Cailin Orr

Ph.D., Limnology and Marine Sciences, 2005

Advisor: Emily Stanley

Abstract:   Understanding biogeochemical responses to hydrologic alteration in streams and rivers.
Resource managers across the landscape are increasingly faced with the challenge of aging water control infrastructure such as dams, levees, and drainage networks. There is abundant evidence that these structures impair some basic ecosystem functions. However there is only limited information available on how altering hydrologic regime to mimic a more natural system may restore these functions. One major function rivers and streams is the processing of organic matter and nutrients. The importance of nutrient transport and transformation is particularly highlighted in the agricultural setting of the Midwest where anthropogenic sources often elevate nutrient loads. My research focuses on how physical and hydrologic alterations to streams and rivers such as levee breeches and dam removal impact and change biogeochemical processes such as denitrification and phosphorus retention.

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