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David A. Beauchamp, Ph.D.

My research in tactical food web ecology incorporates directed sampling, experimentation, and models to mechanistically address and quantify factors that limit survival and growth of salmonids in freshwater and marine environments: predation, carrying capacity, climate change, and invasive species; evaluate feasibilities of salmonid reintroductions above dams, dam removal or re-operation.

Research Interests:

I am interested in advancing a mechanistic understanding for how the behavior, bioenergetics, and sensory capabilities of individual organisms scale up to determine the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems and how food web interactions are mediated by natural and human induced changes in environmental conditions. To this end, I am active in the development and application of bioenergetics models for salmonids, their predators and competitors. When coupled with directed field sampling to obtain growth, thermal experience, distribution, diet/stable isotopes and calorimetry data, we use bioenergetics simulations to identify and quantify factors that limit survival, growth, and production of focal species in a food web such as: predation, seasonal food availability, competition, or environmental stressors. Our team also uses scale- and otolith-based age and growth methods for identifying life history diversity, periods of size-selective mortality, and associated critical growth periods that influence survival through the completion of life cycles for anadromous and resident salmonids.  We use this approach to evaluate the feasibility of species reintroductions above dams or in response to dam removal or re-operations, determine the impact of invasive species, and diagnose factors inhibiting recovery of ESA-listed species.

Because salmonids and most of their predators and competitors rely on vision to feed, we develop, refine, and applying visual foraging models through a combination of experimentation and field measurements. Using spatially-scalable experiments to parameterize how predator-prey reaction or detection distances change as functions of light and turbidity, and how prey size, behavior, and visual conditions affect capture success probability given an encounter, we construct models that predict how the efficacy of predators change given the transparency of a water body at any depth, any time of the day or night, and any time of the year. This approach allows us to evaluate how seasonal and diel changes in the visual environment affect natural variability in foraging and predation risk. In addition, we can determine how increased artificial light pollution and human-induced changes to natural turbidity cycles have changed predation mortality, risk, and prey behavior.

Professional Experience

  • 2016 to Present - Chief of the Ecology Section, USGS, Western Fisheries Research Center, Seattle, WA

  • 2014-2016 - Professor, University of Washington; Acting Unit Leader, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Seattle, WA

  • 2008-2014 - Professor, University of Washington; Assistant Unit Leader-Fisheries, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Seattle, WA

  • 1999-2008 - Assistant/Associate Professor, University of Washington; Assistant Unit Leader-Fisheries, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Seattle, WA

  • 1994-1999 - Assistant Professor, Utah State University; Assistant Unit Leader-Fisheries, U.S. Geological Survey, Utah Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Logan, UT

Education and Certifications

  • Post-doctoral Research Associate. 1990-1991. Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University, Logan, UT

  • Ph.D. 1987. Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

  • M.S. 1982. Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

  • B.S. 1980. Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Honors and Awards

  • 2009 - Fulbright Scholar Grant. Research-Lecture position in Patagonia, Argentina

  • 2008-2013 - Worthington Endowed Professorship, UW School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 54

A climate-mediated shift in the estuarine habitat mosaic limits prey availability and reduces nursery quality for juvenile salmon

The estuarine habitat mosaic supports the reproduction, growth, and survival of resident and migratory fish species by providing a diverse portfolio of unique habitats with varying physical and biological features. Global climate change is expected to result in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in riverine hydrology, which will have profound effects on the extent and composit
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Ecosystems, Cooperative Research Units, Fisheries Program, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Fisheries Research Center

Physiological and nutritional constraints on zooplankton productivity due to eutrophication and climate change predicted using a resource-based modeling approach

Emerging evidence suggests that zooplankton production is affected by physiological and nutritional constraints due to climate change and eutrophication, which in turn could have broad implications for food-web dynamics and fisheries production. In this study, we developed a resource-based zooplankton production dynamics model that causally links freshwater cladoceran and copepod daily production-
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Merging empirical and mechanistic approaches to modeling aquatic visual foraging using a generalizable visual reaction distance model

Visual encounter distance models are important tools for predicting how light and water clarity mediate visual predator-prey interactions that affect the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems at multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The two main varieties of visual encounter distance models, mechanistic and empirical, are used for similar purposes but take fundamentally dif
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Taxonomic, temporal, and spatial variations in zooplankton fatty acid composition in Puget Sound, WA, USA

Fatty acid (FA) content and composition of zooplankton in Puget Sound, Washington (USA) was studied to investigate the nutritional quality of diverse zooplankton prey for juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in terms of their essential fatty acid (EFA) content. The study focus was on eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (ARA) as these are key FA needed to ma
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Artificial lights with different spectra do not alter detrimental attraction of young Chinook salmon and sockeye salmon along lake shorelines

