Research Interests: Through my research program I strive to integrate basic and applied research to understand how freshwater ecosystems are structured and how they respond to environmental disturbances. My research team works closely with state and federal managers in the United States and Mexico to document how different management strategies affect freshwaters. By capitalizing on restoration projects as large ecological experiments we are testing if habitat restoration and removal of exotic species can revive native food webs and ecosystem processes. Our work in Fossil Creek, Arizona focuses on a large dam decommissioning project where we are studying how native and exotic species respond to restoration of flow and removal of exotic fish from one section of stream. In collaboration with the Cottonwood Ecology group we are studying how genetic differences in individuals of this foundation species translate into differences in stream decomposition and associated decomposer species. This research is important for riparian restoration where managers strive to recreate natural ecosystems that support high levels of biodiversity. In Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico we are studying how exotic species and water extraction affect native food webs. Finally as part of my sabbatical research program I initiated a project in Spain studying how food web structure and ecosystem processes change with different land use patterns.
