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Andrew Paterson

Inland Lakes Research Scientist

705.766.2951
andrew.paterson@ontario.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 Current Activities:

  • Provide scientific leadership and coordination of the Ministry of the Environment’s water quality monitoring programs focusing on inland lakes, including the long-term monitoring of Dorset-area lakes
  • Conduct research on the effects of multiple environmental stressors, including climate change, on watershed patterns and processes
  • Evaluate causes and consequences of impairments to aquatic habitats and biota, with a focus on phytoplankton communities
  • Examine long-term environmental and climatic changes in aquatic ecosystems using paleoecological techniques
  • Assess long-term environmental and climatic change in the Lake of the Woods and inland lakes in Ontario’s Far North
  • Provide technical expertise on issues concerning Lakeshore Capacity Assessment in Ontario

 

Education and Research Experience:

B.Sc., Environmental Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada (1995)

Ph.D., Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada (2000)

Postdoctoral Fellow, Queen's University, Kingston, ON (2001)

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada (2001)

 

Publications:

 In Press

Greenaway, C.M., Paterson, A.M., Keller, W., and Smol, J.P. Dramatic diatom species assemblage responses in lakes recovering from acidification and metal contamination near Wawa, Ontario, Canada: A paleolimnological perspective. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. In Press. 

Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. Changes since the onset of acid deposition among calcium-sensitive cladoceran taxa within softwater lakes of Ontario, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology. In Press.

Shapiera, M., Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. Cladoceran response to calcium decline and the subsequent inadvertent liming of a softwater Canadian lake. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. In Press.

 2012 

Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2012. Crustacean zooplankton sedimentary remains from calcium-poor lakes: complex responses to threshold concentrations. Aquatic Sciences. 74: 121-131.

Summers, J.C., Rühland, K.M., Kurek, J., Quinlan, R., Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2012. Multiple stressor effects on water quality in Poplar Bay, Lake of the Woods, Canada: a midge-based assessment of hypolimnetic oxygen conditions over the last two centuries. Journal of Limnology. 71: 34-44.

 2011

DeSellas, A.M., Paterson, A.M., Sweetman, J.N., and Smol, J.P. 2011. Assessing the effects of multiple environmental stressors on zooplankton assemblages in Ontario lakes since pre-industrial times. Journal of Limnology. 70: 41-56.

Enache, M.D., Paterson, A.M., and Cumming, B.F. 2011. Changes in diatom assemblages from 40 reference lakes in the Experimental Lakes Area (northwestern Ontario, Canada): Assessing the probable role of climatic change. Journal of Paleolimnology. 46: 1-15.

Hargan, K.E., Paterson, A.M., and Dillon, P.J. 2011. A total phosphorus budget for the Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River catchment. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 37: 753-763.

Hyatt, C.V., Paterson, A.M., Rühland, K.M., and Smol, J.P. 2011. Examining 20th century water quality and ecological changes in the Lake of the Woods, Ontario Canada: a paleolimnological investigation. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 37: 456-469.

Palmer, M.E., Yan, N.D., Paterson, A.M., and Girard, R.E. 2011. Water quality changes in south-central Ontario lakes and the role of local factors in regulating lake response to regional stressors. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 68: 1038-1050.

Stainsby, E.A., Winter, J.G., Jarjanazi, H., Paterson, A.M., Evans, D.O., and Young, J.D. 2011. Changes in the thermal stability of Lake Simcoe from 1980 to 2008. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 37 (Suppl. 3): 55-62.

Strecker, A.L., Beisner, B.E., Arnott, S.E., Paterson, A.M., Winter, J.G., Johannsson, O.E., and Yan, N.D. 2011. Direct and indirect effects of an invasive planktonic predator on pelagic food webs. Limnology and Oceanography. 56: 179-192.

Tropea, A.E., Paterson, A.M., Keller, W., and Smol, J.P. 2011. Diatoms as indicators of long-term nutrient enrichment in metal contaminated lakes from Sudbury, Ontario. Lake and Reservoir Management. 27: 48-60.

Thomas, K.E., Kluke, A., Hall, R.I., Paterson, A.M., and Winter, J.G. 2011. Development and assessment of benthic algal biomonitoring protocols to evaluate nearshore conditions in Ontario lakes. Lake and Reservoir Management. 27: 398-413.

 2010

Clark, B.J., Paterson, A.M., Jeziorski, A., and Kelsey, S. 2010. Assessing variability in total phosphorus measurements in Ontario lakes. Lake and Reservoir Management. 26: 63-72. 

Ethier, A.L.M., Scheuhammer, A.M., Blais, J.M., Paterson, A.M., Mierle, G., Ingram, R., and Lean, D.R.S. 2010. Mercury empirical relationships in sediments from three Ontario lakes. Science of the Total Environment. 408: 2087-2095. 

