<<< Ishi Buffam

Research description

Doctoral Research Project: "Quantifying the regional linkage between episodes of acidity and the occurrence of fish".

Support: FORMAS Biodiversity grant Dr. Hjalmar Laudon (SLU Umeå), Kevin Bishop (SLU Uppsala), Kerstin Holmgren (Fiskeriverket, Drottningholm).

My current research follows two major fronts. The first involves correlating national surface water datasets of chemical acidity and fish populations in order to explore thresholds for survival of various fish species. As a part of a project with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to update the Swedish water quality criteria, we have performed a statistical study relating the presence/absence of fish species to various measures of acidity in Swedish lakes.

I am also evaluating the link between landscape characteristics and streamwater acidity during spring flood in the Krycklan catchment in Northern Sweden. The focus is placed upon spring flood because it is characterized large increases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and acidity, and is thus likely the most crucial time for limiting development/recruitment of viable fish populations.

Our research group has studied Krycklan during spring 2003 and 2004, and coordinated associated field research projects relating stream acidity to fish (brown trout and Atlantic salmon) survival and invertebrate populations/activity.

Stream pH ranged from 3.8-7.1 over the course of all stream sites and times measured, with rapid drops of up to 1.5 pH units at several sites during the spring flood. The information will be used to develop a landscape-based model of streamwater DOC and pH patterns, following up on previous modeling work of Dr. Hjalmar Laudon.

E-mail: Ishi.Buffam@sek.slu.se
Phone: +46 (0)90-7868586

Website by: Martin Wiss