Network Member Profiles
Aaron Potito, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Biography
My research focuses on the use of biological indicators in lake sediments and tree-rings to reconstruct late Pleistocene and Holocene climates and to assess human impacts on lake and forest environments. My research has increasingly concentrated on chironomid (non-biting midge fly) subfossils in lake sediments as a palaeoenvironmental indicator, but I remain active in dendroecological and dendroclimatological studies. Current chironomid-based research interests include palaeotemperature reconstruction for Holocene climates in Ireland, assessment of historical and pre-historical human impacts on lake systems in Ireland, and the study of recent human impacts on lake ecosystems in China. Dendrological research interests include the use of tree ring techniques to assess the health and growth patterns of natural forest stands in western Ireland. My work has been based in the United States, Ireland, and China.
Contact
aaron.potito@nuigalway.ie
Research Interests
Palaeoclimatology - Palaeolimnology - Chironomids - Tree rings - Climate change - Holocene
Collaborative Interests
I am interested in collaborating on palaeoenvironmental studies using lake sediments, where I can offer my chironomid expertise as part of a multi-proxy investigation. I am interested in Holocene and Late Glacial studies, as well as more recent changes to lake systems due to human impacts and climate change.
Themes
Earth, Air, Water
Selected Publications
MacDonald, G.M., K.A. Moser, A.M. Bloom, D.F. Porinchu, A.P. Potito, A. Petel, B. Wolfe, T.W.D. Edwards, A.R. Orme, and A.J. Orme. (2008) Evidence of temperature depression and hydrological variations in the eastern Sierra Nevada during the Younger Dryas, Quaternary Research, 70, 131-140.
Potito, A.P. and G.M. MacDonald. (2008) The effects of aridity on conifer radial growth, recruitment, and mortality patterns in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 40, 129-139.
Porinchu, D.F., A.P. Potito, G.M. MacDonald, and A.M. Bloom. (2007) Subfossil chironomids as indicators of recent climate change in Sierra Nevada, California, lakes, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39, 286-296.
Potito, A.P., D.F. Porinchu, G.M. MacDonald, and K.A. Moser. (2006) A late Quaternary chironomid-inferred temperature record from the Sierra Nevada, California, with connections to northeast Pacific sea surface temperatures. Quaternary Research, 66, 356-363.
Potito, A.P. and S.W. Beatty. (2005) Impacts of recreation trails on exotic and ruderal species distribution in grassland areas along the Colorado Front Range, Environmental Management, 36, 230-236.