Hyatt, C.V., Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., and Smol, J.P. 2010. Factors governing regional and temporal variation in the distribution of scaled chrysophytes in northeastern North America: Evidence from lake sediments. Nova Hedwigia. 136: 87-102. 

Korosi, J.B., Paterson, A.M., DeSellas, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2010. A comparison of pre-industrial and present-day changes in Bosmina and Daphnia size structure from soft-water Ontario lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 67: 754-762. 

Michelutti, N., Blais, J.M., Cumming, B.F., Paterson, A.M., Rühland, K., Wolfe, A.P., and Smol, J.P. 2010. Do spectrally-inferred determinations of chlorophyll a reflect trends in lake trophic status? Journal of Paleolimnology. 43: 205-217. 

Rühland, K., Paterson, A.M., Hargan, K., Jenkin, A., Clark, B.J., and Smol, J.P. 2010. Reorganization of algal communities in the Lake of the Woods (Ontario, Canada) in response to turn of the century damming and recent warming. Limnology and Oceanography. 55: 2433-2451. 

Shurin, J.B., Winder, M., Adrian, R., Keller, W., Matthews, Paterson, A.M., Paterson, M., Pinel-Alloul, B., Rusak, J.A., and Yan, N. 2010. Environmental stability and lake plankton diversity – contrasting effects of chemical and thermal variability. Ecology Letters. 13: 453-463. 

Tropea, A.E., Paterson, A.M., Keller, W., and Smol, J.P. 2010. Sudbury sediments revisited: Evaluating limnological recovery in a multiple stressor environment. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 210: 317-333. 

 2009

Eimers, M.C., Watmough, S.A., Paterson, A.M., Dillon, P.J., and Yao, H. 2009. Long-term declines in phosphorus export from forested catchments in south central Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 66: 1682-1692.

Mills, R.B., Bodek, T., Paterson, A.M., Blais, J.M., and Lean, D.R.S. 2009. Temporal analysis of net fluvial methylmercury loading in a dystrophic and a clear water lake. Science of the Total Environment. 407: 4696-4702. 

Mills, R.B., Paterson, A.M., Blais, J.M., Lean, D.R.S., Smol, J.P., and Mierle, G. 2009. Factors influencing the achievement of steady state in mercury contamination among lakes and catchments of south-central Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 66: 187-200. 

Mills, R.B., Paterson, A.M., Lean, D.R.S., Smol, J.P., Mierle, G., and Blais, J.M. 2009. Dissecting the spatial scales of mercury accumulation in Ontario lake sediment. Environmental Pollution. 157: 2949-2956. 

Paterson, A.M., Quinlan, R., Clark, B.J., and Smol, J.P. 2009. Assessing hypolimnetic oxygen concentrations in Canadian Shield lakes: Deriving management benchmarks using two methods. Lake and Reservoir Management. 25: 313-322. 

 2008

Bowman, M.F., Ingram, R., Reid, R.A., Somers, K.M., Yan, N.D., Paterson, A.M., Morgan, G.E., and Gunn, J.M. 2008. Temporal and spatial concordance in community composition of lake phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrate, crayfish, and fish on the Precambrian Shield. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 919-932. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

DeSellas, A.M., Paterson, A.M. Sweetman, J.N., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Cladocera in the surface sediments of lakes in south-central Ontario (Canada) and their relationship to measured environmental variables. Hydrobiologia. 600: 105-119. 

Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., Yan, N.D., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Calcium levels in Daphnia ephippia cannot provide a useful paleolimnological indicator of historical lakewater Ca concentrations. Journal of Paleolimnology. 39: 421-425. 

Jeziorski, A., Yan, N.D., Paterson, A.M., DeSellas, A.M., Turner, M.A., Jeffries, D.S., Keller, W., Weeber, R.C., McNicol, D.K., Palmer, M.E., McIver, K., Arseneau, K., Ginn, B.K., Cumming, B.F., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Aquatic osteoporosis: The widespread threat of calcium decline in fresh waters. Science. 322: 1374-1377. 

Keller, W., Paterson, A.M., Somers, K.M., Dillon, P.J., Leduc, J., Heneberry, J., and Ford, A. 2008. Relationships between dissolved organic carbon concentrations, weather, and acidification in small Boreal Shield lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 786-795. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

Korosi, J.B., Paterson, A.M., DeSellas, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Linking mean body size of pelagic Cladocera to environmental variables in Precambrian Shield lakes: A paleolimnological approach. Journal of Limnology. 67: 22-34. 

