Selected research projects
Broadly, I'm interested in ecosystem-based fisheries management and the repeatably of evolution. Below are some recent projects.
Impacts of warming on Bering Sea Alaska pollock |
The Bering Sea has been experiencing rapid climate warming, which has resulted in unusual mortality events and shifts in species distributions. We are interested in the impacts of exceptionally warm conditions from 2014-2019 on Alaska pollock, which support one of the largest single-species fisheries in the world. Our work has shown that warming has age-specific impacts on pollock: young pollock have higher weight-at-age with warming, whereas older pollock have lower weight-at-age, consistent with the temperature size rule. We are currently expanding this work to look at the impacts of temperature on local abundances and to compare patterns of pollock distribution in the Northeast Bering Sea to their more typical habitat in the Southeast Bering Sea.
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In Alaska, salmon are ecologically, culturally, and economically importance. Despite record high abundances in many species, body sizes appear to be declining. As part of a National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) working group, we quantified the consistency, causes, and consequences of declining salmon size. Our results show that size declines have occurred across the state in sockeye, coho, chum, and Chinook salmon, with important consequences for Alaska's ecosystems, fisheries, and people. |
Body size declines in Alaska salmon
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Independent lineages in a shared environment: even- and odd-year pink salmon
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Often when non-parallel evolution is detected, it is difficult to distinguish between phenotypic differences due to evolutionary history and due to subtle environmental differences within ecotypes. Due to their semelparous two-year life-cycle, pink salmon spawning in even and odd years are completely reproductively isolated, even within the same river. We used this unique opportunity to compare distinct lineages sharing the same habitats to ask whether run timing was determined by lineage, by the environment, or both. Or results show that run timing is primarily determined by the environment with little contribution of evolutionary history.
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