lesk@bu.edu

Ecology and Conservation Biology Developmental Biology Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Marine Biology Tropical Ecology Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Professor of Biology, Boston University Marine Program
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1980

Welcome to the BU Marine Program's Aquatic Conservation Laboratory

Purpose

The Kaufman lab is dedicated to the study of aquatic species diversity with a principal focus on nearshore ecosystems.    We do basic research on the mechanisms responsible for dense concentrations of fish species such as those of the African Great Lakes and coral reefs.   We also study the dynamics of coral reef regeneration, a process in which the disintegration and re-assembly of one of earth's richest communities is played out in ecological time.  

Much of the lab's resources are currently focused on what we call "clinical ecology": doing the science needed to diagnose and repair the human enterprise in the world's oceans and lakes.   Lab affiliates are encouraged to contribute to the scientific basis for marine policy.  

Our work is highly collaborative and international, with field experiments in the US National Marine Sanctuaries and at tropical locations around the world. We enjoy vibrant collaborative relationships with The New England Aquarium, Commonweal, Conservation International, the National Marine Sanctuary Program, National Marine Fisheries Service, the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, and the Conservation Law Foundation.   Within Boston University, we are currently collaborating closely with Dr. Suchi Gopal in Geography and Environment, and with the Lobel, Barber, Finnerty, and Gilmore laboratories within the Biology Department.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Marine Management Area Science.   Human influences from climate change to deforestation to fishing have profoundly impacted marine nearshore communities.   Area management- with some areas highly protected and others open to heavier use- is one of our most important tools for healing the damage. Are these strictures doing what we hope they will?   What are their unintended effects?   We are seeking answers to these questions in the Gulf of Maine, California, Florida and tropical coastal communities.   We study fish movements in and out of protected areas (using acoustic telemetry), the significance of species diversity (functional morphology and behavioral studies), population dynamics, and marine reserve effects on food webs (stomach contents and stable isotopic data).   We are also examining the effects of climate change on corals from the standpoint of lesion repair and molecular responses to stress.  

These interests have been brought together in a global scientific research effort on marine management area science (the MMAS Program) in collaboration with the DC-based NGO Conservation International, with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.   The project is led in partnership by Kaufman as Senior PI, based in Boston, and Dr. Leah Bunce as Senior Project Director, in Washington DC.    See http://www.biodiversityscience.org/xp/CABS/research/mmas/mmas.xml

Freshwater Biodiversity.   The impacts of freshwater management on aquatic diversity are graphic and severe in East Africa, where we have studied the evolution, landscape ecology, and conservation biology of the spectacular and little-known endemic fish fauna of the Lake Victoria Region since 1989.   The work began with a biotic and limnological survey in the field, evolved into a study of the molecular phylogeography of Lake Victoria cichlids, and is now focused on comparative trophodynamics in highly perturbed vs. relatively pristine lacustrine environments in the northern African Great Lakes.   We have found that endangered fish species play an essential role in sustaining fisheries for the introduced Nile perch.   We are also doing basic research on brain and behavior in cichlid fishes.   In one project led by Dr. Maria Abate, we are studying the peculiar behavior called "brood capture" in neotropical cichlids.   In another, we study the evolutionary neurobiology and behavior of Lake Tanganyika cichlids, in collaboration with Drs. Caroly Shumway and Hans Hoffman.   Our African lakes research is conducted in partnership with the fishery research institutes of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania and with colleagues at McGill and Bern Universities.   This work has been supported by NSF, EPA, National Geographic, The World Bank, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Conservation Food and Health, and other foundation sources.  

Biomedical Models.   We have recently resumed our collaboration (initially NIH funded) with the Brigham and Women's Hospital (Dr. Julie Glowacki) to advance the use of the fish skeleton as a model in the study of regulatory processes in human bone.

Personnel

PI:

Dr. Les Kaufman

Faculty Associates:

Dr. Maria Abate, College of General Studies, BU
Dr. Caroly Shumway, Adjunct, New England Aquarium
Dr. Jason Link, Adjunct, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NMFS
Dr. Jud Crawford, Adjunct, Conservation Law Foundation

Doctoral Candidates:

Jean-Francois Bertrand
Burton Shank
Briana Brown
Elizabeth Soule
Nikki Traylor-Knowles (Finnerty Lab)

Undergraduate Researchers:

Nalini Gupta
Beth Dubofsky
Andy Fogel
Lauren Taylor
Lauren Nadler
Colin Riley
Andrew Eng
Nancy Lee
Hung Pham
Kristen Vollrath
Elaine Pryputniewicz
Elise Magarian
Will Abdu
Aurora Tsai
Melaie Lontoh
Lindsey Albright

Doctoral Alumni:

Ioannis Batjakis
Alistair Economakis
Joe Walsh
Elizabeth Stacy
James Lindholm
Jamie Bechtel
Jesse Schwartz
Gregg Moore
William Ojwang

Masters Alumni:

Paul Sackley (Tufts)
Lauren Rader
Lisa Kerr
Edward Timmer
Beatrice Bocking
Lucy Keith
Annie Konkle
Chris Bentis
Edmundo Perez
William Ojwang
Elizabeth Soule
Kevin Blinkoff

Kaufman, L. and R. H. Michener.   In Press.   Stable isotope ratios as tracers in marine food webs: an update. Chapter 9 In : K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener (Eds.).   Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science.   Blackwell Scientific, Boston.   316pp.

