Hugo Gee, Ph.D. Student
Degree/Completion Date
Fall 2010
Thesis Title/URL
A Multi-scale Assessment of the Influence of Hydrologic Processes on Bottomland Hardwood Forest Stand Dynamics
Biography
I grew up in Montreal, Quebec where I completed a B.Comm. at Concordia University in 1995. I majored in marketing with minors in accounting and international business. After working 3 years in the business world, my love for the outdoors and conservation got the better of me and I returned to school to study wildlife biology at McGill University.
While working towards my B.Sc, I was involved with the captive breeding of endangered loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) at McGill’s Avian Science and Conservation Centre. In the summer of 2000, I gained experience as an intern working with invertebrates in the “Bug Room” at the Provincial Museum of Alberta in Edmonton. During the next two summers I caught the wetland bug working as a technician for Leigh Fredrickson at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Leigh provided me with opportunities to study habitat use of American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) at Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge and nesting ecology of least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2003, I followed Leigh to South Dakota State University to work towards a M.Sc. I was fortunate enough to study endangered Hawaiian waterbirds in taro lo’i and managed wetlands at Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge. Before I had a chance to finish my thesis, Sammy offered me a Ph.D. opportunity to examine hydrological changes to forested wetlands and its implications for Ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) management. I could not say no.
Floodplain forests in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMAV) are experiencing anthropogenic disturbances on a regional, landscape, and local level. Altered hydroperiods along the Mississippi River and its tributaries threaten the structure and function of forested wetland ecosystems. The effect of altered hydroperiods is the elimination of the natural process of overbank and backwater flooding in much of the historic floodplain, which prevents the delivery of nutrient-rich sediments and water. Natural hydrofluvial processes that are critical for establishment of early successional conditions have been virtually eliminated from parts of these floodplains. Understanding how floodplain forests respond to human alterations of hydrologic and geomorphic processes on multiple scales will aid in future restoration and management of these productive ecosystems.
The objectives of my study are to 1) quantify spatial and temporal patterns of surface and subsurface flooding in floodplain forests of the LMAV across various topographic positions and soil textures, 2) evaluate the effects of hydroperiod and other abiotic factors on floodplain forest community composition and structure, and 3) describe the effects of altered hydroperiods and other abiotic factors on floodplain forest stand development. Specifically, I will compare patterns of surface and subsurface hydrology, stress, and mortality of floodplain trees within and among altered study sites. Of particular interest are floodplain forests with altered hydroperiods along tributaries of the Mississippi River in Arkansas and Louisiana.