PARENT SESSION
Organized Oral Session 30: Modeling movement at multiple scales
Organizer(s): J Fryxell, M Turner, and M Boyce
Wednesday, August 10, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 511 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Population response to environmental stress at multiple spatial scales in systems with unidirectional flow.

Nisbet, Roger^*,1, Anderson, Kurt¹, ¹ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Santa Barbara, California, USA

ABSTRACT- We present models of the spatio-temporal dynamics of populations in media with strong unidirectional flow (e.g. aquatic organisms in streams and rivers). For many models, there is a response length that characterizes the distance downstream over which the impact of a point source disturbance is felt. The response length is also an important parameter characterizing the spatial and temporal response to non-point source disturbances of different sizes. We review the biological information required for calculation of the response length, and demonstrate its application to invertebrate populations in rivers and streams.

Key words: population dynamics, scale, streams and rivers, unidirectional flow