Research Projects

Estuary fish community dynamics in salmon bearing watersheds

January 2017 - Present

My current research with the Moore lab is investigating how fish communities are organized within the estuary environment and how they shift through time and across gradients in habitat conditions. Understanding which habitats various fish species associate with and how they react to changing conditions within the estuary can help to inform the management of these dynamic and complex environments for the benefit of both fish and people. This work is being performed in partnership with the QQs Projects Society, the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD), and the Hakai Beach Institute, and is part of a much larger series of projects aiming to characterize the ecological interactions of the Koeye River, estuary, and coastal marine ecosystems.

Resident Trout Reaction to Reintroduced Salmon

March 2015 - January 2016

With dam removal becoming more popular around the world it is important to understand the impact of reconnecting environments that have been kept separated for long periods.  With the help of NOAA Scientist Peter Kiffney, I investigated the effect of anadromous salmon recolonization on the isotopic niches of resident trouts after the construction of a fish pass on a dam that had been in place for over 100 years.  Using the package SIBER (Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R) within the R statistical environment, I tracked changes in resident rainbow trout isotopic niche width over the 10 years since the salmon recolonization began.  The findings indicate that trout are expanding their trophic niches as the recolonization progresses.  Expansion in trophic niche indicates a wider utilization of resources, which in this case suggests that the trout are feeding on the reintroduced salmon (their eggs, carcasses, and juveniles).  Having a wider resource base can help to buffer a population from unpredictable events which might temporarily remove one or more of its food sources.  So it appears that the salmon reintroductions are having a positive effect on the resident trout species, adding credence to dam removal efforts.