Ecology of Northeastern Headwaters Stream Ecosystems
I have conducted research on the influence of woody debris and debris dams as habitat for brook trout and for invertebrates in a headwaters stream ecosystem in the eastern Adirondack Mountains of New York. While woody debris manipulations were closely linked to brook trout abundance in second order streams, brook trout responses to wood manipulation in first and third-order streams were mixed (Warren and Kraft 2003). Invertebrate communities were largely unaffected by the wood manipulations that we imposed on the system (Warren and Kraft 2006). We suggest that these systems are not habitat limited but rather food limited (food deriving either from allochtonous or autochthonous sources). We are currently developing studies to evaluate this hypothesis.
We are also interested in the influence of salamanders on fish and invertebrates and the alternate influence of fish and invertebrates on salamanders, however, we have not conducted studies as yet to evaluate this. If you are interested in collaborating on such a project, please contact me or Dr. Kraft.
Collaborators
- Dr. Clifford Kraft
Dana is an ecologist studying the bio-geo-chemical and structural influences on biological productivity in stream and river systems. He received his PhD from Cornell University in 2008. Dana is currently an NRC post-doctoral fellow at the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center.