Stuart G. Fisher
Ecosystems, Freshwater Ecology
Dr. Fisher's research is focused on the control of ecosystem structure and function using the stream-riparian system of deserts as a model. He is especially interested in the influence of long term regimes of flood and drought in shaping streams at several levels of organization including adaptations of organisms to disturbance, seasonal and disturbance effects on community structure, and ecosystem stability measured in terms of energy flow and nutrient cycling.
Recently, Dr. Fisher and his students have been exploring the relationship between ecosystem spatial configuration and ecosystem functioning (e.g., nutrient cycling patterns, productivity, response to disturbance). Again, streams provide a model wherein configuration at several scales (sediments, meanders, branching patterns) can be investigated as independent variables explaining variation in ecosystem functioning.
Selected Publications
Fisher, S., J. Heffernan, R. Sponseller, and Jill Welter. 2006. Functional ecomorphology: feedbacks between form and function in fluvial landscape ecosystems. Geomorphology (In Press)
Fisher, S. and J. Welter. 2005. Flowpaths as integrators of heterogeneity in streams and landscapes. pp 311-328 In: G. Lovett, C. Jones, M. Turner, and K. Weathers (eds). Ecosystem Function in Heterogeneous Landscapes. Springer. New York . 489 pp.
Fisher, S., R. Sponseller, and J. Heffernan. 2004. Horizons in stream biogeochemistry: flowpaths to progress. Ecology 85:2369-2379.
Henry, J. and S. Fisher. 2003. Spatial segregation of periphyton communities in a desert stream: causes and consequences for N cycling. J. No. Amer. Benthol. Soc. 22; 511-527.
Dent, C.L., N.B. Grimm, and S.G. Fisher. 2001. Multi-scale effects of surface-subsurface exchange on stream water nutrient concentrations. J. No. Amer. Benthol. Soc.: 20:162-181
Fisher, S., J. Welter, J. Schade, and J. Henry. 2001. landscape challenges to ecosystem thinking: creative flood and drought in the American Southwest. Scientia Marina 65 (suppl 2): 181-192.
Schade, J.D., S.G. Fisher, N.B. Grimm, and J.A. Seddon. 2001. The influence of a riparian shrub on nitrogen cycling in a Sonoran Desert stream. Ecology 82: 3363-3376.
Martii, E., S.G. Fisher, J.J. Schade, J.R. Welter, and N.B. Grimm. 2000. Hydrological and chemical linkages between streams and their riparian zones: an intermediate disturbance model. Internationale Vereinigung fur Theoretische und Angewandt Limnologie, Verhandlungen 27:442-447.
Fisher, S.G., N.B. Grimm, E. Marti, J.Jones and R. Holmes. 1997. Material spiraling in stream corridor ecosystems: a telescoping ecosystem model. Ecosystems 1 (1).
Fisher, S.G. 1997. Creativity, idea generation, and the functional morphology of streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16: 305-318.
Fisher, S.G. and N.B. Grimm. 1996. Ecological effects of global climate change on freshwater ecosystems with emphasis on streams and rivers. (chapter 30) In: L Mays (ed.) Handbook of Water Resources. McGraw-Hill, N.Y.