Charles W. Menza

Research Interests

My research examines the processes that control the spatial distribution of plants and animals over the surface of the Earth. This work pertains to the sub-disciplines of spatial ecology and biogeography. In general, I try to answer: Why do we find an organism in some places, but not in others? Do different processes control spatial patterns at different spatial scales? Can we predict where an organism will be given some environmental parameter(s)? The answers to these questions are important, because they allow us to better understand and manage natural resources and ecological processes. My work requires a thorough understanding of geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial statistics and spatially-explicit models.

Research Projects

Vulnerability of Commercial Marine Species to Climate Change

Currently, I am working on a project in collaboration with the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, the Atlantic Reference Centre and McGill University to determine the vulnerability of 34 commercial marine species to climate change. The considered species include Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), capelin (Mallotus villosus) and the zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus. The project will forecast how each species’ spatial distribution will change in relation to climate change model predictions and modern species-specific thermal preferences.

Regional bias of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Sea Surface Temperature data in the Northwest Atlantic

This project will compare buoy and AVHRR data to determine if remotely sensed sea surface temperatures are accurate in one of the most economically important environments of the world.

Modeling Past and Future Sea Surface Temperatures in the Large Marine Ecosystems of the Northwest Atlantic

The coarse spatial resolution of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) and paleoclimate records obscures climate estimates in nearshore environments. This project will estimate fine-scale spatial patterns of sea surface temperature during the last glacial maximum (16,000 BC) and for 100 years in the future (2100AD) within the Large Marine Ecosystems using modern spatial patterns as an analog.

Past, Present and Future Spatial Distributions of Habitat Engineers in the Atlantic

The affect of past and future climate change on the spatial distributions of several habitat engineers will be revealed.

Effects of Wind on the Horizontal Spatial Patterns of Zooplankton in Lake Opeongo

For my Master’s degree, I studied the spatial patterns of zooplankton in Lake Opeongo (Algonquin Park, Ontario). Automatic sampling instruments, including an Optical Plankton Counter (OPC), were used to simultaneously measure zooplankton biomass, temperature and chlorophyll concentration at a high spatial resolution. My study showed that wind can be used to accurately model large- and coarse-scale spatial patterns of zooplankton and temperature.