Schwartz, J. D. M., M.J. Pallin, R.H. Michener, D. Mbabazi, & L.S. Kaufman.   2006.  Effects of   Nile perch, Lates niloticus , on functional and specific fish diversity in Uganda's Lake Kyoga system.   African Journal of Ecology   44  (2): 145-156.

Kaufman, L.   2006.   If you build it, will they come?   Toward a concrete basis for coral reef gardening.   Pp.   119-142 In : Precht, W. (Ed.) Coral Reef Restoration Handbook: The Rehabilitation and Preservation of an Ecosystem Under Siege.   CRC Press.

Lindholm, J., A. Knight, L. Kaufman and S. Miller,   2006.   Site fidelity and movement of the parrotfishes Scarus coeruleus and Scarus taeniopterus at Conch Reef (northern Florida Keys). Caribbean Journal of Science 42(1):138-144.

Bennett, W.A., K. Roinestad, L. Rogers-Bennett, L. Kaufman, D. Wilson-Vandenberg, and B. Heneman.   2004.   Inverse regional responses to climate change and fishing intensity by the recreational rockfish (Sebastes spp.) fishery in California.   Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci 61(12): 2499-2510.

Kaufman, L. S., B. Heneman, T. Barnes, and R. Fujita.   2004.   Transition from low to high data richness:   An experiment in ecosystem-based fishery management from California.   Bull. Mar. Sci. 74(3):693-708.

Kaufman, L.S., J.B.C. Jackson, E. Sala, P. Chisolm, E.D. Gomez, C. Peterson, R.V. Salm and G. Llewellyn.   2004.   Restoring and maintaining ecosystem function.   Pp. 165-181 In: L. Glover and S. Earle (Eds.). Defying Ocean's End.   Island Press, Washington DC.   283pp.

Ojwang, W.O., L. Kaufman, A. A. Asila, and S. Agembe and B. Michener.   2004.   Isotopic evidence of functional overlap amongst the resilient pelagic fishes of Lake Victoria, Kenya.   Hydrobiologia 529:27-35.

Kaufman, L.S.   2003.   Evolutionary footprints in ecological time:   Water management and aquatic conservation in African lakes.   In: Conservation, Ecology, and Management of African Freshwaters.   In: T.L. Crisman, L.J. Chapman, C.A. Chapman, and L.S. Kaufman (editors).   University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. p. 46-490.

Balirwa, J.S., C.A. Chapman, L.J. Chapman, I.G. Cowx, K. Geheb, L. Kaufman, R.H. Lowe-McConnell, O. Seehausen, J.H. Wanink, R.L. Welcomme, and F. Witte.   2003. Biodiversity and Fishery Sustainability in the Lake Victoria Basin: An Unexpected Marriage?   Bioscience 53:703-715. (Order of authorship alphabetical).

Sayama, Hiroki, Kaufman, Les & Yaneer Bar-Yam.   2003.   Spontaneous Pattern Formation and Genetic Diversity in Habitats with Irregular Geographical Features.   Conservation Biology.   17  (3) 893-900.

Kaufman, L. and J. Schwartz. 2002. Nile perch population dynamics in Lake Victoria: implications for management and conservation.   In: Ruth, M. and J. Lindholm (Eds.). Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation. Springer-Verlag,New York. p. 257-313.

Lindholm, J. B., P. J. Auster, M. Ruth, and L. S. Kaufman.   2001.   Modeling the effects of fishing, and implications for the design of marine protected areas: juvenile fish responses to variations in seafloor habitat.   Conservation Biology 15:424-437.

Smith-Vaniz, W., L.S. Kaufman and J. Glowacki. 1995. The natural history of fish hyperostosis: cellular bone within an acellular skeleton. Marine Biology 121:573-580-9.

Chapman, L.J., L.S. Kaufman and C.A. Chapman. 1994. Why swim upside down: a comparative study of two synodontid catfishes. Copeia 1994:130-135.

Kaufman, L.S. and P. Ochumba. 1993. Evolutionary and conservation biology of cichlid fishes are revealed by faunal remants in Lake Vicotria. Conservation Biology 7(3):719-730.

Kaufman, L.S. 1992. Catastrophic change in species-rich freshwater ecosystems, the lessons of Lake Victoria. Bioscience 42:846.

Kaufman, L.S., J. Ebersole, J. Beets and C. MacIvor. 1992. A key phase in the recruitment dynamics of coral reef fishes: postsettlement transition. Environmental Biology of Fishes 34:109-114.

Questions and comments are always welcome.
Copyright © 1996, The Trustees of Boston University
This document was last modified on November 17, 2006.