John Gunn

Research Interests

My research focuses on the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems with a particular interest in the factors that affect recovery from disturbance.  Initially my research was concentrated on lake trout and other boreal fish species.  In recent years more and more of the work has been directed at understanding the ecology of benthic invertebrates key biogeochemical processes such as DOM production and release of contaminants such as Hg, processes that are primarily microbial in origins.

Publications (last 6 years)

Kluke, C., Lescord, G. L., Johnston, T. A., Kielstra, B. W., Lock, A., Bhavsar, S., & Gunn, J. M. (2023). Spatial patterns and environmental factors related to arsenic bioaccumulation in boreal freshwater fish. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 80(3), 628–641. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2022-0106

Gunn, J. M., & Louste-Fillion, J. (2022). Adaptability of lake charr (salvelinus namaycush) in a changing world: Newly recolonized landscapes reveal the significance of traits shaped during the pleistocene. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 106(5), 895–908. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01311-y

Lescord, G. L., Johnston, T. A., Ponton, D. E., Amyot, M., Lock, A., & Gunn, J. M. (2022). The speciation of arsenic in the muscle tissue of inland and coastal freshwater fish from a remote boreal region. Chemosphere, 308, 136140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136140

Johnston, Thomas A., Lescord, G. L., Quesnel, M., Savage, P.-L., Gunn, J. M., & Kidd, K. A. (2022). Age, body size, growth and dietary habits: What are the key factors driving individual variability in mercury of lacustrine fishes in northern temperate lakes? Environmental Research, 213, 113740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113740

Ponton, D. E., Ruelas-Inzunza, J., Lavoie, R. A., Lescord, G. L., Johnston, T. A., Graydon, J. A., Reichert, M., Donadt, C., Poesch, M., Gunn, J. M., & Amyot, M. (2022). Mercury, selenium and arsenic concentrations in Canadian freshwater fish and a perspective on human consumption intake and risk. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 6, 100060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100060

Lescord, G., Johnston, T. A., Ponton, D. E., Amyot, M., Lock, A., & Gunn, J. M. (2022). The speciation of arsenic in the muscle tissue of inland and coastal freshwater fish from a remote boreal region. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4130040

Woodman, S. G., Khoury, S., Fournier, R. E., Emilson, E. J., Gunn, J. M., Rusak, J. A., & Tanentzap, A. J. (2021). Forest defoliator outbreaks alter nutrient cycling in northern waters. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26666-1

Rumney, R. H. M., Preston, M. D., Jones, T., Basiliko, N., & Gunn, J. (2021). Soil Amendment improves carbon sequestration by trees on severely damaged acid and metal impacted landscape, but total storage remains low. Forest Ecology and Management, 483, 118896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118896

Sumner, A. W., Johnston, T. A., Lescord, G. L., Branfireun, B. A., & Gunn, J. M. (2019). Mercury bioaccumulation in lacustrine fish populations along a climatic gradient in Northern Ontario, Canada. Ecosystems, 23(6), 1206–1226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00464-9

Gupta, V., Courtemanche, J., Gunn, J., & Mykytczuk, N. (2020). Shallow floating treatment wetland capable of sulfate reduction in acid mine drainage impacted waters in a northern climate. Journal of Environmental Management, 263, 110351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110351

Thome, C., Laframboise, T., Mitz, C., Clancy, E., Bates, J., Somers, C. M., Manzon, R. G., Wilson, J. Y., Gunn, J. M., & Boreham, D. R. (2020). Modifying effects of a cobble substrate on thermal environments and implications for embryonic development in Lake Whitefish (coregonus clupeaformis). Journal of Fish Biology, 97(1), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14331

Lescord, G. L., Johnston, T. A., Heerschap, M. J., Keller, W. (Bill), Southee, F. M., O’Connor, C. M., Dyer, R. D., Branfireun, B. A., & Gunn, J. M. (2020). Arsenic, chromium, and other elements of concern in fish from remote boreal lakes and rivers: Drivers of variation and implications for subsistence consumption. Environmental Pollution, 259, 113878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113878

Aždajić, M., Belzile, N., Gunn, J. M., Blais, J. M., & Poulain, A. J. (2020). Effects of a decade of selenium emission reductions on mercury accumulation in aquatic biota in the Sudbury Region of Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 77(5), 848–856. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0196

