The goal of our research is to link chemical and physiological interactions within metal contaminated aquatic ecosystems to alterations at several levels of biological organization. As such, our research draws on the fields of chemistry, toxicology, physiology, cellular/molecular biology and ecology to understand the fate and effects of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. In our work we try to understand what factors control the accumulation and detoxification of metals in invertebrate prey and how these factors relate to metal toxicity and trophic transfer. Current activities are aimed at understanding patterns in metal accumulation and toxicity in aquatic invertebrates inhabiting the waterways surrounding Staten Island. Future studies may address similar questions with terrestrial invertebrates.
Degrees
PhD, SUNY Stony Brook
MS, SUNY Stony Brook
BS, Stockton State College
Mass-Fitzgerald, A., Zarnoch, C.B., Wallace, W.G. 2019. Examining the relationship between metal exposure
(Cd and Hg), subcellular accumulation, and physiology of juvenile Crassostrea virginica. Aquatic Toxicology 26(25): 958–968
Contributor to the contaminants TEC group (TEC leader: I. Wirgin) of the HRE-CRP (2018): Recommendations for the NY-NJ
Harbor & Estuary Program Action Agenda and the NY HRE Action Agenda
O’Conner, T., Muthukrishnan, S., Barshatzky, K., Wallace, W.G. 2012. Trace metal accumulation in sediments and benthic
macroinvertebrates before and after maintenance of a constructed wetland. Water Environment Research. 84(4): 370-381
Seebaugh, D.R., Wallace, W.G., L'Amoreaux, W.J., Stewart G.M. 2012. Carbon assimilation and digestive
toxicity in naïve grass shrimp (P. pugio) exposed to dietary Cd. Bull. Environ. Contam. and Toxicol. 88(3): 449-455
Seebaugh, D.R., Wallace, W.G., L'Amoreaux, W.J., Stewart G.M. 2012. Assimilation of elements and digestion in
grass shrimp pre-exposed to dietary mercury. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 63(2): 230-40
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2011. Altered feeding habits and strategies of a benthic forage fish (F. heteroclitus) in
chronically polluted tidal salt marshes. Marine Environ. Research. 72 (1-2): 75-88
Seebaugh D.R., L’Amoreaux, W.J., Wallace W.G. 2011. Digestive toxicity in grass shrimp collected along an
impact gradient. Aquatic Toxicology 105: 609-617
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2010. Bioenergetic responses of a benthic forage fish (Fundulus heteroclitus) to habitat
degradation and altered prey community in polluted salt marshes. Can. J. of Fish. and Aqua. Sci. 67(10): 1566–1584
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2010. Relative importance of multiple environmental variables in structuring benthic
macroinfaunal assemblages in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 60(3): 363–375
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2010. Metal intracellular partitioning as a detoxification mechanism for mummichogs (F.
heteroclitus) in urban tidal salt marshes. Mar. Environ. Research. 69 (3): 163–171
Mackie, J.A., Levinton, J.S., Przeslawski, R., DeLambert, D., Wallace, W.G. 2010. Loss of evolutionary
resistance by the oligochaete L. hoffmeisteri to a toxic substance – Cost or gene flow? Evolution. 64(1): 152-165
Khoury, J.N., Powers, E., Patnaik, P., Wallace, W.G. 2009. Relating disparity in competitive foraging behavior
between two populations of fiddler crabs to the subcellular partitioning of metals. Archives of Environmental
Contamination and Toxicology. 56: 489-499
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2009. Biodiversity loss in benthic macroinfaunal communities and its consequence for
organic mercury trophic availability to benthivorous predators in the lower Hudson River estuary, USA. Marine
Pollution Bulletin. 58(12): 1909–1915
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2009. Relevance of intracellular partitioning of metals in prey to differential metal
bioaccumulation among populations of mummichogs (F. heteroclitus). Mar. Environ. Res. 68(5): 257–267
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2009. Influences of prey- and predator- dependent processes on cadmium and
methylmercury trophic transfer to mummichogs (F. heteroclitus). Can. J. of Fish. and Aqua. Sci. 66(5): 836–846
Seebaugh, D.R., Wallace, W.G. 2009. Assimilation and subcellular distribution of elements by grass shrimp
collected along an impact gradient. Aquatic Toxicology 93: 107-115
Wallace, W.G., Goto, D., Seebaugh, D.R., 2008. Metal assimilation results from the interaction of prey- and
predator-dependent processes. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. 4: 375-377 (invited)
Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2007. Interaction of Cd and Zn during uptake and loss in the polychaete Capitella
capitata: whole body and subcellular perspectives. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 352: 65-77
Seebaugh, D.R., Estephan, A., Wallace, W.G. 2006. Relationship between dietary cadmium absorption by grass
shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) and trophically available cadmium in amphipod (Gammarus lawrencianus) prey.
