ASU SoLS Faculty: James J. Elser

Ecology, Biological Stoichiometry, Evolutionary Ecology, Limnology

Dr. Elser's research involves the integrative field of biological stoichiometry, the study of balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems. While this work is primarily ecological in focus and includes studies of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and biota, the approach uses an evolutionary perspective to integrate levels of organization from the molecule and cell to the ecosystem. Specific studies involve observational and experimental studies at various scales, including laboratory cultures, short-term field experiments and sustained whole-ecosystem manipulations. Over the years, field sites have included the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario, Canada; lakes of the Arctic; lakes, forests, and grasslands of the upper Midwest; desert springs in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert; and the surrounding Sonoran Desert. In addition, Dr. Elser collaborates extensively with mathematicians in developing quantitative theoretical approaches to these questions. He has recently directed a large, interdisciplinary project investigating the connections among C:N:P stoichiometry, growth rate, rRNA physiology and genetics, and ecological dynamics in diverse biota and ecosystems ("Biological Stoichiometry from Genes to Ecosystems"). Currently, an NSF/NIH project extends these ideas to consider cancer and infectious disease from a stoichiometric perspective.

Selected Publications Since 1994 | CV (PDF)

Elser, J.J., J. Watts, J.H. Schampel, and J Farmer. 2006. Early food-webs on a trophic knife-edge? Experimental data from a modern microbialite-based ecosystem. Ecology Letters: in press.

Boersma, M., and J.J. Elser. 2006. Too much of a good thing: on balanced diets and maximal growth. Ecology: in press.

Weider, L. J., W. Makino, K. Acharya, K. L. Glenn, M. Kyle, J. Urabe, and J. J. Elser. 2005. Genotype x environment interactions, stoichiometric food quality effects, and clonal coexistence in Daphnia pulex. Oecologia 143 :537-547.

Gillooly, J.F., A.P. Allen, J.H. Brown, J.J. Elser, V.M. Savage, G.B. West, W.H. Woodruff, and H.A. Woods. 2005. The metabolic basis of whole-organism RNA and phosphorus stoichiometry. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 102 : 11923 11927.

Weider, L.J., J.J. Elser, T.J. Crease, M. Mateos, T.M. Markow, and J.B. Cotner. 2005. Functional significance of ribosomal (r)DNA variation in the ecology of organisms. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36 : 219-242.

Kerkhoff, A.J., Enquist, B.J., J.J. Elser, J.J., W.F. Fagan. 2005. Plant allometry, stoichiometry and the temperature-dependence of terrestrial primary production. Global Ecology and Biogeography 14 : 585-598.

Elser, J.J., J. H. Schampel, F. Garcia-Pichel, B. Wade, V. Souza, L. Eguiarte, A. Escalante, and J. Farmer. 2005. Effects of PO 4 enrichment and grazing snails on microbial communities in an ecosystem with living stromatolites. Freshwater Biol. 50 : 1808-1825.

Elser, J.J., J. H. Schampel, M. Kyle, J. Watts, E. Carson, T. Dowling, C. Tang, and P. Roopnarine. 2005. Effects of PO 4 enrichment of microbial communities on hydrobiid snails in an ecosystem with living stromatolites. Freshwater Biol. 50 : 1826-1835.

Anderson , T.R., D.O. Hessen, J.J. Elser, and J. Urabe. 2005. Metabolic stoichiometry and the fate of excess carbon and nutrients in consumers. Am. Nat. 165 : 1-15.

Woods, A., W.F. Fagan, J.F. Harrison, and J.J. Elser. 2004. Allometric and taxonomic-dependence of phosphorus content in insects and arachnids. Functional Ecology 18 : 103-109.

Andersen, T., J.J. Elser, and D.O. Hessen. 2004. Stoichiometry and population dynamics. Ecology Letters 7 : 884-900.

Hessen, D.O., G. I. Ågren, T.R. Anderson, J. J. Elser, and P. De Reuter . 2004. Carbon sequestration in ecosystems: the role of stoichiometry. Ecology 85 : 1179-1192.

Vrede, T., D.R. Dobberfuhl, S.A.L.M. Kooijman, and J.J. Elser. 2004. The stoichiometry of production: functional connections among organism C:N:P stoichiometry, macromolecular composition, and growth rate. Ecology 85 : 1217-1229.

Acharya, K., M. Kyle, and J. J. Elser. 2004. Biological stoichiometry of Daphnia growth: an ecophysiological test of the growth rate hypothesis. Limnol. Oceanogr. 49 : 656-665.

Acharya, K., M. Kyle, and J. J. Elser. 2004. Effects of stoichiometric dietary mixing on Daphnia growth and reproduction. Oecologia 138 : 333-340 .

Weider, L.J., K.L. Glenn, M. Kyle, and J.J. Elser. 2004. Associations among ribosomal (r)DNA intergenic spacer length, growth rate, and C:N:P stoichiometry in the genus Daphnia . Limnol. Oceanogr. 49 :656-665.

