Waiting on a mule deer crossing…
Organisms that feed on plants play important roles in moving energy and nutrients though ecosystems, which underlies many services that ecosystems provide societies such as fisheries, clean drinking water, and carbon storage. However, the identity and abundance of organisms in ecosystems is changing as warm-climate species move into previously cooler regions that are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Understanding how these species movements alter ecosystem processes is an important step in anticipating and managing the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and their services. This research will investigate how the establishment and subsequent population boom of a novel aquatic insect species into high elevation wetlands influences the timing and magnitude of processes central to all ecosystems: the consumption of plant material, the cycling of nutrients that support plant and animal growth, the availability of prey for predators, and the connections between freshwater habitats and the surrounding terrestrial environment. In addition to scientific advancement, this research will advance early childhood education via kids? science camps, provide opportunities for public outreach via science tours at a field station, and train the next generation of scientists by engaging undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups in field-based ecological research.