Tom Suchanek (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Revisiting Paine’s 1966 sea star removal experiment, the most-cited empirical article in the American Naturalist
“Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity” (Paine 1966) is the most-cited empirical article published in the American Naturalist. In short, Paine removed predatory sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) from the rocky intertidal and watched the key prey species, mussels (Mytilus californianus), crowd out seven subordinate primary space-...
Lafferty, Kevin D.; Suchanek, Tom Historical baselines and the future of shell calcification for a foundation species in a changing ocean
Seawater pH and the availability of carbonate ions are decreasing due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, posing challenges for calcifying marine species. Marine mussels are of particular concern given their role as foundation species worldwide. Here, we document shell growth and calcification patterns in Mytilus californianus, the...
Pfister, Catherine A.; Roy, Kaustuv; Wootton, Timothy J.; McCoy, Sophie J.; Paine, Robert T.; Suchanek, Tom; Sanford, Eric
Mercury in birds of San Francisco Bay-Delta, California: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation, and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction
San Francisco Bay Estuary in northern California has a legacy of mercury contamination, which could reduce the health and reproductive success of waterbirds in the estuary. The goal of this study was to use an integrated field and laboratory approach to evaluate the risks of mercury exposure to birds in the estuary. We examined mercury...
Ackerman, Joshua T.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Heinz, Gary; De La Cruz, Susan E.W.; Takekawa, John Y.; Miles, A. Keith; Adelsbach, Terrence L.; Herzog, Mark P.; Bluso-Demers, Jill D.; Demers, Scott A.; Herring, Garth; Hoffman, David J.; Hartman, Christopher A.; Willacker, James J.; Suchanek, Thomas H.; Schwarzbach, Steven E.; Maurer, Thomas C.
The Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium
Palmyra Atoll in the tropical Pacific is the site of some exciting work by scientists from a diverse collection of research institutions. The Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium (PARC) fosters collaborative multi- and inter-disciplinary research by U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) agencies (USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service–USFWS),...
Suchanek, Thomas H.
Mercury assessment and monitoring protocol for the Bear Creek Watershed, Colusa County, California
This report summarizes the known information on the occurrence and distribution of mercury (Hg) in physical/chemical and biological matrices within the Bear Creek watershed. Based on these data, a matrix-specific monitoring protocol for the evaluation of the effectiveness of activities designed to remediate Hg contamination in the Bear Creek...
Suchanek, Thomas H.; Hothem, Roger L.; Rytuba, James J.; Yee, Julie L. A mass balance mercury budget for a mine-dominated lake: Clear Lake, California
The Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM), active intermittently from 1873–1957 and now a USEPA Superfund site, was previously estimated to have contributed at least 100 metric tons (105 kg) of mercury (Hg) into the Clear Lake aquatic ecosystem. We have confirmed this minimum estimate. To better quantify the contribution of the mine in relation to...
Suchanek, T.H.; Cooke, J.; Keller, K.; Jorgensen, S.; Richerson, P.J.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Harner, E.J.; Adam, D.P. Mercury concentrations and space use of pre-breeding American avocets and black-necked stilts in San Francisco Bay
We examined factors influencing mercury concentrations in pre-breeding American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus), the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay, California. We tested the effects of species, site, sex, year, and date on total mercury concentrations in blood of pre-...
Ackerman, Joshua T.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Takekawa, John Y.; Demers, Scott A.; Adelsbach, Terrence L.; Bluso, J.D.; Miles, A. Keith; Warnock, Nils; Suchanek, Thomas H.; Schwarzbach, Steven E. Mercury and methylmercury concentrations and loads in the Cache Creek watershed, California
Concentrations and loads of total mercury and methylmercury were measured in streams draining abandoned mercury mines and in the proximity of geothermal discharge in the Cache Creek watershed of California during a 17-month period from January 2000 through May 2001. Rainfall and runoff were lower than long-term averages during the study period....
Domagalski, Joseph L.; Alpers, Charles N.; Slotton, D.G.; Suchanek, T.H.; Ayers, S.M.