Kurt D. Fausch

Professor

Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, and
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Office: (970) 491-6457 FAX: (970) 491-5091
Email: kurtf@warnercnr.colostate.edu

 

Education

B.S. Zoology, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN, 1976
M.S. Fisheries Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 1978
Ph.D. Fisheries Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 1981
  

Professional Affiliations

American Fisheries Society
Introduced Species Section, Colorado-Wyoming Chapter
Ecological Society of America
Aquatic Ecology Section
American Institute of Biological Sciences, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Ichthyological Society of Japan (Editorial Advisory Board), North American Benthological Society, Association of Southwestern Naturalists
 

Research Interests

Research in my laboratory focuses on the ecology and management of streams and stream fishes.  My students and collaborators and I are especially interested in the interaction of stream fishes with their habitat at different spatial and temporal scales. We are involved in research on interspecific competition among salmonids in Rocky Mountain streams; invasions by nonnative salmonids in the western U.S. and their effects on stream and riparian food webs; recruitment bottlenecks that hamper conservation of native cutthroat trout in Colorado; effects of agricultural land use on habitats that support rare fishes in Great Plains streams; and effects of livestock grazing on terrestrial invertebrate subsidies that sustain trout in foothills rangeland streams.  Our recent work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Colorado Division of Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, National Park Service, U.S. Army, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Trout Unlimited.
 

Courses Taught

I teach a senior-level course in Fish Ecology (FW 400, every spring), which emphasizes critical reading, thinking, writing, and speaking skills. The course treats all organizational levels of ecology from individuals through ecosystems, using examples primarily from the literature on fish and aquatic ecology.  Every fall semester I teach Population and Community Ecology (EY600), a course in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology curriculum.  This course emphasizes current theories in population and community ecology for both animals and plants, and the observational and experimental data that support them.  It includes weekly discussion of current papers in these fields. 

 

 

Professional Service

 

University of California Press, Editorial Board, Freshwater Ecology Series   2006-present

Advisory Board Ichthyological Research  1996-present

Board of Editors Ecological Applications  2000-2003

Associate Editor Transactions of the American Fisheries Society  1988-90

Fisheries Conservation Foundation (of the American Fisheries Society) Science Team Member: Connecting Headwaters with Estuaries for Salmonids

2005-present

 

Research by Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Research Scientists

Jeffrey A. Falke (Ph.D.) – Effects of drought and groundwater pumping for agriculture on stream habitat connectivity and recruitment of threatened plains fishes in the Arikaree River basin, eastern Colorado.  (funded by the Colorado Division of Wildlife).

W. Carl Saunders (Ph.D.) - Effects of livestock grazing on food webs that support trout populations in rangeland streams. (funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Trout Unlimited).

Dr. Fabio Lepori (Postdoctoral Research Associate) – Relative effects of native and nonnative salmonids on stream and riparian food webs (funded by the National Science Foundation)

Recent Graduates and Postdoctoral Research Scientists

Dr. Charles Gowan (Ph.D. 1995) - Trout response to habitat manipulation in streams at individual and population scales (funded by CDOW). Current position: Associate Professor, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA.

Ryan K. Smith (B. S. and Honors Program Scholar. 1996) - Thermal tolerance and vegetation preference of Arkansas and johnny darters from Colorado plains streams (CDOW). Current position: Aquatic Ecologist, Freshwater Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Durham, NC.

Dr. Kevin R. Bestgen (Ph.D. 1997) - Interacting effects of physical and biological factors on recruitment of age-0 Colorado squawfish (USBOR to Larval Fish Laboratory). Current position: Director and Research Scientist, Larval Fish Laboratory, CSU.

Theodore R. Labbe (M.S. 1997) - Dynamics of Arkansas darter populations and their habitat at multiple scales in intermittent Colorado plains streams (CDOW).  Current position: Habitat Biologist, Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Kingston, WA.

