Cornell University
As part of my first-year rotations, I am working to develop research projects in the following areas:
- Effects of fragmentation on fish movement, diet, and growth in Adirondack streams (with Alex Flecker and Cliff Kraft)
- Impacts of hydropower proliferation on ecosystem services in the Andean Amazon, using a computational sustainability approach (with Alex Flecker and others) (website)
- Applications of environmental DNA (eDNA) to quantify freshwater biodiversity (with David Lodge)
- Modeling how stream barriers affect the population dynamics of migratory fish species (with Steve Ellner)
Illinois Natural History Survey
Identifying Regional Priority Areas for Focusing Conservation Actions in Streams and Grasslands (link to final report)
In the United States, many resources devoted to conservation are routed through states, but the connectivity of fauna, flora, and environmental conditions does not conform to state boundaries. Consequently, conservation efforts benefit from coordination at the regional level. To inform the regional management of stream and grassland habitats in the Upper Midwest, we modeled distributions of 17 focal species (10 freshwater mussels, one fish, one salamander, and five grassland birds) across four partnering states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin). We also modeled distributions of 11 mussel hosts—10 fish and one salamander—in order to identify where mussel reproduction might be limited by a scarcity of hosts. We used predicted species distributions to evaluate how well existing nature reserves and conservation easements protect major populations of threatened mussels and birds. We used Marxan conservation planning software to identify regional priority areas where management coordination among neighboring states can benefit the conservation of shared natural resources.
This project was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (State Wildlife Grant T-94-R-1) and the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative (X-3-R-1). Coauthors were Yong Cao and Leon Hinz.
In the United States, many resources devoted to conservation are routed through states, but the connectivity of fauna, flora, and environmental conditions does not conform to state boundaries. Consequently, conservation efforts benefit from coordination at the regional level. To inform the regional management of stream and grassland habitats in the Upper Midwest, we modeled distributions of 17 focal species (10 freshwater mussels, one fish, one salamander, and five grassland birds) across four partnering states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin). We also modeled distributions of 11 mussel hosts—10 fish and one salamander—in order to identify where mussel reproduction might be limited by a scarcity of hosts. We used predicted species distributions to evaluate how well existing nature reserves and conservation easements protect major populations of threatened mussels and birds. We used Marxan conservation planning software to identify regional priority areas where management coordination among neighboring states can benefit the conservation of shared natural resources.
This project was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (State Wildlife Grant T-94-R-1) and the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative (X-3-R-1). Coauthors were Yong Cao and Leon Hinz.
Forest Preserves of Cook County: Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan
The term “urban stream syndrome” describes the consistent and severe degradation of streams draining urban lands. Urban stream restoration projects aim to reverse this trend, but troublingly they usually fail to measurably improve aquatic biodiversity. One of several factors that may limit ecological recovery is the availability of nearby dispersal sources; if nearby streams are in poor condition, there may not be a ready supply of native fish and invertebrates to colonize restored habitat. We developed a method to identify stream reaches where restoration was most likely to succeed by estimating the condition of locality-centered regional species pools—i.e., the number of species that occurred nearby. We applied this method to fish and freshwater mussels in streams of highly urbanized Cook County, Illinois, the home of Chicago. Our findings contributed to a Master Plan for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, a set of recommendations laid out by ecologists, archaeologists, hydrologists, and human dimensions specialists to guide the conservation of natural and cultural resources in the Chicago metropolitan area. The final public report can be found here.
The term “urban stream syndrome” describes the consistent and severe degradation of streams draining urban lands. Urban stream restoration projects aim to reverse this trend, but troublingly they usually fail to measurably improve aquatic biodiversity. One of several factors that may limit ecological recovery is the availability of nearby dispersal sources; if nearby streams are in poor condition, there may not be a ready supply of native fish and invertebrates to colonize restored habitat. We developed a method to identify stream reaches where restoration was most likely to succeed by estimating the condition of locality-centered regional species pools—i.e., the number of species that occurred nearby. We applied this method to fish and freshwater mussels in streams of highly urbanized Cook County, Illinois, the home of Chicago. Our findings contributed to a Master Plan for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, a set of recommendations laid out by ecologists, archaeologists, hydrologists, and human dimensions specialists to guide the conservation of natural and cultural resources in the Chicago metropolitan area. The final public report can be found here.
