DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Historical Changes in Food Web Structure of Large Rivers

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Large rivers are important for regional economies and global ecosystems. Dam construction is perhaps the most obvious human modifier of riverine ecosystems and hydrology, altering not only the physical environment but also biodiversity within the watershed. Well-functioning foodwebs are fundamental for sustaining rivers. Understanding riverine foodwebs is essential in planning for wildlife conservation, environmental protection, and floodplain management. Results of this project will serve as a model of historical analyses of foodwebs and the long-term implications of river engineering. How has river engineering over the past hundred years altered food web structure in the Mississippi and Ohio rivers? Documenting long-term changes in aquatic ecosystems is notoriously difficult. In this proposal, we will use an innovative, new, chemical analysis technique on the tissues of museum fish specimens collected over the last century, thereby providing a more accurate and precise measurement of food webs than ever before possible. From this, we will determine what changes over time and possible shifts in food webs have occurred in response to river engineering in the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.