Researcher
Profile Researcher
Profile Job Title: Professor of Zoology
Employer: University of Toronto at Mississauga
Place of Birth: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Public School attended: Alta Vista Public School, Ottawa ON
High School attended: Ridgemont High School, Ottawa ON
Further Education: Queen's University (B.Sc.), Princeton University (M.Sc., Ph.D.).
Geographic focus of research: Ontario, Lower Great Lakes
Brief synopsis of current research:
I and my students do research on spatial distributions of aquatic
organisms and how these distributions affect trophic interactions. We
use an Optical Plankton Counter to collect spatial data on zooplankton
at resolutions as high as 1 m over distances as great as 60 km. A
current project in Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Park (with the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources) deals with spatial patterns in smallmouth
bass and lake herring in relation to wind-induced temperature gradients
in the lake. We are also interested in the ecology of invading species
and how the appearance of such organisms affects local food webs.
E-mail:
gsprules@cyclops.erin.utoronto.ca
Website:
www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3bio/sprul.html
Recent Publications:
Dumitru, C., WG Sprules, N.Yan. 2000. Impact of Bythotrephes cederstroemi on zooplankton assemblages of Harp Lake, Canada: an assessment based on predator consumption and prey production. Freshwater Biology (accepted).
Graham, DM, WG Sprules, SJ Nepszy. 1999. Growth and condition of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and white perch (Morone americana) during zebra mussel establishment in western Lake Erie (1988-1991), p. 337-349. IN Munawar, M., T. Edsall, IF Munawar (eds). State of Lake Erie: past, present and future. Backhuys Publ., Leiden, The Netherlands.
Sprules, W.G., E.H. Jin, A.W. Herman, and J.D. Stockwell. 1998. Calibration of an optical plankton counter for use in freshwater Limnol. Oceanog. 43: 726-733
Comments:
I decided to be an aquatic scientist when I found out someone would
actually pay me to canoe around Canadian lakes collecting organisms!