Idaho Fish & Game
Amphibian risk assessment for high mountain lakes (Clearwater Region, Idaho)
In historically fishless headwater lakes of the Rocky Mountains, widespread salmonid introductions have altered the distribution and abundance of native amphibians. Predation is the primary mechanism by which fish are suspected to reduce amphibian abundance and threaten metapopulation persistence. To evaluate the long-term viability of high-elevation amphibian populations, in 2006 the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service began monitoring Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) and long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum) in 74 mountain lakes of the Clearwater Region, Idaho. Confident determination of long-term trends in amphibian populations is complicated by high interannual variability. Recognizing this, we applied a generalized linear mixed model that accommodated overdispersed count data and also corrected for observer effort, sampling date, imperfect detection, and other confounding factors. No significant trends in amphibian presence or abundance were detected across the first 8 years of the study. Observed patterns of species co-occurrence confirmed a strong effect of fish on amphibians: long-toed salamanders were absent from most fish-containing lakes, whereas Columbia spotted frogs usually persisted albeit at lower densities than in fishless lakes. We hypothesize that Columbia spotted frogs are less susceptible to fish predation than are long-toed salamanders because the frogs’ fully aquatic larval stage is shorter in duration.
Results were presented at the 2014 American Fisheries Society Idaho Chapter Annual Meeting and in an Idaho Fish & Game technical report; both are coauthored by Joe DuPont and Robert Hand.
In historically fishless headwater lakes of the Rocky Mountains, widespread salmonid introductions have altered the distribution and abundance of native amphibians. Predation is the primary mechanism by which fish are suspected to reduce amphibian abundance and threaten metapopulation persistence. To evaluate the long-term viability of high-elevation amphibian populations, in 2006 the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service began monitoring Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) and long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum) in 74 mountain lakes of the Clearwater Region, Idaho. Confident determination of long-term trends in amphibian populations is complicated by high interannual variability. Recognizing this, we applied a generalized linear mixed model that accommodated overdispersed count data and also corrected for observer effort, sampling date, imperfect detection, and other confounding factors. No significant trends in amphibian presence or abundance were detected across the first 8 years of the study. Observed patterns of species co-occurrence confirmed a strong effect of fish on amphibians: long-toed salamanders were absent from most fish-containing lakes, whereas Columbia spotted frogs usually persisted albeit at lower densities than in fishless lakes. We hypothesize that Columbia spotted frogs are less susceptible to fish predation than are long-toed salamanders because the frogs’ fully aquatic larval stage is shorter in duration.
Results were presented at the 2014 American Fisheries Society Idaho Chapter Annual Meeting and in an Idaho Fish & Game technical report; both are coauthored by Joe DuPont and Robert Hand.
University of California, Santa Cruz
Project 1: Isotopic niche differentiation between brook and cutthroat trout in lakes of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana (with Paul Koch and Adina Paytan).
Project 2: Oxygen isotope ratios of apatite phosphate in fish bones and scales as indicators of environmental conditions (with Adina Paytan).
Project 3: Investigating anthropogenic impacts on stream food webs using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (with Jonathan Moore et al.). (article)
Project 4: Tracking deep-to-shallow sea urchin migrations using tooth calcite chemistry (with Paul Koch and James Estes).
Project 5: Food availability and pCO2 impacts on planulation, juvenile survival, and calcification of the azooxanthellate scleractinian coral, Balanophyllia elegans (with Elizabeth Derse Crook et al.). (article)
Project 2: Oxygen isotope ratios of apatite phosphate in fish bones and scales as indicators of environmental conditions (with Adina Paytan).
Project 3: Investigating anthropogenic impacts on stream food webs using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (with Jonathan Moore et al.). (article)
Project 4: Tracking deep-to-shallow sea urchin migrations using tooth calcite chemistry (with Paul Koch and James Estes).
Project 5: Food availability and pCO2 impacts on planulation, juvenile survival, and calcification of the azooxanthellate scleractinian coral, Balanophyllia elegans (with Elizabeth Derse Crook et al.). (article)
Disclaimer: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1650441 and Cornell University’s Presidential Life Science Fellowship. This is a personal academic website; as such, any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
