Prairie Streams
Characterizing the community and ecosystem dynamics of prairie streams is a major focus of the group. Much of this research is conducted in Kings Creek on the Konza Prairie Biological Station which is the location of the NSF funded Konza Prairie Long-term Ecological Research program. Long-term monitoring of fish communities and habitat began in 1995 and is ongoing. A complementary long-term monitoring program in Fox Creek on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve began in 2008. Combined these data provide information on variability of prairie stream fishes in relation to biotic and abiotic drivers.
|
Desert Streams |
Research in desert streams occurs in the Gila and San Juan rivers and involves collaborations with colleagues at the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy. Our main goals through both long-term monitoring and short term experiments are to gain an understanding of the main drivers of community and ecoystem dynamics in these systems. In particular, the highlly threatened taxa in these rivers is threatened by impoundments that modify stream flows and the persistence of nonnative predators.
|
Great Plains Riverscapes |
Stream faunas of the Great Plains are highly threatend by massive extraction of groundwater and fragmentation of rivers through impountments. Many species have declined and many are extirpated from their former range. We have developed a comprehesive geodatabase that includes georeferences datalayers of (1) stream networks and characteristics, (2) catchment geology and landcover and (3) point distribution data for fishes and mussels.
|
Small Impoundments |
Ponds and small impoundments are wide-spread in the Great Plains and offer a variety of sport fishing opportunities. Some also have conservation value for stream fish and amphibians. The limnology and food web structure of these impoundments is highly variable across this region making it challenging to manage for either conservation or sport fisheries. We are interested in quantifying the food web and community dynamics across small impoundments in the Great Plains and how that relates to the quality of the fisheries.
|