Kevin Wyatt
Professor of Biology
Education
Michigan State University Ph.D., 2010
Research Interests
We study aquatic ecosystems with a focus on how biofilm structure influences ecosystem processes in streams, lakes and wetlands. We are particularly interested in the interactions among algal and bacterial communities that have consequences for biogeochemical cycling and food web dynamics. Our most current research is evaluating how changes in algal productivity and community composition associated with environmental disturbance influences the amount and composition of extracellular products available for heterotrophic metabolism in the surrounding environment. The nature of our research is multi-disciplinary, providing research opportunities for students with a wide range of interests.
Recent Publications
Wyatt, K.H., K.S. McCann, A.R. Rober, and M.R. Turetsky. 2021. Trophic interactions regulate peatland carbon cycling. Ecology Letters DOI: 10.1111/ele.13697.
Ferguson*, H.M., E.J. Slagle*, A.A. McCann*, J.T. Walls*, K.H. Wyatt, and A.R. Rober. 2021. Greening of the boreal peatland food web: periphyton supports secondary production in northern peatlands. Limnology & Oceanography DOI: 10.1002/lno.11719.
Myers*, J.M., K.A. Kuehn and K.H. Wyatt. 2021. Carbon subsidies shift a northern peatland biofilm community towards heterotrophy in low but not high nutrient conditions. Freshwater Biology DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13663.
Kane, E.S., C.M. Dieleman, D. Rupp, K.H. Wyatt, A.R. Rober, M.R. Turetsky. 2021. Consequences of increased variation in peatland hydrology for carbon storage: legacy effects of drought and flood in a boreal fen ecosystem. Frontiers in Earth Science 8:577746. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2020.577746.
Halvorson, H.M., K.H. Wyatt, and K.A. Kuehn. 2020. Ecological significance of autotroph-heterotroph microbial interactions in freshwaters. Freshwater Biology 65: 1183–1188.
Seballos*, R.C., K.H. Wyatt, R.J. Bernot, S.P. Brown, S. Chandra, and A.R. Rober. 2020. Nutrient availability and organic matter quality shape bacterial community structure in a lake biofilm. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 85: 1-18.
Wyatt, K.H. and A.R. Rober. 2020. Warming enhances the stimulatory effect of algal exudates on dissolved organic carbon decomposition. Freshwater Biology 65: 1288–1297.
Wyatt, K.H., R.C. Seballos*, M.N. Shoemaker*, S.P. Brown, S. Chandra, K.A. Kuehn, A.R. Rober, and S. Sadro. 2019. Resource constraints highlight complex microbial interactions during lake biofilm development. Journal of Ecology 107: 2737–2746.
Walls, J., K.H. Wyatt, J.C. Doll, V.J. Rubenstein, and A.R. Rober. 2018. Hot and toxic: temperature regulates microcystin release from cyanobacteria. Science of the Total Environment 610-611:786-795.
DeColibus D., A.R. Rober, A.M. Sampson, A.C. Shurzinske, J.T. Walls, M.R. Turetsky, and K.H. Wyatt. 2017. Legacy effects of drought alters the aquatic food web of a northern boreal peatland. Freshwater Biology 62: 1377- 1388.
Pyron M., J.C. Becker, K.J. Broadway, L. Etchison, M. Minder, D. DeColibus, M. Chezem, K.H. Wyatt, and B.A. Murry. 2017. Are long-term fish assemblage changes in a large U.S. river related to the Asian Carp invasion? Test of the hostile take-over and opportunistic dispersal hypotheses. Aquatic Sciences 79: 631-642.
Gu Y. and K.H. Wyatt. 2016. Light availability limits the response of algae and heterotrophic bacteria to elevated nutrient levels and warming in a northern peatland. Freshwater Biology 61: 1442-1453.
Wyatt, K.H. and M.R. Turetsky. 2015. Algae alleviate carbon limitation of heterotrophic bacteria in a boreal peatland. Journal of Ecology 103: 1165-1171.
Rober, A.R., R.J. Stevenson, and K.H. Wyatt. 2015. The role of light availability and herbivory on algal responses to nutrient enrichment in a riparian wetland, Alaska. Journal of Phycology 51: 528-535.
Wyatt, K.H., J.S. Bange, A.S. Fitzgibbon, M.J. Bernot, and A.R. Rober. 2015. Nutrients and temperature interact to regulate algae and heterotrophic bacteria in an Alaskan poor fen peatland. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72: 447-453.
Linton, D.L., W.M. Pangle, K.H. Wyatt, K.N. Powell, and R.E. Sherwood. 2014. Identifying key features of active learning: the effects of writing and peer discussion. CBE-Life Sciences Education 13: 469-477.
Rober, A.R., K.H. Wyatt, R.J. Stevenson, and M.R. Turetsky. 2014. Spatial and temporal variability of algal community dynamics and productivity in floodplain wetlands along the Tanana River, Alaska. Freshwater Science 33(3): 765-777.
Wyatt, K.H., A.R. Rober, N. Schmidt, and I.R. Davison. 2014. Effects of desiccation and rewetting on the release and decomposition of dissolved organic carbon from benthic macroalgae. Freshwater Biology 59: 407-416.
Wyatt, K.H., E. Tellez, R.L. Woodke, R.J. Bidner, and I.R. Davison. 2014. Effects of nutrient limitation on the release and use of dissolved organic carbon from benthic algae in Lake Michigan. Freshwater Science 33(2): 557-567.
Rober, A.R., K.H. Wyatt, M.R. Turetsky, and R.J. Stevenson. 2013. Algal community response to experimental and interannual variation in hydrology in an Alaskan boreal fen. Freshwater Science 32: 1-11.
Wyatt, K.H., M.R. Turetsky, A.R. Rober, D. Giroldo, E.S. Kane, and R.J. Stevenson. 2012. Contributions of algae to GPP and DOC production in an Alaskan fen: effects of historical water table manipulations on ecosystem response to a natural flood. Oecologia 169: 821–832.
Rober, A.R., K.H. Wyatt, and R.J. Stevenson. 2011. Regulation of algal structure and function by nutrients and grazing in a boreal wetland. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 30(3): 787–796
Wyatt, K.H., R.J. Stevenson, and M.R. Turetsky. 2010. The importance of nutrient co-limitation in regulating algal community composition, productivity, and algal-derived DOC in an oligotrophic marsh in interior Alaska. Freshwater Biology 55: 1845–1860.
Wyatt, K.H. and R.J. Stevenson. 2010. Effects of acidification and alkalinization on a periphytic algal community in an Alaskan wetland. Wetlands 30: 1193–1202.
Kasischke, E.S., L.L. Bourgeau-Chavez, A.R. Rober, K.H. Wyatt, J.M. Waddington, and M.R. Turetsky. 2009. Effects of soil moisture and water depth on ERS SAR backscatter measurements from an Alaskan wetland complex. Remote Sensing of Environment 113: 1868–1873.
Wyatt, K.H., F.R. Hauer, and G.F. Pessoney. 2008. Benthic algal response to hyporheic-surface water exchange in an alluvial river. Hydrobiologia 607: 151–161.