Jeff Houser, PhD
Jeff Houser
Experience
2003 – present: Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center.
2004 – present: Adjunct, Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin—La Crosse.
2001- 2003: Postdoctoral Research Associate—Stream Ecology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Research Interests
Aquatic ecology, large rivers, ecosystem metabolism, carbon and nutrient cycling, biogeochemistry, food webs, applied ecology, ecosystem restoration
Professional Societies
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography; Society for Freshwater Science; Mississippi River Research Consortium
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Zoology – University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001
M.S. in Zoology – University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998
B.S. in Biology – Wake Forest University, 1994
Science and Products
Patchiness in a large floodplain river: Associations among hydrology, nutrients, and fish communities
Long-term decreases in phosphorus and suspended solids, but not nitrogen, in six upper Mississippi River tributaries, 1991–2014
Contrasts between channels and backwaters in a large, floodplain river: Testing our understanding of nutrient cycling, phytoplankton abundance, and suspended solids dynamics
Ecosystem metabolism and nutrient dynamics in the main channel and backwaters of the Upper Mississippi River
Nutrient cycling, connectivity, and free-floating plant abundance in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 17
Patchiness in a large floodplain river: Associations among hydrology, nutrients, and fish communities
Large floodplain rivers have internal structures shaped by directions and rates of water movement. In a previous study, we showed that spatial variation in local current velocities and degrees of hydrological exchange creates a patch-work mosaic of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and ratios in the Upper Mississippi River. Here, we used long-term fish and limnological data sets to test the hAuthorsNathan R. De Jager, Jeffrey N. HouserLong-term decreases in phosphorus and suspended solids, but not nitrogen, in six upper Mississippi River tributaries, 1991–2014
Long-term trends in tributaries provide valuable information about temporal changes in inputs of nutrients and sediments to large rivers. Data collected from 1991 to 2014 were used to investigate trends in total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), nitrate (NO3–N), soluble-reactive P (SRP), and total suspended solids (TSS) in the following six tributaries of the upper Mississippi River: Cannon (CAuthorsRebecca Kreiling, Jeffrey N. HouserContrasts between channels and backwaters in a large, floodplain river: Testing our understanding of nutrient cycling, phytoplankton abundance, and suspended solids dynamics
In floodplain rivers, variability in hydraulic connectivity interacts with biogeochemistry to determine the distribution of suspended and dissolved substances. Nutrient, chlorophyll a, and suspended solids data spanning longitudinal (5 study reaches across 1300 river km), lateral (main channel and backwaters), and temporal (1994–2011) gradients in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) were used to exaAuthorsJeffrey N. HouserEcosystem metabolism and nutrient dynamics in the main channel and backwaters of the Upper Mississippi River
Photosynthesis and respiration are primary drivers of dissolved oxygen dynamics in rivers. We measured dissolved oxygen dynamics, aquatic ecosystem metabolism, algal abundance and nutrient concentrations at main channel and backwater sites on a reach of the Upper Mississippi River that borders the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota (U.S.A.). We asked (i) how ecosystem metabolism rates, dissolved oAuthorsJeffrey N. Houser, Lynn Bartsch, William B. Richardson, James T. Rogala, John F. SullivanNutrient cycling, connectivity, and free-floating plant abundance in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River
River eutrophication may cause the formation of dense surface mats of free floating plants (FFP; e.g., duckweeds and filamentous algae) which may adversely affect the ecosystem. We investigated associations among hydraulic connectivity to the channel, nutrient cycling, FFP, submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) in ten backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi RAuthorsJeffrey N. Houser, Shawn M. Giblin, William F. James, H.A. Langrehr, James T. Rogala, John F. Sullivan, Brian R. Gray - News