Branch Chief: Quan Dong
FORT Scientists in the Aquatic Systems Branch conduct research in riverine and riparian environments; provide modeling expertise including aquatic habitat mapping and modeling and development of decision-support systems; design and monitor efficacy of constructed wetlands; and investigate population dynamics, biological requirements, and recovery possibilities of at-risk or declining species such as native fish, amphibians, and riparian vegetation.
FORT scientist Erin Muths has been leading a team of researchers investigating amphibian decline at a study site on the Blackrock Ranger Station compound on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in northwestern Wyoming. The work began in 2003, when Dr. Muths and David Pilliod (USGS Forest and Range Ecosystem Science Center) were awarded competitive funding from the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI). The research team of Dr. Muths, Dr. Pilliod, and Steve Corn and Blake Hossack (USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center) collaborates with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and other entities to study population demographics and disease ecology for the four species of amphibians that reside on the USFS Blackrock compound. Read about their findings and the impact of a mitigation site on breeding success of amphibians on our newest science feature at Blackrock: Biological Hotspot and Hotbed of Collaboration.
Blackrock: Biological Hotspot and Hotbed of Collaboration
More Aquatic Systems Headlines
Cottonwood tree rings and climate in western North America
The State of Amphibians in the United States