A5085659106- Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
- Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Isotope Analysis in Ecology
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Marine and fisheries research
- Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Mine drainage and remediation techniques
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Diptera species taxonomy and behavior
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Plant and animal studies
- Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
- Sustainable Agricultural Systems Analysis
- Water Quality and Resources Studies
University of Maine
2014-2024
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
2010-2024
University of Canterbury
2005-2022
John Wiley & Sons (United States)
2018
Ecological Society of America
2018
IFC Research (United Kingdom)
2018
University of British Columbia
2011-2012
Memorial
1983
Increases in the frequency, severity and duration of temperature extremes are anticipated near future. Although recent work suggests that changes variation will have disproportionately greater effects on species than to mean, much climate change research ecology has focused impacts mean change. Here, we couple fine-grained projections (2050-2059) thermal performance data from 38 ectothermic invertebrate contrast with those a simple model. We show based alone differ substantially...
Changing temperature can substantially shift ecological communities by altering the strength and stability of trophic interactions. Because many rates are constrained temperature, new approaches required to understand how simultaneous changes in multiple alter relative performance species their We develop an energetic approach identify relationship between biomass fluxes standing across levels. Our links dynamics measure temperature-dependent interactions determine these food web stability....
Climate warming is occurring in concert with other anthropogenic changes to ecosystems. However, it unknown whether and how alters the importance of top‐down vs. bottom‐up control over community productivity variability. We performed a 16‐month factorial experimental manipulation warming, nutrient enrichment, predator presence replicated freshwater pond mesocosms test their independent interactive impacts. Warming strengthened trophic cascades from fish primary producers, decreased impact...
The effects of global and local environmental changes are transmitted through networks interacting organisms to shape the structure communities dynamics ecosystems. We tested impact elevated temperature on top-down bottom-up forces structuring experimental freshwater pond food webs in western Canada over 16 months. Experimental warming was crossed with treatments manipulating presence planktivorous fish eutrophication enhanced nutrient supply. found that higher temperatures produced...
Abstract The exchange of organisms and energy among ecosystems has major impacts on food web structure dynamics, yet little is known about how climate warming combines with other pervasive anthropogenic perturbations to affect such exchanges. We used an outdoor freshwater mesocosm experiment investigate the interactive effects warming, eutrophication, changes in top predators flux biomass between aquatic terrestrial ecosystems. demonstrated that predatory fish decoupled by reducing emergence...
Trophic cascades are indirect positive effects of predators on resources via control intermediate consumers. Larger-bodied appear to induce stronger trophic (a greater rebound resource density toward carrying capacity), but how this happens is unknown because we lack a clear depiction the strength determined. Using consumer models, first show that cascade has an upper limit set by interaction between basal group and its approached as predator increases. We then express explicitly in terms...
Biodiversity in running waters is threatened by an increased severity and incidence of low‐flow extremes resulting from global climate change a growing human demand for freshwater resources. Although it unknown how to what extent riverine communities will the face these threats, considerable insight be gained efforts aimed at quantifying habitat size‐related controls on trophic relationships among taxa streams experiencing extreme flow loss. Here we report detailed space‐for‐time survey...
Indirect effects of predators on basal resources in allochthonous‐based food webs are poorly understood. We investigated indirect predatory brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) detritus dynamics southern beech Nothofagus spp.) forest streams New Zealand through predation the obligate detritivore, Zelandopsyche ingens (Trichoptera, Oeconesidae). Trout presence/absence and Z. density were manipulated flow‐through tanks to investigate lethal sub‐lethal litter processing by . An experiment that allowed...
The species composition of lentic communities often shifts along hydroperiod gradients, in part because temporary-habitat specialists replace closely related permanent-habitat specialists. These replacements reflect tradeoffs between traits that facilitate coexistence with predators and those prevent desiccation. evidence for the underlying is considerable North America, but few studies have explored this pattern other regions. We compared benthic permanent temporary habitats on South Island...
