Keith B. Gido

Associate Professor

Division of Biology

Kansas State University

E-mail: kgido@ksu.edu

Phone: 785-532-5088

Curriculum Vitae

List of publication with links to pdfs

General research interests: My research focuses on the conservation of aquatic systems in the western and central U.S. Current and past projects can be classified into three general areas: 1) effects of global change on diversity-ecosystem function relationships in streams, 2) evaluation of patterns and processes regulating species diversity and habitat associations of fishes in streams and reservoirs, and 3) dynamics of non-coevolved fish assemblages.

Josh Perkin, PhD student (JPerkin@k-state.edu). Riverscape Fragmentation in Dendritic Stream Networks: Quantification, Consequences, and Implications to Decline of Native Fish Fauna.

My dissertation research focuses on the impacts of riverscape fragmentation on the distribution of imperiled Great Plains fishes.  Specifically, I’m working with (1) the declining status of eight pelagic-spawning cyprinids as related to the fragmentation of large Great Plains rivers; (2) effects of barriers to dispersion on community composition within prairie stream fish communities; and (3) developing predictive models for the movement of fishes within dendritic ecological networks. Josh's webpage

 

Erika Martin, PhD student (erikam86@k-state.edu).  Ecological and ecosystem consequences of fish movement in a dynamic riverscape.

My dissertation research focuses on evaluating how fish movement and riverscape dynamics affect prairie stream community structure and ecosystem properties. Current objectives are to evaluate (1) density-dependent interactions of prairie stream fish (2) priority effects and dominance hierarchies (if they occur, and how important are they) and 3) the influence of the environment on the fish community as well as the influence the fish have on their environment. 
My general interests include anthropogenic disturbances, metacommunity ecology, and conservation biology. Erika's webpage

 

James Whitney, PhD student (jwhit@k-state.edu).  Metacommunity dyanmics and life history constraints of native and nonnative fishes in the Gila River

Species in the metacommunity differ in their dispersal aptitude, and these differences may be related to certain traits possessed by the species, such as life-history strategy. Native and nonnative fishes in the upper Gila River Basin of southwestern New Mexico show highly-divergent life-history strategies, thus potentially exhibiting different degrees of dispersal ability. These differences in dispersal ability could translate into variation in metacommunity structure across a longitudinal gradient of the upper Gila, and may be affecting species persistence across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Under a combined framework of metacommunity and life-history theory, the primary goals of my PhD research will be to quantify differences in dispersal ability among fishes exhibiting different life-history strategies in the upper Gila River, and to determine the influence of these dispersal differences on metacommunity structure and function.

 

Matthew Troia, PhD student (troiamj@k-state.edu).  Niche Dynamics of Great Plains Fishes: Contemporary Shifts, Niche Evolution, and Mechanistic Underpinnings

The objectives of my dissertation research are to quantify niche dynamics of Great Plains stream fishes and gain a mechanistic understanding of species–habitat relationships. First, I will examine niche shifts of populations that occur in different drainage basins and use phylogenetic relationships among species to examine how niche dimensions evolve. Understanding niche dynamics at both ecological and evolutionary time scales is important in predicting how species distributions’ will respond to climate change and habitat alteration. Secondly, I will carry out a series of experiments to quantify how several prominent environmental gradients influence the physiological performance of individuals (e.g., growth and body condition) and mediate interspecific interactions. Understanding which abiotic variables are causally linked to survivorship and population dynamics is necessary for producing niche and distribution models that can be extrapolated in time and space.

Nate Cathcart, MS student (cncathca@k-state.edu). Exchanges of fishes between the mainstem and tributary streams of the San Juan River.

My research will attempt to quantify the movement of native species in the San Juan River basin of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.  Fishes studied include, but are not limited to, bluehead sucker, flannelmouth sucker, and roundtail chub. Currently, my approach will utilize two primary tools: 1) GIS to identify species distribution among habitats in the San Juan basin based on historical and contemporary fish data and 2) PIT tag studies to track movement rates of native fishes within and between habitats.

Janine Rueegg, Postdoctoral Research Associate (jrueegg@k-state.edu). Scale, Consumers And Lotic Ecosystem Rates (SCALER).

My postdoctoral research is associated with the SCALER project. The overarching question is: How can small-scale ecological experiments be applied to understand operation of entire ecological systems? Specifically this project will ask how can we use cm- and reach-scale process measurements and consumer manipulation experiments to predict ecosystem characteristics of stream networks, and how do patterns of scaling compare across an array of North American biomes? The SCALER experiment: a continental scale experiment encompassing five biomes, each of which will have six sites with measurements nested at two scales (microhabitat, reach), linked to watershed models will answer these questions.

David Hoeinghaus, Post doc 2007 – 2009. Life-history traits predict conservation status of fishes in Great Plains. Current position: Assistant Professor, University of North Texas

Tyler Pilger, MS 2009 (Trophic relations in the upper Gila River, New Mexico). Current Positio: PhD Student, University of New Mexico

Michelle Evans-White, Post doc 2006-2007. Forecasting ecological change in aquatic systems in the Great Plains. Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas

Katie Bertrand, PhD 2007. Interactive effects of disturbance regime and species composition on ecosystem function of prairie streams. Current position: Assistant Professor, South Dakota State University

Darren Thornbrugh, MS 2008. Fish assemblage structure in adventitious streams. Current position: PhD student, Michigan State University.

Nate Franssen, MS 2007. Trophic relations of the Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) in the San Juan River, New Mexico and Utah. Current position: PhD student, University of Oklahoma.

Tim Strakosh, PhD 2006. The effects of water willow establishment on littoral community composition: with focus on age-0 centrarchids in Kansas reservoirs. Current position: Unknown.

Layne Knight, MS 2004. Effects of largemouth bass predation on native stream minnows: implications for conservation of the endangered Topeka shiner. Current position: Biologist, Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Jeff Falke, MS 2004. Upstream effects of large reservoirs on native stream fishes. Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, NOAA/Oregon State University

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Characterizing the community and ecosystem dynamics of prairie streams is a major focus of the group. Much of this research is conducted in Kings Creek on the Konza Prairie Biological Station which is the location of the NSF funded Konza Prairie Long-term Ecological Research program. Long-term monitoring of fish communities and habitat began in 1995 and is ongoing. A complementary long-term monitoring program in Fox Creek on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve began in 2008. Combined these data provide information on variability of prairie stream fishes in relation to biotic and abiotic drivers.

In collaboration with Dr. David Propst from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, we have continued to research the dynamics of fish communities in the Gila and San Juan rivers. Our main goals through both long-term monitoring and short term experiments are to gain an understanding of the main drivers of community dynamics in these systems. In particular, the highlly threatened taxa in these rivers is threatened by impoundments that modify stream flows and the persistence of nonnative predators.

Stream faunas of the Great Plains are highly threatend by massive extraction of groundwater from the High Plains aquifer and fragmentation of rivers through impountments. Many species have declined and many are extirpated from their former range. We have developed a comprehesive geodatabase that includes georeferences datalayers of (1) stream networks and characteristics, (2) catchment geology and landcover and (3) point distribution data for fishes and mussels.

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