Keith Nislow

Title: Research Fisheries Biologist
Unit: Center for Research on Ecosystem Change
Previous Unit: Wildlife and Fish Habitat Relationships in New England Ecosystems
Address: Northern Research Station
201 Holdsworth NRC, Univ. of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9285
Phone: 413-545-0357
E-mail: Contact Keith Nislow

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Education

• PhD Dartmouth College 1997
• M.S. University of New Mexico 1989
• B.S. University of New Mexico 1987

Civic & Professional Affiliations

American Fisheries Society – Associate Editor
North American Benthological Society
Fisheries Society of the British Isles
Ecological Society of America

Technical Advisor to:
The Nature Conservancy – Connecticut River Intiative
US Fish & Wildlife Service – Gulf of Maine Program
Maine Atlantic salmon Recovery Team
Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission

Current Research

My research deals with the relationship between land use, aquatic habitat, and the distribution and abundance of fish and aquatic invertebrates. Specializing in establishing explicit, mechanistic links between environmental variation with behavior, growth, and survival, I am particularly interested in using basic science to assist restoration, conservation, and management.

• Bioenergetics approaches to habitat suitability modeling for juvenile salmonids
• Effects of forest change on aquatic habitats, invertebrates, and fishes
• Using genetic and stable isotope markers to understand Atlantic salmon movement and dispersal between habitats
• Role of biotic interactions at local spatial scales in determining growth and survival of juvenile salmonids
• Role of anadromous fish in the transport of nutrients and materials to and from freshwater ecosystems
• Effects of hydrologic alteration on river and floodplain ecosystems
• Effects of acidification on Atlantic salmon

Why is This Important

Freshwater ecosystems in New England and the northeastern US are strongly influenced by past and present anthropogenic change. In order for managers and stakeholders to make decisions based on sound science, we need to understand the links between land use change, freshwater ecosystems and sustainable fish populations, and effectively communicate this knowledge.

Future Research

• Develop and apply new techniques and technologies to determine the effects of fragmentation associated with dams and roads on brook trout and other native species.
• Develop an adaptive management framework to implement and assess ecologically sustainable flow regimes for notheastern river systems.
• Determine the relationship between long-term changes in forest structure and atmospheric emissions and aquatic ecosystems and communities.
• Understand the role of habitat-dependent interactions between invasive and native species in structuring aquatic communities.

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