Doctoral Scholarly Seminar- Kristen Diesburg

Kristen Diesburg will present Theoretical and Applied Perspectives of the Intersection of Food-Web Ecology and Biological Invasions in Stream-Riparian Ecosystems at 1:00pm on Monday, April 23rd, 2018 at the Wetlands Research Park room 128. 

Streams are strongly linked to their adjacent riparian zones through reciprocal exchanges of organic matter, carbon, and prey subsidies. Like other heterogenous, disturbed, speciose habitats, riparian zones are susceptible to species invasions, which might be expected to affect recipient stream biotic communities and ecosystem functions in both direct and indirect ways. The reciprocal stream-riparian ecosystem – which represents an emerging field of study in its own right – represents an ideal system in which to study the effects of invasive species owing to the suite of potential structural and functional impacts nonnative species can effect in these novel environments. For example, invaders that change the physical or community structure of a riparian zone may alter the availability of allochthonous (external) and autochthonous (internal) resources to stream food webs, with implications for important ecosystem functions (e.g., primary production, decomposition). This seminar will describe factors that influence food-web connections in linked stream-riparian zones and present emerging theoretical and empirical evidence regarding cross-boundary impacts of invasive species.