Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, PhD
Unit Leader - Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Jeffrey's research focus is on linking hydrological and geomorphic conditions in rivers to the structure of aquatic communities. His work focuses on aquatic insects and macroinvertebrates, salmonid fishes and feeding ecology, and freshwater and riparian food webs. He is involved in basic and applied research in a variety of river ecosystems worldwide, including dam removal in Arizona.
His current role at USGS is at the Alaska Cooperative Fisheries and Wildlife Research Unit as the Unit Leader, in cooperation with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and partners. Jeffrey teaches courses in aquatic food web ecology and stream ecology. Jeff is a river and stream ecologist who specializes in macroinvertebrate communities, fisheries, and food webs. His research is focused on linking hydrological and geomorphic conditions in rivers to the structure of aquatic communities.
He is involved in wetland mitigation in North Carolina, food web studies on the Danube River in Austria/Hungary/Serbia and glacially-fed rivers in Italy, and large dam impacts on the Colorado River and on the impacts of climate change, mining, and other stressors in Alaskan streams and rivers.
Science and Products
Community Science in Grand Canyon
Invertebrate Drift Downstream of Colorado River Basin Dams
Understanding Factors Influencing Rainbow Trout Growth in the Colorado River
Insect Drift
Aquatic Insects
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Community Science in Grand Canyon
Aquatic insects are important components of riverine foodwebs as they are prey for fish, birds, bats, lizards, and spiders. The closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 fundamentally altered the hydrology, water temperature, and turbidity of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. These changes, along with competition with invasive species and limited food availability have led to the decline and...Invertebrate Drift Downstream of Colorado River Basin Dams
Aquatic invertebrates are critical food for fish and other species that inhabit large rivers. In the Colorado River Basin, invertebrates that get transported down the river (“in the drift”) are particularly important to rainbow trout and other species of interest to recreational users. This research seeks to compare rivers downstream of large dams throughout the Colorado River Basin in order to...Understanding Factors Influencing Rainbow Trout Growth in the Colorado River
Rainbow trout is a desirable sport fish that has been introduced in many locations around the world. Although introductions of rainbow trout and other nonnative fishes provide recreational fishing opportunities, they also pose threats to native fish populations. The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program has tasked scientists and managers with identifying management options that allow rainbow...Insect Drift
All aquatic invertebrates drift downstream at some point in their life cycle. Invertebrates may drift to find more preferable habitats, to leave the water during their transition from aquatic larvae to terrestrial adults, or accidentally such as when swept off the river bed by a flood. Regardless, when they enter the drift, invertebrates become particularly susceptible to predation by several...Aquatic Insects
Aquatic insects live in the water as larvae most of their lives, then emerge onto land for a brief period as winged adults. Sampling these emerged adults on land is therefore a useful tool for understanding the condition of the aquatic insect population that is in the water, particularly in large rivers where sampling the larvae on the river bed is impractical. Our group uses a variety of methods... - Data
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