Heidi Rantala

Heidi Rantala
Research Fellow
Lake and Landscape Ecologist, Minnesota DNR
she/her
[email protected]
Fisheries research @ MNDNR
Education
  • PhD, Biological Sciences, University of Alabama
  • MS, Water Resource Sciences, University of Minnesota - Duluth
  • BS, Biology and Geology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
External Affiliations

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Areas of Interest

Effects of invasive invertebrates on food webs, energy flow, and habitat characteristics in lakes and streams to inform fisheries management in Minnesota.

Biography

Dr. Heidi Rantala is interested in ecosystem processes and food webs in freshwater systems, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and aquatic invasive species. With MAISRC, she will be assisting with field work, analyzing data, and producing presentations and publications, and is also serving as a benthic invertebrate expert.

Research

The impact of mystery snails on food webs

Select Publications

Blinick, N. S., Link, D., Ahrenstorff, T. D., Bethke, B. J., Fleishman, A. B., Janssen, S. E., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Nelson, J. K. R., Rantala, H. M., Rude, C. L., & Hansen, G. J. A. (2024). Increased mercury concentrations in walleye and yellow perch in lakes invaded by zebra mussels. Science of The Total Environment, 957, 177515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177515
 
Bethke, B. J., Rantala, H. M., Ahrenstorff, T. D., Kelly, H. A. W., Kovalenko, K. E., Maki, R. P., Hirsch, J. K., Dumke, J. D., Brady, V. J., LeDuc, J. F., & Hansen, G. J. A. (2023). Walleye and yellow perch resource use in large lakes invaded by spiny water fleas and zebra mussels. Aquatic Ecology. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-023-10030-0
 
DeWeese, N. E., Favot, E. J., Branstrator, D. K., Reavie, E. D., Smol, J. P., Engstrom, D. R., Rantala, H. M., Schottler, S. P., & Paterson, A. M. (2021). Early presence of Bythotrephes cederströmii (Cladocera: Cercopagidae) in lake sediments in North America: Evidence or artifact? Journal of Paleolimnology, 66(4), 389–405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-021-00213-w
 
Wellard Kelly, H. A., Kovalenko, K. E., Ahrenstorff, T. D., Bethke, B. J., Brady, V. J., Dumke, J. D., Hansen, G. J. A., & Rantala, H. M. (2021). Trophic complexity of small fish in nearshore food webs. Hydrobiologia, 848(10), 2505–2521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04570-5
 
Hansen, G. J. A., Ahrenstorff, T. D., Bethke, B. J., Dumke, J. D., Hirsch, J., Kovalenko, K. E., LeDuc, J. F., Maki, R. P., Rantala, H. M., & Wagner, T. (2020). Walleye growth declines following zebra mussel and Bythotrephes invasion. Biological Invasions, 22(4), 1481–1495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02198-5