Abstract Consensus has emerged in the literature that increased biodiversity enhances capacity of ecosystems to perform multiple functions. However, most biodiversity/ecosystem function studies focus on a single ecosystem, or landscapes homogenous ecosystems. Here, we investigate how landscape‐level environmental dissimilarity may affect relationship between different metrics diversity (α, β, γ) and ecosystem function. We produced suite simulated landscapes, each which contained four...
Summary 1. Brown and rainbow trout have been introduced to many inland waters in New Zealand, but research on the impacts native communities has focused mainly streams. The purpose of this study was compare benthic troutless lakes. Based previous studies North America Europe, we predicted that biomass, especially abundance large invertebrates, would be lower lakes with as compared those without. We surveyed invertebrate fauna 43 shallow, high‐elevation (26 17 without trout) four geographic...
Summary 1. In the face of human‐induced declines in abundance common species, ecologists have become interested quantifying how changes density affect rates biophysical processes, hence ecosystem function. We manipulated a dominant detritivore (the cased caddisfly, Limnephilus externus ) subalpine ponds to measure effects on release detritus‐bound nutrients and energy. 2. Detritus decay ( k , mass loss) increased threefold, loss nitrogen (N) phosphorus (P) from detrital substrates doubled...
Metabolic scaling means that reductions in habitat size decrease predator body will also reduce biomass can be supported.
The efficiency of biodiversity assessments and biomonitoring studies is commonly challenged by limitations in taxonomic identification quantification approaches. In this study, we assessed the effects different numerical resolutions on a range community structure metrics invertebrate compositional data sets from six regions distributed across North South America. We specifically degree similarity (richness, equitability, beta diversity, heterogeneity composition congruence) for identified to...
In organisms with complex life cycles, the various stages occupy different habitats creating demographically open populations. The dynamics of these populations will depend on occurrence and timing stochastic influences relative to demographic density dependence, but understanding fundamentals, especially in face climate warming, has been hampered by difficulty empirical studies. Using a logically feasible organism, we conducted replicated density-perturbation experiment manipulate...
Abstract Estimating organisms' responses to environmental variables and taxon associations across broad spatial scales is vital for predicting their climate change. Macroinvertebrates play a major role in wetland processes, but studies simultaneously exploring both community structure trait gradients are still lacking. We compiled global dataset (six continents) from 756 depressional wetlands, including the occurrence of 96 macroinvertebrate families, phylogenetic tree, 19 biological traits....
Summary Biotic interactions are often expected to decrease in intensity as abiotic conditions become more stressful organisms. However, many cases, food‐web and habitat complexity also change with stress or disturbance, potentially altering patterns of species across environmental gradients. We used a combination field assays mesocosm experiments investigate how disturbance from desiccation moderates top‐down control prey by predators gradient pond duration New Zealand. Field manipulations...
Mining activities, particularly acid mine drainage, often result in adverse effects on stream diversity and ecosystem functioning, increased concern about these has generated a focus restoration of mine‐impacted waterways. However, many projects have not led to ecological recovery. One reason for this failure may be that practitioners local environmental conditions fail consider the importance dispersal as driver invertebrate composition. To test hypothesis, we used meta‐community analysis...
Summary 1. Knowledge of the influence predatory fish in detritus‐based stream food webs is poor. We tested whether larval abundance New Zealand leaf‐shredding caddisfly, Zelandopsyche ingens (family Oeconesidae), was affected by presence brown trout, Salmo trutta and their primary detrital resource ( Nothofagus leaves). 2. The density Z. biomass leaves were determined seven fishless streams four trout Cass region, central South Island, on occasions spanning 5 years. 3. Physicochemical...
The central dogma of biology is a foundational concept that provides scaffold to understand how genetic information flows in biological systems. Despite its importance, undergraduate students often poorly processes (DNA replication, transcription, and translation), encoded used each these processes, the relationships between them. To help overcome conceptual difficulties, we designed clicker-based activity focused on two brothers who have multiple nucleotide differences their dystrophin gene...