Paterson, A.M., Winter, J.G., Nicholls, K.H., Clark, B.J., Ramcharan, C.W., Yan, N.D., and Somers, K.M. 2008. Long-term changes in phytoplankton composition in seven Canadian Shield lakes in response to multiple anthropogenic stressors. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 846-861. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

Quinlan, R., Hall, R.I., Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Long-term assessments of ecological effects of anthropogenic stressors on aquatic ecosystems from paleoecological analyses: challenges to traditional perspectives on lake management. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 933-944. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

Rühland, K., Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2008. Hemispheric-scale patterns of climate-induced shifts in planktonic diatoms from North American and European lakes. Global Change Biology. 14: 2740-2754. 

Winter, J.G., Keller, W., Paterson, A.M., and Yan, N.D. 2008. Three decades of recovery of the phytoplankton community in Clearwater Lake (Sudbury, Canada) from acid and metal contamination. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 30: 247-252. 

Yan, N.D., Paterson, A.M., Somers, K.M., and Scheider, W.A. 2008. An introduction to the Dorset Special Issue: Transforming understanding of the factors that regulate aquatic ecosystems on the southern Canadian Shield. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 781-785. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

Yan, N.D., Somers, K.M. Girard, R.E., Paterson, A.M., Keller, B., Ramcharan, C.W., Rusak, J.A., Ingram, R. Morgan, G.E., and Gunn, J.M. 2008. Long-term changes in zooplankton of Dorset, Ontario lakes: the probable interactive effects of changes in pH, TP, DOC, and predators. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 65: 862-877. [Dorset Special Issue]. 

 2006

Eimers, M.C., Paterson, A.M., Dillon, P.J., Schiff, S.L., Cumming, B.F., and Hall, R.I. 2006. Sediment core records of sulphur accumulation and sulphur isotopic composition in central Ontario lakes. Journal of Paleolimnology. 35: 99-109. 

Paterson, A.M., Dillon, P.J., Hutchinson, N.J., Futter, M.N., Clark, B.J., Mills, R.B., Reid, R.A., and Scheider, W.A. 2006. A review of the components, coefficients, and technical assumptions of Ontario=s Lakeshore Capacity Model. Lake and Reservoir Management. 22: 7-18. 

Wolfe, B.B., Hall, R.I., Last, W.M., Edwards, T.W.D., English, M.C., Karst-Riddoch, T.L., Paterson, A., and Palmini, R. 2006. Reconstruction of multi-century flood histories from oxbow lake sediments, Peace-Athabasca Delta, Canada. Hydrological Processes. 20: 4131-4153. 

 2005 and earlier

Lavoie, I., Somers, K.M., Paterson, A.M., and Dillon, P.J. 2005. Testing scales of variability in benthic diatom community structure. Journal of Applied Phycology. 17: 509-513. 

Pla, S., Paterson, A.M., Smol, J.P., Clark, B.J., and Ingram, R. 2005. Spatial variability in water quality and surface sediment diatom assemblages in a complex lake basin: Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 31: 253-266. 

Quinlan, R., Paterson, A.M., Smol, J.P., Douglas, M.S.V., and Clark, B.J. 2005. Comparing different methods of calculating volume-weighted hypolimnetic oxygen (VWHO) in lakes. Aquatic Sciences. 67: 97-103. 

Smol, J.P., Wolfe, A.P., Birks, H.J.B., Douglas, M.S.V., Jones, V.J., Korhola, A., Pienitz, R., Rühland, K., Sorvari, S., Antoniades, D., Brooks, S.J., Fallu, M-A, Hughes, M., Keatley, B.E., Laing, T.E., Michelutti, M., Nazarova, L., Nyman, M., Paterson, A.M., Perren, B., Quinlan, R., Rautio, M., Saulnier-Talbot, E., Siitonen, S., Solovieva, N., and Weckström, J. 2005. Climate-driven regime shifts in the biological communities of arctic lakes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102: 4397-4402. 

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., and Hall, R.I. 2004. Marked recent increases of colonial scaled chrysophytes in boreal lakes: implications for the management of taste and odour events. Freshwater Biology. 49: 199-207. 

Paterson, A.M., Betts-Piper, A.A., Smol, J.P., and Zeeb, B.A. 2003. Diatom and chrysophyte algal response to long-term PCB contamination from a point-source in northern Labrador, Canada. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 145: 377-393. 

Quinlan, R., Paterson, A.M., Hall, R.I., Dillon, P.J., Wilkinson, A.N., Cumming, B.F., Douglas, M.S.V., and Smol, J.P. 2003. A landscape approach to examining spatial patterns of limnological variables and long-term environmental change in a southern Canadian lake district. Freshwater Biology. 48: 1676-1697. 