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is common in lakes with developed shorelines, especially prevalent in the nearshore areas where juvenile fishes, including salmonids, are present. One concern is that fishes may be attracted to ALAN and become more vulnerable to predators. The use of longer wavelength lights has been suggested to reduce the effects of ALAN; however, the response in juvenile salmoni
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Using bottom trawls to monitor subsurface water clarity in marine ecosystems

Biophysical processes that affect subsurface water clarity play a key role in ecosystem function. However, subsurface water clarity is poorly monitored in marine ecosystems because doing so requires in-situ sampling that is logistically difficult to conduct and sustain. Novel solutions are thus needed to improve monitoring of subsurface water clarity. To that end, we developed a sampling method an
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Fisheries Research Center

Variable prey consumption leads to distinct regional differences in Chinook salmon growth during the early marine critical period

Growth during the early marine critical period is positively associated with survival and recruitment for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., so it is important to understand how certain foraging strategies may bolster growth in estuarine and marine environments. To elucidate how spatiotemporal and demographic differences in diet contribute to growth rate variability, we analyzed stomach contents in
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Salmon, forage fish, and kelp

Kelp beds are prominent features of northeast Pacific coastlines. They are seasonal in nature, as are the communities that use them. Here, juvenile and adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) – key components of northeast Pacific marine food webs that link plankton and forage fishes to endangered killer whales – have just arrived at the coastal kelp beds (left) and are feeding on the large
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Freshwater tidal forests and estuarine wetlands may confer early life growth advantages for delta-reared Chinook Salmon

Large river deltas are complex ecosystems that are believed to play a pivotal role in promoting the early marine growth and survival of threatened Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. We used a fish bioenergetics model to assess the functional role of multiple delta habitats across a gradient of salinities and vegetation types, where consumption and growth rate potential (GRP) were considered
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Fisheries Research Center

Development of new information to inform fish passage decisions at the Yale and Merwin hydro projects on the Lewis River, Washington—Final report, 2018

The reintroduction of extirpated salmonids to historically occupied areas is becoming increasingly common as a conservation and recovery strategy. Often, reintroductions are implemented after the factors that originally led to species extirpation have been reduced, eliminated, or mitigated. For anadromous Oncorhynchus spp. (Pacific salmon) and O. mykiss (steelhead), addressing barriers to migratio
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center

Migratory coupling between predators and prey

Animal migrations act to couple ecosystems and are undertaken by some of the world’s most endangered taxa. Predators often exploit migrant prey, but the movements taken by these consumers are rarely studied or understood. We define such movements, where migrant prey induce large-scale movements of predators, as migratory coupling. Migratory coupling can have ecological consequences for the partici
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center

Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta

Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical period for early marine
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Non-USGS Publications**

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Flushing stomach contents from a live resident Chinook salmon

WFRC Ecology Section - Projects Overview

The Ecology Section examines how environmental variability, human activities and infrastructure influence food web interactions and species performance in freshwater and marine ecosystems. We have extensive experience in quantifying aquatic food web processes as they relate to growth, survival and production of key species of interest, especially resident and anadromous salmonids.
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Ecosystems, Energy & Wildlife, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center
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WFRC Ecology Section - Projects Overview

The Ecology Section examines how environmental variability, human activities and infrastructure influence food web interactions and species performance in freshwater and marine ecosystems. We have extensive experience in quantifying aquatic food web processes as they relate to growth, survival and production of key species of interest, especially resident and anadromous salmonids.
Learn More
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Lahontan Cutthroat Trout

Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)

Species Studied - Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center
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Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)

Species Studied - Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)
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Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Species Studied - Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center
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Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Species Studied - Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
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Anadromous Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)

Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus)

Species Studied - Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Western Fisheries Research Center
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Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus)

Species Studied - Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
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Influence of urbanization on the health of juvenile salmonids in Pacific Northwest perennial streams

Physical and chemical changes affect the biota within urban streams at varying scales ranging from individual organisms to populations and communities creating complex interactions that present challenges for characterizing and monitoring the impact on species utilizing these freshwater habitats. Salmonids, specifically cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch),
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Washington Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center
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Shedding some light on the issue: Investigating how artificial light at night impacts endangered salmon

Artificial light at night has an impact on fish behavior, altering their patterns of feeding, migrating, and predator avoidance.

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Western Fisheries Science News, August 2017 | Issue 5.8

Science to Support Salmon Recovery Efforts in the Puget Sound

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Western Fisheries Science News, May 2016 | Issue 4.5

WFRC Welcomes Dr. Dave Beauchamp as New Ecology Section Chief

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Science and Products