Overview
Research in the StrEAMS Lab integrates methods and theory from the fields of landscape and aquatic ecology to study the connections between landscape patterns and processes and the ecology of stream ecosystems. Our primary research goal is to understand the limits and controls of ecological communities and processes in stream ecosystems in landscapes dominated by human activities. Our secondary goal is to apply ecological knowledge to generate tools used by government and non-government agencies to conduct effective aquatic monitoring and assessments enabling informed management decisions.
Publications
Research Programs
Ecology of Streams in Agro-ecosystems
Streams in agro-ecosystems are subjected to a wide array of contaminants and environmental changes associated with cultivation, livestock farming and rural settlements. As a result, biodiversity in agro-ecosystem streams is threatened and high rates of species loss has already occurred. However, streams also provide numerous nature-based services that protect highly valued downstream ecosystems, such as the Laurentian Great Lakes. Research by the StrEAMS lab seeks to understanding the connections between agricultural land management and the health of stream ecosystems, while also identifying the processes, and limits to the processes, that enable stream ecosystems to provide water purification services. Current projects focus on understanding the sources, fate and effects of nutrients on stream food webs and ecological processes (e.g., nutrient cycling and organic matter processing). This research is conducted through ecosystem scale observational and experimental studies in the Lake Winnipeg and Great Lakes Basins, as well as through controlled experiments in artificial streams at the Thames River Experimental Stream Sciences (TRESS Centre).
Developing Tools for Biomonitoring of Freshwaters in the 21st Century
Freshwater ecosystems are globally threatened by environmental change resulting from human activity. Successful protection and rehabilitation of freshwater ecosystems requires that communities and governments have timely and accurate understanding of threats to ecosystem health. The StrEAMS Lab is addressing this urgent need through collaborative research with government and non-government agencies to develop of novel freshwater biomonitoring strategies and tools. Current research projects include the development of metabolomics-based biomonitoring as an early warning assessment system and the testing of the cotton strip assay as an effective, low cost, biomonitoring tool that can be easily applied by community groups and non-government agencies. In addition, the StrEAMS lab frequently works with national and international collaborators to make freshwater biomonitoring knowledge more accessible and enhance the global stream biomonitoring toolbox.
Climate Change impacts on Prairie Stream Ecology
Climate change is altering the ecology of streams around the globe. In Canada, streams in the Prairies are particularly vulnerable due to increased severity of drought resulting from increased temperatures and reduced precipitation. To ensure that climate change effects are documented the StrEAMS Lab is collaborating with research scientists from Environment and Climate Change Canada to establish and maintain a long-term monitoring network in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park contains some of the largest remaining tracks of intact prairie in Canada and comprises the headwaters of the Frenchman River that ultimately drains to the Missouri River. Annual monitoring of 3 tributaries in the park measures aspects of hydrology, water chemistry, and aquatic communities to determine how changes in climate are altering these globally rare ecosystems.