US Forest Service

Eastern: Region 9

Northeastern Research Station

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U.S. Forest Service
Res. Unit NE-4251
201 Holdsworth NRC
Univ. of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003-9285

(413) 545-0357

Fax: 413-545-1860

Keith Nislow's research focuses on the effects of change in habitat, land use, hydrology, and food web structure on Atlantic salmon and co-occuring species in New England stream ecosystems. Working with a wide array of academic, federal, state, and private-sector partners, his goal is to understand the effects of past, present, and future management decisions on restoration and conservation of aquatic biodiversity in the region, and also to use these management 'experiments' to better understand the basic determinants of species abundance and distribution. His research involves:

• Analysis of long-term extensive datasets
• Quantitive modeling of hydrology, habitat, and population & community response
• Field experiments
• Development of new research techniques and technologies

ONGOING RESEARCH

EFFECTS OF FOREST CHANGE AND MANAGEMENT ON HABITATS AND HIGHER TROPHIC LEVELS IN NEW ENGLAND STREAM ECOSYSTEMS

• Effects of large woody debris (LWD) additions on habitats, invertebrates and fishes
• Modeling changes in LWD loading to New England streams under different successional and management scenarios
• Analysis of White Mountain National Forest Hankin-Reeves stream habitat surveys
• Interactive effects of logging history and stream pH on native brook trout
• Interactions between land use, fine-sediment accumulation, and wild trout production in the Batten Kill and White River basins

EFFECTS OF HYDROLOGIC REGIME ON RIPARIAN AND IN-STREAM HABITATS AND BIOTA

• Effects of hydrologic alteration in the Connecticut River basin
• Changes in hydrologic regime and effects of hydrologic variability on wild trout populations in the Batten Kill River
• Effects of extreme floods and droughts on stream habitats and fish & invertebrate populations and communities

EARLY LIFE HISTORY ECOLOGY AND HABITAT USE OF ATLANTIC SALMON IN NEW ENGLAND WATERSHEDS

• Seasonal and spatial variation in growth opportunity for age-0 Atlantic salmon
• Influence of variation in timing of stocking and emergence on growth and survival

DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNIQUES TO ASSESS HABITAT-MEDIATED DISPERSAL OF STREAM FISHES

• Use of stable isotopes and genetic marks to assess the dispersal history and natal origins of juvenile and adult Atlantic salmon in the Connecticut River basin
• Use of stable isotopes to determine the natal origins of the endangered humpback chub, Gila cypha, in the Grand Canyon section of the Colorado River
• Ecological effects of dispersal limitation associated with National Forest roads

ROLE OF ATLANTIC-BASIN ANADROMOUS FISH IN THE TRANSFER OF MARINE-DERIVED NUTRIENTS TO UPLAND STREAM ECOSYSTEMS

• Simulation modeling of phosphorus transport by anadromous fishes using long-term records of outmigrants and returning adults.
• Field experiments involving carcass supplementation and stable isotope analysis to assess uptake of marine-derived nutrients via migratory Atlantic salmon

EFFECTS OF ACID PRECIPITATION ON JUVENILE ATLANTIC SALMON

STUDENT AND ASSOCIATED PROJECTS

• Anna Lester- Development of large woody debris (LWD) loading models for upland and stream ecosystems in New England
• Jim Sotiropolous- Habitat selection of resident brook trout under varying hydrologic regimes
• Jeff Ojala- relationship between seasonal variation in food availability
  and growth opportunity with seasonal variation in salmonid growth
• Darren Ward- Effects of habitat on competitive interactions between
  co-occurring salmonids

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Nislow, K.H. and D.I. King. 2006. Transition from maternal dependence: a crunch time in vertebrate life-histories? Journal of Zoology 269:401-402.

Nislow, K.H. and W.H. Lowe. 2006. Influence of logging history and riparian forest characteristics on macroinvertebrates and brook trout. Freshwater Biology 51:388-397.

Nislow, K.H. 2005. Forest change and stream fish habitat: lessons from 'Olde' and New England. Journal of Fish Biology 67:186-204.

Einum, S. and K.H. Nislow. 2005. Local-scale density dependent survival of mobile organisms in continuous habitats: an experimental test using Atlantic salmon. Oecologia 143:203-210.

Nislow, K.H., Sepulveda, A. and C.L. Folt. 2004. Linking hydrologic regime mechanistically to summer growth of age-0 Atlantic salmon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 133:79-88.

Lowe, W., Nislow, K.H. and D.T. Bolger. 2004. Stage-specific and interactive effects of sedimentation and trout on the abundance of a headwater stream salamander. Ecological Applications 14:164-172.

Nislow, K.H. and W. Lowe. 2003. Influences of logging history and stream pH on brook trout abundance in 1st order streams in New Hampshire. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 132: 166-171.

Nislow, K.H., Magilligan, F.J., Fassnacht, H., Bechtel, D. and A. Ruesink. 2002. Effects of hydrologic alteration on the flood regime of natural floodplain communities in the Upper Connecticut River basin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38: 1533-1548.

 

COLLABORATORS AND OTHER RELATED SITES

• Carol L. Folt, Professor of Biology, Dartmouth College
• Ben Letcher, Ecology Section Leader, USGS-BRD Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center
• Sigurd Einum, Norwegian Institute of Nature Research (NINA)
• John Armstrong, Pitlochry Freshwater Research Laboratory
• Frank Magilligan, Professor of Geography, Dartmouth College
• Steve Roy, Fisheries Director, Green Mountain National Forest
• Mark Prout, Fisheries Biologist, White Mountain National Forest
• Mark Hudy, National Aquatic Ecologist- East, USDA Forest Service

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