Perkins, M.C. H.A. Woods, J.F. Harrison, and J.J. Elser. 2004. Dietary phosphorus affects the growth of larval Manduca sexta Arch. Insect Biochem. 55 : 153-168.

Loladze, I. , Y. Kuang, J.J. Elser, and W.F. Fagan. 2004. Competition and stoichiometry: coexistence of two predators on one prey. J. Theor. Biol. 65 : 1-15.

Elser, J.J., J. Nagy, and Y. Kuang. 2003. Biological stoichiometry: an ecological perspective on tumor dynamics. BioScience 53: 1112-1120.

Elser, J.J., K. Acharya, M. Kyle, J. Cotner, W. Makino, T. Markow, T. Watts, S. Hobbie, W. Fagan, J. Schade, and R.W. Sterner. 2003. Growth rate stoichiometry couplings in diverse biota. Ecology Letters 6: 936-943.

Urabe, J., J. Togari, and J.J. Elser. 2003. Stoichiometric impacts of increased carbon dioxide on a planktonic herbivore. Global Change Biology 9: 818-825.

Gorokhova, E., T.A. Dowling, T. Crease, L.J. Weider, and J.J. Elser. 2002. Functional and ecological significance of rDNA IGS variation in a clonal organism under divergent selection for production rate. Proc. Roy. Acad. Lond B 269: 2373-2379.

Fagan, W.F., E.H. Siemann, R.F. Denno, C. Mitter, A. Huberty, H.A. Woods, and J.J. Elser. 2002. Nitrogen in insects: implications for trophic complexity and species diversification. The American Naturalist 160: 784-802.

Frost, P.C., R.S. Stelzer, G.A. Lamberti, and J.J. Elser. 2002. Ecological stoichiometry of trophic interactions in the benthos: Understanding the role of C:N:P ratios in lentic and lotic habitats. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 21: 515-528.

Urabe, J., M. Kyle, W. Makino, T. Yoshida, T. Andersen, and J.J. Elser. 2002. Reduced light increases herbivore production due to stoichiometric effects of light:nutrient balance. Ecology 83: 619-627.

Sterner, R.W. and J.J. Elser. 2002. Ecological Stoichiometry: The Biology of Elements from Molecules to the Biosphere. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Elser, J.J., H. Hayakawa, and J. Urabe. 2001. Nutrient limitation reduces food quality for zooplankton: Daphnia response to seston phosphorus enrichment. Ecology 82: 898-903.

Loladze, I, Y. Kuang, and J.J. Elser. 2000. Stoichiometry in producer-grazer systems: linking energy flow and element cycling. Bull. Math. Biol. 62: 11371162.

Elser, J.J., W.F. Fagan, R.F. Denno, D.R. Dobberfuhl, A. Folarin, A. Huberty, S. Interlandi, S.S. Kilham, E. McCauley, K.L. Schulz, E.H. Siemann, and R.W. Sterner. 2000. Nutritional constraints in terrestrial and freshwater food webs. Nature 408: 578-580.

Elser, J.J., R.W. Sterner, E. Gorokhova, W.F. Fagan, T.A. Markow, J.B. Cotner, J.F. Harrison, S.E. Hobbie, G.M. Odell, L.J. Weider. 2000. Biological stoichiometry from genes to ecosystems. Ecology Letters 3: 540-550.

Elser, J.J, T. Dowling, D.A. Dobberfuhl and J. OBrien. 2000. The evolution of ecosystem processes: ecological stoichiometry of a key herbivore in temperate and arctic habitats. J. Evol. Biol. 13: 845-853.

Elser, J.J., and J. Urabe. 1999. The stoichiometry of consumer-driven nutrient recycling: theory, observations, and consequences. Ecology 80: 745-751.

Elser, J.J., T.H. Chrzanowski, R.W. Sterner, and K. Mills. 1998. Stoichiometric constraints on food web dynamics: a whole-lake experiment on the Canadian Shield. Ecosystems 1: 120-136.

Sterner, R.W., J.J. Elser, E.J. Fee, S.J. Guildford, and T.H. Chrzanowski. 1997. The light:nutrient balance in lakes: the balance of energy and materials affects ecosystem structure and process. Am. Nat. 150: 663-684.

Main, T., D.R. Dobberfuhl, and J.J. Elser. 1997. N:P stoichiometry and ontogeny in crustacean zooplankton: a test of the growth rate hypothesis. Limnol. Oceanogr. 42: 1474-1478.

Elser, J.J., D.R. Dobberfuhl, N.A. MacKay, and J.H. Schampel. 1996. Organism size, life history, and N:P stoichiometry: toward a unified view of cellular and ecosystem processes. BioScience 46: 674-684.

Elser, J.J., and R.P. Hassett. 1994. A stoichiometric analysis of the zooplankton-phytoplankton interaction in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Nature 370: 211-213.