Dr. Elizabeth M. Strange (Postdoctoral Research Assoc. 1996-97) - Measuring economic value of ecological integrity in the South Platte River by contingent valuation (NSF/EPA, with Dr. John Loomis, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Dr. Alan Covich).  Current position: Managing Scientist and Aquatic Ecologist, Stratus Consulting Inc., Washington, D.C.

Joshua J. Latterell (B.S. 1997) - Effects of flow regime and adult trout abundance on trout recruitment in six Colorado mountain streams (senior research paper). Current position: Environmental Scientist, Watershed and Ecological Assessment Team, King County Department of Natural Resources, Seattle, WA.

Dr. Amy L. Harig (Ph.D. 2000) - Factors influencing success of native cutthroat trout translocations (funded by CDOW, USFS, Trout Unlimited). Current position: Research Statistician/Analyst, Ada County Juvenile Services, Boise, ID.

Benjamin M. Kennedy (B.S. 2000) - Different life history of brook trout populations invading mid-elevation and high-elevation cutthroat trout streams in Colorado (senior research paper).  Current position: Fisheries Biologist, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Abernathy Fish Technology Center, Longview, WA.

Julie A. Scheurer (M.S. 2001) - Systematics and landscape ecology of brassy minnow (Hybognathus hankinsoni) in Colorado (CDOW, CO Water Resources Res. Institute).  Current position: Scientific Technical Editor, National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, AK. 

Dr. Douglas P. Peterson (Ph.D. 2002) - Population responses of native cutthroat trout to invasions by brook trout (CDOW, U.S. Dept. of Interior, U.S. Forest Service, Trout Unlimited).  Current position: Research Scientist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Helena, MT.

Dr. Edward D. Weber (Ph.D 2003) - Effects hatchery chinook salmon on wild juvenile Chinook salmon in the upper Sacramento River, California (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation).  Current position:  Senior Scientist, Versar, Inc., Columbia, MD.

Dr. Colden V. Baxter (Postdoctoral Research Scientist 2002-2004) - Interacting effects of riparian habitat disturbances and a stream fish invasion on stream food webs and cross-habitat resource subsidies in northern Hokkaido, Japan (funded by the National Science Foundation).  Current position: Assistant Professor, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID.

W. Carl Saunders (M.S. 2006) - Effects of livestock grazing on terrestrial invertebrate subsidies that support trout populations in rangeland streams. (funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Trout Unlimited).  Current position: Ph.D. student, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology and Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University.

Mark A. Coleman (Ph.D. 2007) - Laboratory experiments and field tests of effects of low water temperature on recruitment success of native cutthroat trout (funded by the Colo. Div. of Wildlife, U.S. Dept. of Interior, U.S. Forest Service, and Trout Unlimited).   Current position: Principal Scientist, Coleman Ecological, Inc., Fort Collins, CO.

Current Projects

In addition to the research listed above, I am involved in the following collaborative projects:

 

Riverwebs: Crossing boundaries to explore the hidden mysteries of stream – I am collaborating with Jeremy Monroe of Freshwaters Illustrated on a documentary video about the interconnections between forests and streams via invertebrate subsidies, and their importance for stream conservation.  This documentary highlights the pioneering work of my Japanese colleague Dr. Shigeru Nakano.

 

Terrestrial effects of an aquatic invader – I am collaborating with Dr. Colden Baxter (Idaho State University) on a cross-biome study in two Rocky Mountain regions of the potential impact of nonnative salmonids on stream food webs and subsidies of aquatic invertebrates to riparian spiders.

 

Invasion-isolation tradeoff for conserving native salmonids in the inland West – I am collaborating with Drs. Bruce Rieman and Mike Young (US Forest Service), Dr. Jason Dunham (US Geological Survey), and Dr. Doug Peterson (US Fish and Wildlife Service) on investigating the tradeoff inherent in isolating native salmonids in headwater streams in the inland west to prevent invasions by nonnative salmonids. 

