My research interests are in larval (meroplankton) ecology; the study of coupled physical-biological processes, especially those related to population recruitment; climate change impacts; the role of biodiversity in the functioning of marine ecosystems; and linkages between basic science, policy and management.  Large projects over the past decade include the Gulf of Maine Area Census of Marine Life program; studies of larval ecology and connectivity of lobster populations in the Gulf of Maine; and studies of the interactions between internal waves and submarine topography and their effects on plankton patchiness and whale feeding.  I am currently involved in efforts to quantify linkages between ecosystem processes and the flow of ecosystem services that humans utilize in various ways.

Publications

• Jordaan, A, MG Frisk, LS Incze, NH Wolff, L Hamlin, Y Chen. 2013. Multivariate dissemination of species relationships for use in marine spatial planning. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 70(2): 316-329, doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2011-0516
• Lawton, P, LS Incze, SL Ellis. 2012. Representation of biodiversity knowledge within ecosystem-based management approaches for the Gulf of Maine. Amer. Fish. Soc. Sympos. 79: 375-391.
• Pitcher CR, P Lawton, N Ellis, SJ Smith, LS Incze, C-L Wei, ME Greenlaw, NH Wolff, JA Sameoto, PVR Snelgrove. 2012. Exploring the role of environmental variables in shaping patterns of seabed biodiversity composition in regional-scale ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology 2012, 49, 670–679, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02148.x
• Ellis, SL, LS Incze, P Lawton, H Ojaveer, BR MacKenzie, CR Pitcher, TC Shirley, M Eero, JW Tunnell Jr., PJ Doherty, BM Zeller. 2011. Four regional marine biodiversity studies: Approaches and contributions to Ecosystem-Based Management. PLoS ONE 6(4)18997 doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0018997.
• Johnson, CL, JA Runge, KA Curtis, EG Durbin, JA Hare, LS Incze, J Link, GD Melvin, TD O’Brien, LV Guelpen. 2011. Biodiversity and ecosystem function in the Gulf of Maine: Pattern and role of zooplankton and pelagic nekton. PLoS ONE doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016491
• Li, WKW, RA Andersen, DJ Gifford, LS Incze, JL Martin, CH Pilskaln, JN Rooney-Varga, ME Sieracki, WH Wilson, NH Wolff. 2011. Planktonic microbes in the Gulf of Maine area. PLoS ONE 6(6): e20981. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020981
• Incze, LS, P Lawton, SL Ellis and NH Wolff. 2011. Biodiversity knowledge and its
application in the Gulf of Maine Area. Chapter 3 In: (McIntyre, Ed.) Marine Life: Diversity, Abundance and Distribution, Wiley-Blackwell.
• Fautin, D., P. Dalton, L. S. Incze, J-A. C. Leong, C. Pautzke, A. Rosenberg, P. Sandifer, G.
Sedberry, J.W. Tunnell, Jr., I. Abbott, R. E. Brainard, M.Brodeur, L. G. Eldredge, M. Feldman, P. S. Vroom, M. Wainstein, N.Wolff. 2011. An overview of marine biodiversity in United States waters. PloS- One 5(8): e11914 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011914
• Incze, LS, H Xue, N Wolff, D Xu, C Wilson, R Steneck, R Wahle, P Lawton, N Pettigrew, Y Chen. 2010. Connectivity of lobster populations in the Gulf of Maine. Part II. Coupled biophysical dynamics. Fish. Oceanogr. 19: 1-20, doi 10.1111/j.1365-2419.2009.00522.x
• Wahle, RA, JS Cobb, LS Incze, P Lawton, M Gibson, R Glenn, C Wilson, J Tremblay. 2010. The American loster settlement index at 20 years: looking back—looking forward. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. India 52: 180-188.
• Palumbi, SR, PA Sandifer, JD Allan, MW Beck, DG Fautin, MJ Fogarty, BS Halpern, LS Incze, J-A Leong, E Norse, JJ Stachowitcz, DH Wall. 2009. Managing for ocean biodiversity to sustain marine ecosystem services. Frontiers Ecol. Environment 7, doi: 10.1890/070135
• Manning, JP, DJ McGillicuddy Jr., NR Pettigrew, JH Churchill, LS Incze. 2009. Drifter observations of the Gulf of Maine Coastal Current. Cont. Shelf Res. 29: 835-845.
• Fogarty, MJ, LS Incze, K Hayhoe, D Mountain, J Manning. 2008. Potential climate change impacts on Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off the northeastern USA. Mitig. Adapt. Strat. Global Change. 13:453-466.
• Stevick, PT, LS Incze, SD Kraus, S Rosen, N Wolff, A Baukus. 2008. Trophic relationships and oceanography on and around a small offshore bank. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 363: 15-28.
• Xue, H, LS Incze, D Xu, N Wolff, N Pettigrew. 2008. Connectivity of lobster
  populations in the coastal Gulf of Maine. Part I: Circulation and larval transport potential. Ecol. Model. 210: 193-211.