The tiny cosmos of organisms living on a streamer of algae in a river—the algal microbiome—could help scientists learn what turns an environment from healthy to toxic and back again. A multidisciplinary team led by Northern Arizona University has won $3 million from the National Science Foundation to translate the Read more…
Ecoss graduate student Ali Martinez and a team of ecologists including her advisor Marks, Ecoss researchers Ben Koch and Zasha Welsh, Alex Flecker (Cornell University) and Steve Thomas (University of Nebraska) constructed a system of miniature streams whose temperatures Martinez can manipulate. The team studies how nutrients will move in Read more…
Some experts estimate that a single mature oak tree produces between 200,000 and 1 million leaves each year—all of which fall from the tree in the autumn. Although “litter” from decaying leaves is sometimes viewed as a problem in urban and suburban settings, fallen leaves play a critical role in Read more…
Eight Ecoss students, faculty, and staff traveled to Detroit, MI in May 2018 to present their research at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science. Undergraduate researcher Zasha Welsh presented a poster, as did graduate students Courtney Roush, Meghan Schrik, Jack Torresdal, and Adam Siders. Ben Koch, Victor Read more…
The mass emergence of metamorphosed aquatic insect larvae as airborne adults provides an important seasonal pulse of prey biomass to many aquatic ecosystems. Ecoss research explored whether the type and quality of leaf litter on which these aquatic larvae feed makes a difference in the types and proportions of various Read more…