Edward Laws
Professor Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge LA
Dr. Laws’s research focuses on phytoplankton ecology, nutrient and carbon cycling.
Areas of Expertise
Research Focus
Phytoplankton Ecology & Nutrient Cycling
Dr. Laws’s research focuses on phytoplankton ecology, nutrient and carbon cycling, and aquatic pollution in coastal and open-ocean systems. He combines field and shipboard sampling, stable-isotope and trace-metal analyses, and ecosystem modeling to predict primary production, gauge climate impacts, and guide water-quality and coastal-restoration policy.
Education
Harvard University
B.A.
Chemistry
1967
Harvard University
Ph.D.
Chemical Physics
1972
Accomplishments
Distinguished Research Master,
2025
Articles
Coupling between bacterial phylogenetic diversity and heterotrophic productivity in a coastal ecosystem affected by estuarine plumes
ISME Communications2025
Understanding the diversity-productivity relationship (DPR) is crucial for elucidating the ecological functions of marine bacterioplankton. However, studies have often focused on species diversity, neglecting phylogenetic diversity, which may offer deeper insights into the complex ecological processes shaping DPR in natural systems. This study addressed this gap by exploring the role of phylogenetic diversity in bacterioplankton productivity in the northern South China Sea, a coastal ecosystem influenced by estuarine plumes. We aimed to disentangle the mechanisms driving DPR and investigate how estuarine plumes modulate these processes. Our results show that the substantial enhancement of phytoplankton production by the Pearl River plume increased bacterial production, abundance, and cell-specific production. From a metacommunity perspective, phylogenetic diversity, rather than species diversity, significantly enhanced productivity. The plume reduced positive species interactions and complementarity but amplified the selection effect, where increased phylogenetic diversity raised the likelihood of including highly productive species.
Phago‐mixotrophic activity within nanophytoplankton community in a subtropical marginal sea
Limnology and Oceanography2025
An increasing number of studies have documented the ecological importance of phago‐mixotrophy within phytoplankton communities, especially in open ocean environments. We know less about the distribution and function of such phytoplankton within marginal seas. This study was an investigation of phago‐mixotrophy among nanoeukaryotic phytoplankton along a shelf‐to‐off‐shelf transect in the South China Sea with a focus on prasinophytes (Mamiellophyceae) and haptophytes (Prymnesiophyceae). We measured group‐specific grazing rates using tyramide signal amplified fluorescent in situ hybridization and assessed community‐level inorganic nutrient (including carbon and nitrogen) uptake rates to demonstrate the heterotrophic and autotrophic growth capabilities of the phytoplankton. We also used correlation analysis, principal component analysis, generalized additive models, and structural equation modeling to evaluate the interrelationship between phago‐mixotrophic activity and key environmental parameters, including abiotic factors (e.g., temperature, salinity, nutrients) and biotic factors (e.g., bacterial abundance).
Climate-driven connectivity loss impedes species adaptation to warming in the deep ocean
Nature Climate Change2025
Marine life are expected to have fewer thermal barriers restricting their movement to adjacent habitats than terrestrial species do. However, it remains unknown how this warming-induced connectivity loss varies in different ocean strata, limiting the predictability of warming impacts on biodiversity in the whole ocean. Here, we developed a climate connectivity framework across seascape strata under different climate change scenarios, which combines thermal gradient, human impacts and species tolerance thresholds. We show that warming may lead to connectivity loss, with its magnitude increasing with depth. Connectivity loss is projected to increase rapidly in 2050, particularly in deep strata, and may impair the movement capacity of deep-sea phyla in adapting to warming. With the compression of habitat ranges, over one-quarter of deep-sea species inhabit areas that may experience disrupted connectivity, threatening the maintenance of deep-sea biodiversity. Our results highlight the challenges that climate change poses to biodiversity conservation through disruption of deep-sea connectivity.
Dynamic of phytoplankton community during varying intensities of the northeast monsoon in the Taiwan Strait
Acta Oceanologica Sinica2025
The Kuroshio intrusion from the Luzon Strait significantly affects ecosystems in the South China Sea (SCS), especially during the Northeast Monsoon, a time when field observations are notably sparse and where vertical mixing induced by strong winds can obscure the effects of the Kuroshio intrusion. In this study, we address these gaps by reanalyzing data from 20 cruises (5,067 samples) in the SCS between 2004 and 2015. We also carried out two dedicated field cruises during the Northeast and the Southwest Monsoon in 2018. Field observations from both cruises revealed a consistent unimodal relationship between total chlorophyll a (Chla) concentrations in the upper 50 m of the water column and the index of the Kuroshio intrusion. Specifically, a strong Kuroshio intrusion during the Northeast Monsoon significantly enhanced Chla concentrations in the northern SCS. This enhanced Chla concentration during the Northeast Monsoon was primarily driven by increases of Synechococcus and nanophytoplankton that contrasted with the dominance of Prochlorococcus during the Southeast Monsoon.
A Stronger Kuroshio Intrusion Leads to Higher Chlorophyll a Concentration in the Northern South China Sea
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans2025
The Kuroshio intrusion from the Luzon Strait significantly affects ecosystems in the South China Sea (SCS), especially during the Northeast Monsoon, a time when field observations are notably sparse and where vertical mixing induced by strong winds can obscure the effects of the Kuroshio intrusion. In this study, we address these gaps by reanalyzing data from 20 cruises (5,067 samples) in the SCS between 2004 and 2015. We also carried out two dedicated field cruises during the Northeast and the Southwest Monsoon in 2018. Field observations from both cruises revealed a consistent unimodal relationship between total chlorophyll a (Chla) concentrations in the upper 50 m of the water column and the index of the Kuroshio intrusion. Specifically, a strong Kuroshio intrusion during the Northeast Monsoon significantly enhanced Chla concentrations in the northern SCS. This enhanced Chla concentration during the Northeast Monsoon was primarily driven by increases of Synechococcus and nanophytoplankton that contrasted with the dominance of Prochlorococcus during the Southeast Monsoon. L
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