Positions in My Lab

I am not planning on accepting new graduate students in the foreseeable future, but when I do have an opening I typically advertise it here and on the AFS and NABS websites.

 

Recent Publications

Fausch, K. D.  2000.  Shigeru Nakano – an uncommon Japanese fish ecologist.  Environmental Biology of Fishes 59:359-364.

 

Labbe, T. R., and K. D. Fausch.  2000.  Dynamics of intermittent stream habitat regulate persistence of a threatened fish at multiple scales.  Ecological Applications 10:1774-1791.

 

Loomis, J., P. Kent, L. Strange, K. Fausch, and A. Covich.  2000.  Measuring the total economic value of restoring ecosystem services in an impaired river basin: results from a contingent valuation survey.  Ecological Economics 33:103-117.

 

Harig, A. L., K. D. Fausch, and M. K. Young.  2000.  Factors influencing success of greenback cutthroat trout translocations.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 20:994-1004.

 

Fausch, K. D., Y. Taniguchi, S. Nakano, G. D. Grossman, and C. R. Townsend.  2001.  Flood disturbance regimes influence rainbow trout invasion success among five Holarctic regions.  Ecological Applications 11:1438-1455.

 

Poff, N. L., P. L. Angermeier, S. D. Cooper, P. S. Lake, K. D. Fausch, K. O. Winemiller, L. A. K. Mertes, M. W. Oswood, J. Reynolds, and F. J. Rahel.  2001.  Fish diversity in streams and rivers.  Pages 315-350  In: F. S. Chapin III, O. E. Sala, and E. Huber-Sannwald, editors.  Global diversity in a changing environment: scenarios for the 21st century.  Springer-Verlag, New York.

 

Fausch, K. D.  2002.  Preface: Community ecology of salmonid fishes. Pages 3-6 in: Ecology of Streams and Forests: Collective Papers by Shigeru Nakano.  Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo (In Japanese).

 

Fausch, K. D., M. E. Power, and M. Murakami.  2002.  Linkages between stream and forest food webs: Shigeru Nakano's legacy for ecology in Japan.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:429-434.

 

Fausch, K. D., C. E. Torgersen, C. V. Baxter, and H. W. Li.  2002.  Landscapes to riverscapes: bridging the gap between research and conservation of stream fishes.  BioScience 52:483-498.

 

Gowan, C., and K. D. Fausch. 2002.  Why do foraging stream salmonids move during summer?  Environmental Biology of Fishes 64:139-153.

 

Harig, A. L., and K. D. Fausch.  2002.  Minimum habitat requirements for establishing translocated cutthroat trout populations.  Ecological Applications 12:535-551.

 

Taniguchi, Y., K. D. Fausch, and S. Nakano.  2002.  Stage-structured interactions between native and introduced species: can intraguild predation facilitate invasion by stream salmonids?  Biological Invasions 4:223-233.

 

Kennedy, B. M., D. P. Peterson, and K. D. Fausch.  2003.  Different life histories of brook trout populations invading mid-elevation and high-elevation cutthroat trout streams in Colorado.  Western North American Naturalist 63:215-223.

 

Peterson, D. P., and K. D. Fausch.  2003.  Dispersal of brook trout promotes invasion success and replacement of native cutthroat trout.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 60:1502-1516.

 

Peterson, D. P., and K. D. Fausch.  2003.  Testing population-level mechanisms of invasion by a mobile vertebrate: a simple conceptual framework for salmonids in streams.  Biological Invasions 5:239-259.

 

Scheurer, J. A., K. R. Bestgen, and K. D. Fausch.  2003.  Resolving taxonomy and historic distribution for conservation of rare great plains fishes: Hybognathus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in eastern Colorado basins.  Copeia 2003:1-12.

 

Scheurer, J. A., K. D. Fausch, and K. R. Bestgen.  2003.  Multi-scale processes regulate brassy minnow persistence in a Great Plains river.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 132:840-855..

