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Research AssociateResearch UnitPelagic Ecosystems Lab DegreesPh.D., Oceanography, Univ. of Washington |
Contact Information
Email: a.mclaskey@oceans.ubc.ca
Website: Pelagic Ecosystems Lab
Biography
Dr. McLaskey is a zooplankton ecologist and biological oceanographer who researches the lower trophic levels of marine food webs—from phytoplankton, through zooplankton, to fish. Much of their work focuses on how nutritional quality intersects with food web structure, and how that can impact higher trophic levels.
Research Interests
I am a biological oceanographer and zooplankton ecologist interested in the structure and function of the lower trophic levels of pelagic food webs. Nutritional quality within and across trophic levels is a theme in my research because nutrition at the food web base influences the quality and quantity of prey for higher predators. A new focus of my research is thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency complex in BC salmon and the potential food web drivers of low thiamine.
Keywords: Zooplankton, Salmon, Climate change, Marine ecosystems, Food webs, Nutrition, Fatty acids
Selected Publications
McLaskey AK, Forster I, Hunt BPV (2024). Distinct trophic ecologies of zooplankton size classes are maintained throughout the seasonal cycle. Oecologia.
McLaskey AK, Forster I, Del Bel Belluz J, Hunt BPV (2022) A high-resolution time series of particulate matter fatty acids reveals temporal dynamics of the composition and quality available to zooplankton in a temperate coastal ocean. Progress in Oceanography 206, 102843.
McLaskey AK, Keister JE (2021) An integrated field-laboratory investigation of the effects of low oxygen and pH on North Pacific krill (Euphausia pacifica). Marine Biology 168, 43
McLaskey AK, Keister JE, Yebra L (2020) Individual growth rate (IGR) and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARS) activity as individual-based indicators of growth rate of North Pacific krill, Euphausia pacifica. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 527, 151360.
McLaskey AK, McElhany P, Busch DS, Maher M, Winans AK, Keister JE (2019) Early life stages of Calanus pacificus are neither exposed nor sensitive to low pH waters in Puget Sound, WA. Journal of Plankton Research 41(6): 893-896.
McLaskey AK, Keister JE, Schoo KL, Olson MB, Love BA (2019) Direct and indirect effects of elevated CO2 are revealed through shifts in phytoplankton, copepod development, and fatty acid accumulation. PLoS ONE 14(3): e0213931.
McLaskey AK, Keister JE, McElhany P Olson MB, Busch DS, Maher M, Winans AK (2016) Development of Euphausia pacifica (krill) larvae is impaired under pCO2 levels currently observed in the Northeast Pacific. Marine Ecology Progress Series 555: 65-78.