McTavish, M. J., Smenderovac, E., Gunn, J., & Murphy, S. D. (2019). Insect defoliators in recovering industrial landscapes: Effects of landscape degradation and remediation near an abandoned metal smelter on Gypsy Moth (lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) feeding, frass production, and frass properties. Environmental Entomology, 48(5), 1187–1196. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvz096

Johnston, T.A., Ehrman, A. D., Hamilton, G. L., Nugent, B. K., Cott, P. A., & Gunn, J. M. (2019). Plenty of room at the bottom: Niche variation and segregation in large-bodied benthivores of Boreal Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 76(8), 1411–1422. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0180

Lescord, G. L., Johnston, T., Branfireun, B. A., & Gunn, J. M. (2019). Mercury bioaccumulation in relation to changing physicochemical and ecological factors across a large and undisturbed boreal watershed. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 76(12), 2165–2175. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0465

Orland, C., Emilson, E. J., Basiliko, N., Mykytczuk, N. C., Gunn, J. M., & Tanentzap, A. J. (2018). Microbiome functioning depends on individual and interactive effects of the Environment and Community Structure. The ISME Journal, 13(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-018-0230-x

Lescord G, TA Johnston, BA Branfireun and JM Gunn. 2018. Percent methylmercury in the muscle tissue of freshwater fish varies with body size, age, and among species. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. DOI 10.1002/etc.4233

Emilson E, MA Carson, KM Yakimovich, JM Gunn, NCS Mykytczuk, N Basiliko and AJ Tanentzap. 2018. Climate-driven shifts in sediment chemistry enhance methane production in northern lakes. Nature Communications. 1801 (2018) doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04236-2

Lescord GL, EJS Emilson, TA Johnston, BA Branfireun and JM Gunn. 2018. The optical properties of dissolved organic matter and their relation to mercury concentrations in water and biota across a remote freshwater drainage basin. Environmental Science and Technology. 52(6):3344-3353 doi: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05348

Emilson C, D Kreutzweiser, JM Gunn, N Mykytczuk. 2017. Leaf-litter microbial communities in boreal streams linked to forest and wetland sources of dissolved organic carbon. Ecosphere 8(2) e01678.10.1002/ecs2.1678

Jones FC, JM Gunn et al. 2017. Random forests as cumulative effects models: A case study of lakes and rivers in Muskoka, Canada. Journal of Environmental Management. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.06.011

Kielstra BW, SW Arnott and JM Gunn. 2017. Subcatchment deltas and upland features influence multiscale aquatic ecosystem recovery in damaged landscapes. Ecological Applications 27:2249-2261.

MacLeod, J., W. Keller, A.M. Paterson, R.D. Dyer and J.M. Gunn. 2017. Scale and watershed features determine lake chemistry patterns across physiographic regions in the far north of Ontario, Canada. J. Limnol. 76(1):211-220

Szkokan-Emilson EJ, BW Kielstra, SE Arnott, SA Watmough, JM Gunn and AJ Tanentzap. 2017. Dry conditions disrupt terrestrial-aquatic linkages in northern catchments. Global Change Biology. 23:117-126 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13361

Tanentzap AJ, E Szkokan-Emilson, CM Desjardins, C Orland, K Yakimovich, R Dirszowsky, N Mykytczuk, N Basiliko, J Gunn. 2017. Bridging between litterbags and whole-ecosystem experiments: A new approach for studying lake sediments. J. Limnol. 76:431-437. http://dx.doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2017.1588.

Tanentzap AJ, BW Kielstra, GM Wilkinson, M Berggren, N Craig, PA del Giorgio, J Grey, JM Gunn, SE Jones, J Karlsson, CT Solomon, ML Pace. 2017. Terrestrial ecosystems support lake zooplankton: large-scale synthesis reveals catchment and within-lake controls over use of cross-ecosystem resources. Science Advances 3, e1601765

Books

Gunn, J.M., R.J. Steedman and R.A. Ryder. 2004. Boreal Shield Watersheds: Lake trout ecosystems in a changing environment. Lewis Publishers. 501 p.

Gunn, John M. (ed.) 1995. Restoration and Recovery of an Industrial Region. Springer-Verlag, New York, 358 p.