[Eoas-seminar] EOAS Colloquium on Friday, April 15th at 3:00 PM

[eoas-seminar at lists.fsu.edu]

Hi all,
This is an announcement of the EOAS colloquium this coming Friday afternoon (4/15) at 3 PM. The colloquium is in-person with a virtual option. I am sure his research, background, and state position will be of interest to many different groups and individuals.

If you would like to meet with the speaker, please email Vincent Salters (salters at magnet.fsu.edu<mailto:salters at magnet.fsu.edu>).

Time: 3 pm Friday, April 15th
Location: 1050 EOA
Speaker: Dr. Mark Rains, Secretary FDEP
Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93458309576

Title: Groundwater Subsidies to Salmonid Streams: Fifteen Years of Collaborative Science and Outcomes in Alaska
Abstract: In recent years, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and stakeholders has studied landscape-scale connectivity between slope and riparian wetlands and salmon-bearing streams in south-central Alaska, with recent breakthroughs underscoring the central role played by groundwater. Groundwater provides >50% of summer streamflow and ~100% of winter streamflow. This groundwater discharge modulates year-round stream temperatures, providing cold-water refugia in summer and warm-water refugia in winter. Much of this groundwater passes beneath nitrogen-fixing alder patches, emerging with increased nitrogen concentrations. This nitrogen-enriched groundwater is thereafter delivered to riparian wetlands and streams. Above-ground biomass is higher in riparian wetlands that receive this nitrogen-rich groundwater than in riparian wetlands that do not receive this nitrogen-rich groundwater. Biomass from riparian wetlands is then deposited in streams, where isotopic evidence indicates it serves as the primary food source for stream invertebrates that feed juvenile salmonids. Nitrogen concentrations in streams are positively correlated with percent cover alder in the watershed. This is then reflected in stream processes, with litter decomposition rates positively correlated with nitrogen concentrations and in-stream nitrogen-fixation rates negatively correlated with nitrogen concentrations. These findings have heightened stakeholder awareness of the tight linkages between limited groundwater resources, slope and riparian wetlands, and salmon-bearing streams, empowering community conversations that have resulted in demonstrable changes to policies and practices throughout the stakeholder community.
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Biography:  Mark Rains is an ecohydrologist with a B.A. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, an M.S. in Forestry, and a Ph.D. in Hydrologic Sciences. He currently is a Professor of Geology at the University of South Florida, Chief Science Officer for the State of Florida, and Associate Editor for Wetland and Watershed Hydrology at the Journal of the American Water Resources Association. His research is focused on hydrological connectivity from ridges to reefs, especially between hillslopes, wetlands, and headwater streams; the roles that hydrological processes play in governing ecosystem structure and function; and the roles that science plays in informing water-related law, policy, and decision-making. He has extensive experience in consensus building at the intersection of science and policy in wetland regulatory programs, including past and ongoing work providing the scientific justification underlying the federal definition of "waters of the US" subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act.


Cheers,
Jeremy

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