My research is grounded in the conservation of natural resources while interfacing with fundamental ecological theory to understand species distributions and interactions in riverine ecosystems. My exploration of these nested relationships is motivated by a desire to understand (1) spatial and temporal patterns in taxonomic and functional diversity across temporal and ecological scales and (2) the relationships between organisms and the structure and function of the ecosystems they inhabit.
Parasite-Host Relationships: Freshwater Mussels and Fish
Freshwater mussels are obligate fish parasites in their larval stage, but facilitators to other organisms when they are adults. My research employs a trait-based approach to examine the co-evolutionary relationships between mussels and their fish hosts. This preliminary work has revealed how mussels and their hosts co-evolve in response to environmental conditions, advancing our understanding of mutual adaptations and life history evolution in aquatic ecosystems. In the future, I want to focus my research program on understanding evolutionary processes in parallel for both taxonomic groups.
Integration of publicly available datasets
Using publicly available datasets such as the Host Fish Databasehttps: (//mollusk.inhs.illinois.edu/57-2/) or GBIF we can understand patterns of host and mussel distributions and their overlap, enhancing potential conservation action.
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Figure: Map of HUC-8 watersheds in the Southeastern United States, with a color gradient illustrating the degree of overlap between freshwater mussels and their host fish species within each watershed. For example, a watershed with 10 mussel species, where 8 species have at least one host present, reflects an 80% overlap.
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Phenotypic Variation
I am interested in organismal level and intraspecific phenotypic variation caused by environmental factors. As sedentary organisms, mussels are always exposed to river abiotic conditions such as water velocity or substrate size. I am developing a three-dimensional morphological analysis, collaborating with the Anthropology department at the University of Alabama, to quantify mussel shell variation in a more comprehensive way.
Form-Function Relationship
Mussel interspecific differences in shell morphology are also vast. Such differences in structure raise the question if they are useful or functional in any way. I am trying to examine species habitat relationship by building a functional morphological classification for 80 mussel species and depicting their relationships with abiotic factors at different spatial scales.
Biotic Relationships
I have studied biotic interactions of co-occurring species by assessing the relationship between species richness and trophic niche using isotopic analysis. Mussel species niche decrease as more species are present in a community. Our study offers support for species specialization as a key mechanism acting on the trophic axis of the niche within a diverse functional-feeding group and illustrates how species richness influences trophic variation.
Ecological Responses of Fish and Mussels
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During my master's degree, I assessed mussel and fish distribution along the Strawberry, AR, and different microhabitat preferences by the life history-triangle
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In Alabama, we have looked at differential responses to stressors over time from Mussels and Fish
Water Quality
During my master's I collected weekly water quality samples across 9 rivers in the Strawberry River Watershed to evaluate spatial differences in the basins and relationship between suspended solids and nutrient loads.
Future Research
I am eager to expand my research by incorporating experimental studies to better understand the importance of environmental stressors and abiotic factors to freshwater mussels’ physiology, resource assimilation, and morphological diversity. The opportunity to design experimental studies to test the adaptive significance of morphological traits and the hydrodynamic value of shell structures is one of my top priorities. Additionally, I want to combine different axes of a species' niche (Morphology, Isotope, Host use, Habitat) to understamd spcies interactions and niche partitioning)
