Angelo Coast Range Reserve

24 May, 01 PM - 29 May, 05 PM

The proposed research at the Angelo Reserve would seek to both continue work begun during my dissertation at UC Berkeley, and to initiate new research with Mary Power, her lab (e.g. Camille McNeely, John Schade, Jill Welter), and our collaborators with the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED) i.e. Dr. Miki Hondzo. The work is focused in two ecological research areas: 1) Investigations of interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes influencing the metabolism of river biofilms. This research seeks to develop understanding of river productivity and nutrient dynamics controls at multiple scales. This work will enhance previous research to understand climate effects on river productivity and the causes of spatial heterogeneity in ecological processes, as well as exploring new research areas in nitrogen and carbon biogeochemistry. 2) Study of trophic interactions in food webs in the watershed. This research seeks general understanding of the strength of biotic and abiotic factors influencing species distribution and interactions in watersheds. This work builds on previous research in Power?s group by attempting to gather and synthesize empirical data towards development and testing of models of food web interactions in complex landscapes. These investigations would generally rely on non-destructive measurement abundances of organic matter or organisms, rates of processes such as photosynthesis and respiration at various scales, and physical and chemical parameters such as river nutrient levels, water velocity, or stream geomorphology. Samples of water, organic matter, or algae would be processed at the Angelo laboratory facility; further analyses would be done on samples at the University of Minnesota. Sampling would occur in on one field trip in late May along a gradient in stream size ranging from very small headwater streams such as Sugar, Skunk, McKinley and Fox Creeks to the larger streams at the reserve such as the South Fork Eel River, Ten Mile Creek, and Elder Creek. Multiple sites along the South Fork Eel, Elder, Fox, and McKinley Creeks will be sampled. Finlay is familiar with the Reserve?s ecosystems and use guidelines, and would seek to minimize the impact of the proposed research on the Angelo environment. Housing for Finlay and laboratory access during the 2 week period would greatly facilitate the proposed research efforts. Hondzo's group would need approximately 20 ft of lab benchspace during this period to set up and use sensitive equipment. Provided there is adequate housing, Finlay would like to bring a new graduate student to the Reserve to examine potential study sites.

Visit #5281 @Angelo Coast Range Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 4185 | Research

NCED Research 2004

faculty - University of Minnesota

Reservation Members(s)

Jacques Finlay May 24 - 29, 2004 (6 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice