Publications

Side channels in large floodplain rivers serve a variety of important ecological roles, particularly in reaches where habitat conditions have been degraded or diminished. We developed hypotheses regarding side channel ecological structure whereby we expected species richness of young-of-year fishes to generally be higher in shallower, more physically heterogeneous side channels with lower velociti

Drivers of phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics vary spatially and temporally in estuaries due to variation in hydrodynamic exchange and residence time, complicating efforts to understand controls on food web productivity. We conducted approximately monthly (2012–2019; n = 74) longitudinal sampling at 10 fixed stations along a freshwater tidal terminal channel in the San Francisco Estuary, Calif

Pipestone National Monument is a 301-acre site sacred to many Native American Tribes, providing cultural exhibits and walking trails to Pipestone Creek, Winnewissa Falls, and historical pipestone quarries for numerous visitors each year. However, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has determined turbidity and fecal coliform bacteria occur in Pipestone Creek in high enough numbers to be a poten

The lampricides TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4′-nitrophenol) and Niclosamide (NIC, 2′, 5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide) are used to control sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes and associated tributaries. Niclosamide is often used as an additive to TFM to reduce the amount of TFM required to control sea lamprey. Concern is growing over the risk that lampricide treatments pose to native freshwate

AimClimate change is affecting the distribution of species and subsequent biotic interactions, including hybridization potential. The imperiled Golden-winged Warbler (GWWA) competes and hybridizes with the Blue-winged Warbler (BWWA), which may threaten the persistence of GWWA due to introgression. We examined how climate change is likely to alter the breeding distributions and potential for hybrid

Reducing phosphorus (P) concentrations in aquatic ecosystems, is necessary to improve water quality and reduce the occurrence of harmful cyanobacterial algal blooms. Managing P reduction requires information on the role rivers play in P transport from land to downstream water bodies, but we have a poor understanding of when and where river systems are P sources or sinks. During the summers of 2019

Understanding how gene flow influences adaptive divergence is important for predicting adaptive responses. Theoretical studies suggest that when gene flow is high, clustering of adaptive genes in fewer genomic regions would protect adaptive alleles from recombination and thus be selected for, but few studies have tested it with empirical data. Here, we used restriction site-associated sequencing t

In response to previous reports of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in French Island’s (located in the Mississippi River within the town of Campbell, Wisconsin) primary source of drinking water, 11 locations were sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in October 2021 to assess the potential presence of contaminant mixtures, including PFAS, in tapwater. Three locations

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix are highly mobile and fecund planktivorous cyprinids that have invaded much of the Mississippi River and are known to alter food webs and compete with native planktivores. In 2016, for the first time, an abundance of age-0 Silver Carp (n = 12,208; 16–231 mm) were captured at many (n = 11) sites upstream of Lock and Dam 19 on the upper Mississippi River. Prev

Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) is a common freshwater fish species found throughout the central and eastern portions of North America. Within these regions, gizzard shad play several critical roles in the freshwater community such as serving as prey for other fish species and translocating nutrients from substrates into the water column. Because of this, it is important to understand gizzard s

Understanding patterns of species coexistence is a fundamental challenge in ecology. The physical environment is believed to play an important role, influencing patterns of dispersal and biotic interactions across space and time. Floodplain forest species are presumed to interact strongly with their environment, as evidenced by pronounced spatial variation in forest composition associated with flo

Watersheds of the Great Lakes Basin (USA/Canada) are highly modified and impacted by human activities including pesticide use. Despite labeling restrictions intended to minimize risks to nontarget organisms, concerns remain that environmental exposures to pesticides may be occurring at levels negatively impacting nontarget organisms. We used a combination of organismal-level toxicity estimates (in