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Dixit, S.S., and Smol, J.P. 2002. The importance of model choice on pH inferences from scaled chrysophyte assemblages in North America. Journal of Paleolimnology. 27: 379-391. 

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., Morimoto, D.S., and Szeicz, J.M. 2002. A paleolimnological investigation of the effect of forest fire on lake water quality in northwestern Ontario over the past ca. 150 years. Canadian Journal of Botany. 80: 1329-1336. 

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., and Hall, R.I. 2001. Scaled chrysophytes as indicators of water quality changes since pre-industrial times in the Muskoka-Haliburton region, Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 58: 2468-2481. 

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., Blais, J.M., and France, R.L. 2000. A paleolimnological assessment of the effects of logging on two lakes in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 27: 1214-1219.

Paterson, A.M., Cumming, B.F., Smol, J.P., Blais, J.M., and France, R.L. 1998. Assessment of the effects of logging, forest fires and drought on lakes in northwestern Ontario: A 30-year paleolimnological perspective. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 28: 1546-1556. 

 

Technical Reports:

Ontario Ministries of Environment, Natural Resources and Municipal Affairs and Housing. 2010. Lakeshore Capacity Assessment Handbook: Protecting Water Quality in Inland Lakes on Ontario’s Precambrian Shield. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. PIBS 7642e. 95 pp. [Contributing Author]. 

Ontario Ministry of the Environment. 2009. Water Quality in Ontario Report: 2008. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. PIBS 6926e. 64 pp. [Contributing Author]. 

Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., Yan, N.D., and Smol, J.P. 2009. Tracking the effects of “aquatic osteoporosis” using palaeolimnology. Past Global Changes (PAGES) News. 17(3): 106-108.

DeSellas, A.M., Paterson, A.M., Clark, B.J., Baratono, N.G., and Sellers, T.J. 2009. State of the Basin Report for the Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River Basin. Multi-agency technical report prepared cooperatively by the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and Environment Canada. 142 pp. 

Clark, B.J., Kelsey, S., Paterson, A.M., Griffiths, P. 2006. Sources of variability in total phosphorus measurements in Ontario lakes. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Inland Lakes Group, ILG-2. 20 pp.

Jeziorski, A., Paterson, A.M., Yan, N.D., and Smol, J.P. 2006. Exploration of crustacean zooplankton ephippia (resting eggs) as indicators of lake calcium concentrations. Submitted as Ontario Ministry of the Environment Technical Report. 28 pp.

Paterson, A.M., and Ingram, R. 2006. Exploring causes of blue-green (cyanobacteria) algal blooms in Brandy Lake (District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario). Ontario Ministry of the Environment Technical Report. 30 pp.

Ingram, R.G., Girard, R.E., Clark, B.J., Paterson, A.M., Reid, R.A., and Findeis, J.G. 2006. Dorset Environmental Science Centre: Lake Sampling Methods. Ontario Ministry of the Environment Technical Report, Queen’s Printer of Ontario. ISBN 1-4249-2049-3. 34 pp.

Lenny, A.M., Paterson, A.M., Laird, K.R., Cumming, B.F., and Smol, J.P. 2006. The PEARL PaleoLimno Database (PPLD): Technical and User’s Manual. Ontario Ministry of the Environment Technical Report, Queen’s Printer for Ontario. ISBN 1-4249-016-5. 25 pp.

Clark, B.J., Paterson, A.M., and Ingram, R.G. 2005. McGown Lake - Report on the 2003 Algal Bloom. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Inland Lakes Group, ILG-1. 17 pp.

Paterson, A.M., and Smol, J.P. 2004. Paleolimnology (Section 6.3.2.3). In: Canadian Acid Deposition Science Assessment 2004. Environment Canada, Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing and Publication. ISBN 0-662-38754-6. 2 pp.

Jeffries, D.S., Clair, T.A., Couture, S., Dillon, P.J., Franklyn, J., Keller, W., McNicol, D.K., Norouzian, F., Paterson, A.M., Turner, M.A., and Weeber, R.C. 2004. Changes in Lake Chemistry: Trend Analysis (Section 6.3.2.1). In: Canadian Acid Deposition Science Assessment 2004. Environment Canada, Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing and Publication. ISBN 0-662-38754-6. 8 pp.

Hall, R.I., Wolfe, B.B., Edwards, T.W.D., Paterson, A.M., Karst, T.L, Vardy, S.R., Warner, B., McGowan, S., Leavitt, P., Last, W., English, M., and Boots, B. 2001. A multi-century flood, climatic and ecological history of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, northern Alberta, Canada. Preliminary report on Phase 1 and Phase 2: Calibration and lake sediment core studies. Prepared for B.C. Hydro. 14 pp.