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 76:16-23
Seebaugh, D.R., Goto, D., Wallace, W.G. 2005. Bioenhancement of cadmium transfer along a multi-level food
chain. Marine Environmental Research. 59: 473-491
Cain, D.J., Luoma, S.N., Wallace, W.G. 2004. Linking metal bioaccumulation of aquatic insects to their
distribution patterns in a mining-impacted river. Environ. Tox. & Chem. 23(6): 1463-1473
Perez, M.H., Wallace, W.G. 2004. Differences in prey capture in grass shrimp, P. pugio, collected along an
environmental impact gradient. Arch. Environ. Contam. and Toxicol. 46: 81-89
Seebaugh, D.R., Wallace, W.G. 2004. The importance of metal-binding proteins in the partitioning of Cd and Zn
as trophically available metal (TAM) in the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 272: 215-230
Wallace, W.G., Estephan, A. 2004. Differential susceptibility of horizontal and vertical swimming activity to
cadmium exposure in a gammaridean amphipod (Gammarus lawrencianus). Aquatic Toxicology. 69: 289-297
Levinton, J.S., Suatoni, L., Wallace, W.G., Junkins, R., Kelaher, B., Allen B. 2003. Rapid loss of genetically
based resistance to metals after the cleanup of a Superfund site. Proceed. Nation. Acad. of Sci. 100(17): 9889-9891
Wallace, W.G., Lee, B-G., Luoma, S.N. 2003. Subcellular compartmentalization of Cd and Zn in two bivalves. I.
Significance of metal-sensitive fractions (MSF) and biologically detoxified metal (BDM). MEPS. 249: 183-197
Wallace, W.G., Luoma, S.N. 2003. Subcellular compartmentalization of Cd and Zn in two bivalves. II. Significance
of trophically available metal (TAM). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 257: 125-137
Wallace, W.G., Hoexum Brouwer, T.M., Brouwer, M., Lopez, G.R. 2000. Alterations in prey capture and induction
of metallothioneins in grass shrimp fed cadmium-contaminated prey. Environ. Toxicol. and Chem. 19(4): 962-971
Levinton, J.S., Klerks, P., Martinez, D.E., Montero, C., Sturmbauer, C., Suatoni, L., Wallace, W.G. 1999. Running
the Gauntlet: Pollution, Evolution and Reclamation of an Estuarine Bay and its Significance in Understanding the
Population Biology of Toxicology and Food Web Transfer. IN M. Whitfield, ed., Aquatic Life Cycles Strategies.
Plymouth U.K., The Marine Biological Association
Lee, B.G., Wallace, W.G., Luoma, S.N. 1998. Uptake and loss kinetics of Cd, Cr and Zn in the bivalves
Potamocorbula amurensis and Macoma balthica. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 175: 177-189
Wallace, W.G., Lopez, G.R., Levinton, J.S. 1998. Cd resistance in an oligochaete and its effect on cadmium
trophic transfer to an omnivorous shrimp. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 175: 225-237
Wallace, W.G., Lopez, G.R. 1997. Bioavailability of biologically sequestered cadmium and the implications of
metal detoxification. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 147: 149-157
Wallace, W.G., Lopez, G.R. 1996. Relationship between the subcellular cadmium distribution of prey and
cadmium trophic transfer to a predator. Estuaries. 19(4): 923-930
Sokal, R.A., et al. (Wallace, W.G.). 1996. Restoration and recovery of an ecosystem polluted by cadmium.
Journal of Undergraduate Research. 3(1): 115-127
