Dr. Stefanie Moorthi

Research Focus

I’m interested in the effects of biodiversity loss and environmental change on aquatic food webs, using a trait-based perspective. I mainly focus on herbivore – microalgae interactions in planktonic and benthic habitats, investigating the relevance of functional traits for food web dynamics under altered environmental conditions, regarding, e.g. nutrients, light and temperature. Specifically, I study the effects of inter – and intraspecific consumer and algal trait variation for trophic interactions, also in a spatial metacommunity context, the relevance of mixotrophic feeding strategies, and causes and consequences of harmful algal blooms.

Keywords

biodiversity –  trait variation – mixotrophy – harmful algae –  algae-herbivore interactions – ecological stoichiometry

Most Recent Projects

2024 – 2028 Shifts in the form of a ciliate – microalgae symbiosis in response to altered prey densities, competitor densities and temperature. DFG funded project within the DFG Research Unit „Density-dependent symbiosis in planktonic systems - DynaSym”.

2022 – 2025 Spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities under environmental perturbation. Subproject SP4 in DFG Research Unit DynaCom “Spatial community ecology in highly dynamic landscapes: from island biogeography to metaecosystems”.

2018 – 2024 The relevance of consumer competition and feeding traits, as well as their trade-offs, in determining multispecies trophic interactions. DFG funded project within the Priority Programme SPP1704 “Flexibility matters: Interplay between trait diversity and ecological dynamics using aquatic communities as model systems” (DynaTrait).

Selected publications

Flöder S, Klauschies T, Klaassen M, Stoffers T, Lambrecht M and Moorthi SD (2024): Competition between mixotrophic and heterotrophic ciliates under dynamic light and prey supply. Ecosphere 15 (7): e4950. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.4950

Moorthi SD, Busch, M, Feudel U, Tillmann U, Krock B, Brinkmann J, Kooi B & Chakraborty S (2024). Allelopathy determines competition and grazing control in Alexandrium catenella. Harmful Algae 138: 102704. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2024.102704 

Purz AK, Hodapp D, and Moorthi SD (2021). Dispersal, location of bloom initiation, and nutrient conditions determine the dominance of the harmful dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella: A meta-ecosystem study. Limnology and Oceanography 66, 3928-3943. doi.org/10.1002/lno.11933

Short CV

2008 - today Senior Researcher, University of Oldenburg, ICBM Wilhelmshaven, Germany

2007 - 2008 Senior Researcher, University of Cologne, Germany

2004 - 2007 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

2000 - 2004 Dissertation at University of Kiel, GEOMAR, Germany

1993 - 2000 Study of Biology at the Universities of Göttingen and Kiel, Germany