle, P Miloslavich, M Edwards, T Trott, E Kimani, R Riosmena-Rodriguez, M Wong, S Jenkins, A Silva, I Sousa Pinto, Y Shirayama. 2010. Current Patterns of Macroalgal Diversity and Biomass in Northern Hemisphere Rocky. PLoS ONE 5:e13195. Download PDF (1.7MB PDF)

Benedetti-Cecchi L, K Iken, B Konar, JJ Cruz Motta, A Knowlton, G Pohle, A Castelli, L Tamburello, A Mead, T Trott, P Miloslavich, M Wong, Y Shirayama, C Lardicci, G Palomo, E Maggi. 2010. Spatial relationships between polychaete assemblages and environmental variables. PLoS ONE 5:e12946. Download PDF (1.9MB PDF)

Iken K, B Konar, Benedetti-Cecchi L, JJ Cruz Motta, A Knowlton, G Pohle, A Mead, P Miloslavich, M Wong, T Trott, N Mieszkowska, R Riosmena-Rodriguez, L Airoldi, E Kimani, Y Shirayama, S Fraschetti, M Ortiz-Touzet, A Silva. 2010. Large-scale spatial distribution patterns of echinoderms in nearshore rocky habitats. PLoSONE 5:e13845. Download PDF (1.3MB PDF)

Konar B, Iken K, Pohle G, Miloslavich P, Cruz-Motta JJ, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Kimani E, Knowlton A, Trott T, Iseto T, Shirayama Y. 2010. Surveying Nearshore Biodiversity. In: AD McIntyre (ed) Life in the World's Oceans: Diversity, Distribution, and Abundance Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (Oxford). pp 27-41

*Daly B and B Konar. 2010. Temporal trends in nearshore juvenile and adult crab populations in different habitats. Crustaceana 83:659-669. Download PDF (525KB PDF)

Konar, B, K Iken and M Edwards. 2009. Depth-stratified community zonation patterns on Gulf of Alaska rocky shores. Marine Ecology 30:63-73. Download PDF (337 KB)

Konar B and K Iken. 2009. Influence of taxonomic resolution and morphological functional groups in multivariate analyses of macroalgal populations. Phycologia 48:24-31. Download PDF (174 KB)

Daly B and B Konar. 2008. Effects of macroalgal structural complexity on nearshore larval and post-larval crab composition. Marine Biology 153:1055-1064. Download PDF (446 KB)

Bluhm B.A., K.O. Coyle, B. Konar and R.C. Highsmith. 2007. High gray whale densities associated with an oceanographic front in the south-central Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research II 54: 2919-2933. Download PDF (1.4 MB)

Coyle K.O., B.A. Bluhm, B. Konar, A.L. Blanchard and R.C. Highsmith. 2007. Amphipod prey of gray whales in the northern Bering Sea: comparison of biomass and distribution between the 1980s and 2002 - 2003. Deep Sea Research II 54: 2906-2918. Download PDF (647 KB)

Coyle K.O., B. Konar, A. Blanchard, R.C. Highsmith, M. Carroll, J. Carroll and S. Denisenko. 2007. Temperature effects on the benthic infaunal community on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf: the potential impact of global climate change. Deep Sea Research II 54: 2885-2905. Download PDF (1.71 MB)

Hondelero, D, B Konar, K Iken, H Chenelot. 2007. Variation in low intertidal communities: submerged vs. emerged. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 8:29-36.

Chenelot, H, K Iken. B Konar, M Edwards. 2007. Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Echinoderms in Rocky Nearshore Areas of Alaska. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 8:11-28.

Chenelot H. and B. Konar. 2007. Lacuna vincta herbivory on juvenile and adult Nereocystis luetkeana. Hydrobiologia 583:107-118. Download PDF (278 KB)

Hamilton, J. and B. Konar. 2007. The influence of kelp variability and substrate complexity on northern nearshore fish abundance. Fishery Bulletin 105:189-196. Download PDF (323 KB)

Konar, B. 2007. Introduction to Rocky Shore Ecology. Chapter in Y Shirayama and K Iken (eds) Handbook for Sampling Coastal Seagrass and Macroalgae Community Biodiversity. Kyoto University Press.

Konar, B. 2007. Recolonization of a high latitude hard-bottom nearshore community. Polar Biology 30:663-667. Download PDF (242 KB)

Konar, B, R Riosmena-Rodriguez, and K Iken. 2006. Rhodolith bed: a newly discovered habitat in the North Pacific. Botanica Marina 49:355-359. Download PDF (269 KB)

Highsmith, RC, KO Coyle, B Bluhm and B Konar. 2006. Gray whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Chapter In: Estes, J. (ed) Whales, Whaling and Ocean Ecosystems. UC Press. 303-314.

Konar, B and K Iken. 2005. Competitive dominance among sessile marine organisms in a high Arctic boulder community. Polar Biology 29: 61-64. Download PDF (190 KB)

Brewer, R and B Konar. 2005. Chemosensory responses and foraging behavior of the seastar, Pycnopodia helianthoides. Marine Biology 147: 789-795. Download PDF (244 KB)

Estes, JA, EM Danner, DF Doak, B Konar, AM Springer, PD Steinberg, MT Tinker and TM Williams. 2004. Complex trophic interactions in kelp forest ecosystems. Bulletin of Marine Science 74: 621-638. Download PDF (1 MB)

Konar, B and JA Estes. 2003. The stability of boundary regions between kelp beds and deforested areas. Ecology 84: 174-185. Download PDF (132 KB)

Iken, K and B Konar. 2003. Geografia natural en areas costeras (NaGISA): El componente costero del censo de la vida marina. Gayana (67(2): 153-160. Download PDF (74 KB)

Konar, B. 2001. Effects of varying macroalgal cover on a subarctic sea urchin population. Polar Biology 24:754-763.

Konar, B. 2000. Seasonal inhibitory affects of marine plants on sea urchins: structuring communities the algal way. Oecologia 125:208-217. Download PDF (144 KB)

Konar, B. 2000. Limited effects of a keystone species: trends of sea otters and kelp forest at the Semichi Islands, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 199:271-280. Download PDF (886 KB)

Konar, B and C Roberts. 1996. Large scale landslide effects on two exposed rocky subtidal areas in California. Botanica Marina. 39:517-524.

Lenihan, HS, KA Kiest, KE Conlan, PN Slattery, BH Konar and JS Oliver. 1995. Patterns of survival and behavior in Antarctic benthic invertebrates exposed to contaminated sediments: Field and laboratory bioassay experiments. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 192:233-255.

Konar, B. 1993. Demography and morphology of the geniculate coralline, Bossiella californica ssp. schmittii (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in a central California kelp forest. Phycologia. 32:284-291.

Konar, B and MS Foster. 1992. Distribution and recruitment of subtidal geniculate coralline algae. Journal of Phycology. 28:273-280.

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Modified 10 December 2010. Questions or comments to web coordinator.
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