Dr. Misun Kang
Address: Department of Forest Sciences, 3041 – 2424 Main Mall
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4
Email: Misun
Phone: (604) 822-8927
Position: Post-doctoral Fellow
PhD (2009) – University of Windsor, Canada
My general research objectives are to elucidate the factors that regulate biodiversity and ecosystem function trends in aquatic and terrestrial systems. More specifically, my research interests include:
• The impact of climate change on organic matter dynamics
• The role of common and invasive species as indicators of community structure and ecosystem function
• The influence of anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., forest harvesting, urbanization, agricultural land-use) on community structure and ecosystem function
• Evaluation of biodiversity assessments and interpretation of biodiversity patterns
• Interaction and neutral-interaction processes that structure communities
I am investigating the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on leaf litter decomposition. Currently, I am examining the relative influence of common/dominant species (i.e., widespread species with high abundance, biomass, metabolic capacity, and capability of altering resource availability) on organic matter production and processing in stream ecosystems. With impending climate change, common species will likely be major components of ecosystem function and associated ecosystem services. Common species may be an effective indicator of community structure and ecosystem function trends given that they are detectable, unusual, and account for a large proportion of global and regional biomass and productivity. I will also investigate the roles that light, density, physical processes, and community structure play in the breakdown of organic matter. This study will provide insights to the relative contributions of common species and abiotic processes to particulate organic matter transport and how transported fine particulate organic matter subsidizes downstream ecosystems.
Kang, M., Brazner, J.C., Ciborowski, J.J.H., Howe, R.W., Johnson, L.B., Johnston, C.A., Niemi, G.J., Reavie, E.D., Trebitz, A.S. (In Review) Native-nonindigenous species biodiversity relationships and dominance trends of taxonomic groups at Laurentian Great Lakes coastal margins – interaction versus neutral-interaction processes.
Kang, M., Ciborowski, J.J.H. (In Review) Biodiversity information derived from surveys: evaluating the application of an evenness measure as a surrogate for biodiversity in synoptic studies.
Kang, M., Ciborowski, J. J. H., Johnson, L. B. (2007) The influence of anthropogenic disturbance and environmental suitability on the distribution of the nonindigenous amphipod, Echinogammarus ischnus, at Laurentian Great Lakes coastal margins. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 33(SI3), 198-210.
Grigorovich, I. A., Kang, M., Ciborowski, J. J. H. (2005) Colonization of the Laurentian Great Lakes by the amphipod Gammarus tigrinus, a native of the North American Atlantic coast. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 31(3), 333-342.
