Research Interest
 

I have a broad experience in landscape ecology and fisheries science.  I have worked in projects related to forest fragmentation in the Orinoco basin, in Colombia, did the assessment for landscape fragmentation and urban growth in the coastal area of Cabo san Lucas, Baja California, Mexico; I worked in the Puget Sound in Washington, USA modeling sediment supply that affects rivers from clear cuts and road density, in the John Day Basin in Eastern Oregon, USA I study habitat fragmentation in streams due to increased water temperature and changes in community composition and studied the effects of climate changes affecting the resilience of salmonid populations in the Pacific Rim.

All this experience has given me the opportunity to make association across different ecosystems and work in a great variety of disciplines. I'm fluent in both English and Spanish.  I enjoy teaching and interacting with the public.  I have a broad knowledge on current metrics of landscape fragmentation, spatial - temporal series and I have taught courses in population biology and population dynamics that included stock assessment techniques, escapement estimation, and population modeling.

Previous Research

I was very fortunate to conduct my PhD research at Oregon State University with Dr. Hiram W. Li.  Working at several spatial scales (from basins to habitat units) we developed a novel approach to understand the variation of standing crops in stream reaches across a basin in eastern Oregon.  Using geostatistical analysis, linear models and an information theoretic approach (AIC) [1,4,5] I was able to predict 90% of salmonid biomass in this basin, making this approach an important tool for the management of high desert streams in the Pacific Northwest.

My work has been driven by questions like “how can we separate anthropogenic influences from natural processes?” [2] “What can humans do through changes in policy or management actions to achieve naturally self-sustaining salmon populations in a future with changing climate?”.  My PhD research showed me that water temperature can explain up to 62% of fish distribution patterns in temperature limited streams [4]. Climate change will alter many aspects of Pacific salmon habitat including flow regimes, water temperature, ocean productivity, land cover, pathogens, food webs, and water quality.

However, anticipated habitat changes and salmon life histories vary greatly across the geographic range of salmon, so salmon populations are not all equally susceptible to climate change.  Based on these problems recently I have become involved in defining winner and losers among salmon populations and watersheds across the Pacific Rim and to identify which of those populations are more “resilient” or sensitive to the effects of climate change.  Moreover, effects of management strategies vary widely among habitats and populations, so options for conserving robust salmon populations must be evaluated in the context of each watershed and population’s sensitivity to climate change.

In my previous postdoc I mapped salmon sensitivity to climate change, this  was a very difficult task given that salmon diversity (species, life history, and genetics), abundance (i.e., small populations are more vulnerable) and spatial distribution (within catchments) need to be considered in order to understand climate-change threats and potential for resilience. I did put together one of the most complete data sets for salmon distribution across the Pacific Rim, thus predicting habitat changes relevant to salmon, including: a) changes in stream temperature and flows, b) changes in watershed processes and habitat condition (including floodplain complexity, and c) changes in estuarine and nearshore habitat diversity and abundance, across the entire range of distribution of these species. The overlay maps will provide a synthesis of available habitat protection opportunities and their effectiveness under climate change scenarios. Sensitivity or resilience of salmon populations can also be used in developing prioritization schemes for identifying which populations are most likely to respond to protection strategies.

Current research

My current project investigates the causes that have contributed to an increased or decreased degree of landscape fragmentation in the European Continent. Current metrics of landscape fragmentation are being interpreted within the context of regional socio-economic and biophysical states to make a comparative assessment of fragmentation.  The main goal of this project is to aid Policy and land planning scenarios by using these comparative, rather than absolute, measures of fragmentation which take account of the relevant socio-economic conditions. The main task of the project is to prepare a statistical model that predicts the degree of landscape fragmentation at several spatial scales for regions in Europe based on physical and socio-economic characteristics of these regions.
 
Make a Free Website with Yola.