Dartmouth College, Ph.D.

W. K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
Phone: (269) 671-2340
Fax: (269) 671-2104
Email: lennonja@msu.edu

Lennon Lab Website

Lennon Lab Wiki

Research Interests Microorganisms are the most abundant and diverse life forms on Earth. They attain high population densities, have fast reproductive rates, and can evolve rapidly to changes in their environment. Moreover, microbes carry out important functions, including nutrient cycling, trace gas flux, and carbon sequestration, which are important for the stability of natural and managed ecosystems.

In our lab, we study the ecology and evolution of microbial communities. We are interested in the biotic and abiotic factors that generate and maintain microbial biodiversity. In turn, we seek to understand the implications of microbial diversity for ecosystem functioning. Research is conducted in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and relies on a variety of tools including molecular biology, simulation modeling, laboratory experiments, field surveys, and whole ecosystem manipulations.

Selected Publications

Jones SE, Lennon JT (2010) Dormancy contributes to the maintenance of microbial diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 5881-5886.

Hall EK , Singer GA, Kainz MJ, Lennon JT (2010) Evidence for temperature acclimation in bacteria: an empirical test of a hypothesized membrane-mediated trade-off. Functional Ecology. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01707.x

Jones SE, Lennon JT (2009) Evidence for limited microbial transfer of methane in a planktonic food web. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 58: 45-53

Lennon JT and Martiny JBH (2008) Rapid evolution buffers ecosystem impacts of viruses in a microbial food web. Ecology Letters.

Lennon JT and Cottingham KL (2008) Microbial productivity in variable resource environments. Ecology. 89: 1001-1014.

Lennon JT, Khatana SAM, Marston MF, Martiny JBH (2007) Is there a cost of virus resistance in marine cyanobacteria? The ISME Journal. 1: 300-312

Lennon JT(2007) Diversity and metabolism of marine bacteria cultivated on dissolved DNA. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 73: 2799-2805.

Lennon JT, Faiia AM, Feng X, Cottingham KL (2006) Relative importance of CO₂ recycling and CH₄ pathways in lake food webs along a terrestrial carbon gradient. Limnology and Oceanography. 51: 1602-1613.

Lennon JT, Pfaff LE. (2005) The source and supply of terrestrial carbon affects aquatic microbial metabolism. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 39:107-119.

Cottingham KL, Lennon JT, Brown BL (2005) Knowing when to draw the line: designing more informative ecological experiments. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 3: 145-152.