HR: 08:30h
AN: B41A-01    [Abstracts]
TI: Integration of Biological and Physical Sciences to Advance Ecological Understanding of Aquatic Ecosystems
AU: * Luce, C H
EM: cluce@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Buffington, J M
EM: jbuffington@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Rieman, B E
EM: brieman@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Dunham, J B
EM: jbdunham@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: McKean, J A
EM: jmckean@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Thurow, R F
EM: rthurow@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Gutierrez-Teira, B
EM: bgutierrez@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AU: Rosenberger, A E
EM: arosenberger@fs.fed.us
AF: Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 322 E Front, Suite 401, Boise, ID 83702
AB: Conservation and restoration of freshwater stream and river habitats are important goals for land management and natural resources research. Several examples of research have emerged showing that many species are adapted to temporary habitat disruptions, but that these adaptations are sensitive to the spatial grain and extent of disturbance as well as to its duration. When viewed from this perspective, questions of timing, spatial pattern, and relevant scales emerge as critical issues. In contrast, much regulation, management, and research remains tied to pollutant loading paradigms that are insensitive to either time or space scales. It is becoming clear that research is needed to examine questions and hypotheses about how physical processes affect ecological processes. Two overarching questions concisely frame the scientific issues: 1) How do we quantify physical watershed processes in a way that is meaningful to biological and ecological processes, and 2) how does the answer to that question vary with changing spatial and temporal scales? A joint understanding of scaling characteristics of physical process and the plasticity of aquatic species will be needed to accomplish this research; hence a strong need exists for integrative and collaborative development. Considering conservation biology problems in this fashion can lead to creative and non-obvious solutions because the integrated system has important non-linearities and feedbacks related to a biological system that has responded to substantial natural variability in the past. We propose that research beginning with ecological theories and principles followed with a structured examination of each physical process as related to the specific ecological theories is a strong approach to developing the necessary science, and such an approach may form a basis for development of scaling theories of hydrologic and geomorphic process. We illustrate the approach with several examples.
UR: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
DE: 1869 Stochastic processes
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly