Applying metacommunity theory to the management of river systems
Recent advances in metacommunity theory have enabled us to think about the drivers of biodiverrsity at larger spatiotemporal scales. We think that a metacommunity perspective could lead to better conservation outcomes by incorporating dispersal of focal species and context-dependent conservation scales into management plans. For example, barriers in river systems can prevent invasive species from penetrating into native habitat (small scale conservation), while restoring habitat heterogeneity to longer stretches of a degraded, yet uninvaded river can allow for higher resilience of native fish species.
Collaborators
Christopher Patrick (lead) • Kurt Anderson • Charles Hawkins • Tadeu Siqueira • Lester Yuan • Jonathan Tonkin • Bryan Brown • Anya Metcalfe
Continental drivers of freshwater community secondary production
As part of research out of our NSF Stream Resiliency Research Coordination Network (RCN) workshop, we put together the “world’s first” global community-wide freshwater secondary production dataset. With this, we have been using SEM to investigate the primary drivers of secondary production.
Collaborators
Christopher Patrick (lead) • Daniel McGarvey (lead) • Guy Woodward • Wyatt Cross • Art Benke Matt Whiles • Christina Murphy • Claire Ruffing • Daniel Allen • Alexander Huryn • Jay Jones James Larson • Thomas Brey • J. Bruce Wallace
Community engagement in water conservation
As a UCR NSF IGERT WaterSENSE fellow, we travel to local elementary schools, community events, conferences, and government agencies to communicate the importance of water conservation. As interdisciplinary water scholars, we share our research with elected officials to push for the integration of science and conservation issues when addressing water policy concerns at local, state, and national levels. Last year, we organized a region-wide conference to promote the exchange of ideas and collaboration between water scientists and policy makers.
Organizing collaborative science for the Santa Ana River Watershed
One of the goals of the Upper Santa Ana River Habitat Conservation Plan is to facilitate research that promotes responsible conservation of endangered species and precious resources (water). Since 2014, I have been working with stakeholders of this HCP to promote research within the watershed that addresses the needs of managers while also pushes innovative ecological research.
Examining the role of flow in structuring Convict Creek invertebrate community
Though we conducted a multi-year experimental drought study at SNARL, we have access to a multi-year dataset of benthic invertebrates of Convict Creek, the source community to the SNARL channels. Here, we are analyzing the relationship of the insects to “natural” multi-year drought and flow variability to compare results to our nearby manipulative experiment.