 

Weber, E. D., and K. D. Fausch.  2003.  Interactions between hatchery and wild salmonids in streams: differences in biology and evidence for competition.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 60:1018-1036.

 

Baxter, C. V., K. D. Fausch, M. Murakami, and P. L. Chapman.  2004.  Fish invasion restructures stream and forest food webs by interrupting reciprocal prey subsidies.  Ecology 85:2656-2663.  Baxter won the 2005 Hynes Award for Young Investigators from the North American Benthological Society for this paper

 

Olden, J. D., N. L. Poff, M. R. Douglas, M. E. Douglas, and K. D. Fausch.  2004.  Ecological and evolutionary consequences of biotic homogenization: beyond a simple focus on species diversity loss.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:18-24.

 

Peterson, D. P., K. D. Fausch, and G. C. White.  2004.  Population ecology of an invasion: effects of brook trout on native cutthroat trout.  Ecological Applications 14:754-772.

 

Weber, E. D., and K. D. Fausch.  2004.  Abundance and size distribution of ocean-type juvenile chinook salmon in the upper Sacramento River margin before and after hatchery releases.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 24:1447-1455.

 

Fausch, K. D., and M. K. Young.  2004.  Interactions between forests and fish in the Rocky Mountains of the USA. Pages 463-484 in T. G. Northcote and G. F. Hartman, editors.  Fishes and Forestry: Worldwide Watershed Interactions and Management.  Blackwell Science, Oxford, U.K.

 

Weber, E. D., and K. D. Fausch.  2005.  Competition between hatchery-reared and wild juvenile Chinook salmon in enclosures in the Sacramento River, California.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 134:44-58. 

 

Baxter, C. V., K. D. Fausch, and W. C. Saunders.  2005.  Tangled webs: reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey link streams and riparian zones.  Freshwater Biology 50:201-220.

 

Cooney, S. J., A. P. Covich, P. M. Lukacs, A. L. Harig, and K. D. Fausch.  2005.  Modeling global warming scenarios in greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki stomias) streams: implications for species recovery.  Western North American Naturalist 65:371-381.

 

Laeser, S. R., C. V. Baxter, and K. D. Fausch.  2005.  Riparian vegetation loss, stream channelization, and web-weaving spiders in northern Japan.  Ecological Research 20:646-651.

 

Huckins, C. J., E. A. Baker, K. D. Fausch, and J. B. K. Leonard.  In press.  Ecology and life history of coaster brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and potential bottlenecks in their rehabilitation.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

 

Baxter, C. V., K. D. Fausch, M. Murakami, and P. L. Chapman.  In press.  Invading rainbow trout usurp a terrestrial prey subsidy from native charr and reduce their growth and abundance.  Oecologia.

 

Coleman, M. A., and K. D. Fausch.  In press.  Cold summer temperature regimes cause a recruitment bottleneck in age-0 Colorado River cutthroat trout reared in laboratory streams.  Transactions American Fisheries Society.

 

Coleman, M. A., and K. D. Fausch.  In press.  Cold summer temperature limits recruitment of age-0 cutthroat trout in high-elevation Colorado streams.  Transactions American Fisheries Society.

 

Saunders, W. C., and K. D. Fausch.  In press.  Improved grazing management increases terrestrial invertebrate inputs that feed trout in Wyoming rangeland streams.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

 

Edited Volumes

Yuma, M., I. Nakamura, and K.D. Fausch, editors.  1998.  Fish biology in Japan: an anthology in honour of Hiroya Kawanabe.  Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes 18, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Visit our Fishery Ecology Lab and the CSU Fishery Biology homepage, meet other faculty members in the Fishery and Wildlife Biology Department of the College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University.
 
 

Last Modified 4 April 2007


Kurt Fausch / mailto:kurtf@warnercnr.colostate.edu