Colden Baxter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Ecology
baxtcold@isu.edu
(208) 282-6098
Room 310 Gale Life Sciences Bldg
Idaho State University Stream Ecology Center
Ecology of rivers; ecological linkages between water and land; landscape and community ecology; conservation and restoration ecology; philosophy of science and resource management
Education
B.A., Biology and Geology, 1993, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
M.S., Organismal Biology and Ecology, 1997, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
Ph.D., Fisheries Science, 2002, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Postdoc, Ecology, 2002-2005, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Baxter has been Assistant Professor of the ISU Stream Ecology Center since winter of 2005. His research focuses on rivers and streams, but more generally on the ecological linkages between water and land. He and his students study the vectors of aquatic-terrestrial connectivity, their ecological roles, and the consequences of their disruption. These reciprocal linkages are critical to watershed ecosystems, and they couple land and water in their vulnerability to the agents of global environmental change. Many of Dr. Baxter’s research projects focus on connections between streams, floodplains, and riparian forests, and the response of these linked systems to both natural and human-caused disturbances. His studies range across levels of biological organization, from organisms and populations to communities and ecosystems. Most of Dr. Baxter’s work is also set in the context of addressing human affects on native organisms and ecosystems, and aims to contribute to better-informed conservation and stewardship.
Teaching
Biol 192, Introduction to Ecology
Biol 496, Ecology Senior Seminar
Biol 462/562, Freshwater Ecology
Biol 604, Advanced River Ecology
Biol 599, History and Philosophy of Biology
Publications
Dahm, C. N., H. M. Valett, C.V. Baxter, and W.W. Woessner. 2006. Hyporheic zones. In F. R. Hauer and G. A. Lamberti, editors. Methods in stream ecology. Academic Press, San Diego. 2nd Edition. In press.
Grimm, N.B., C.V. Baxter, C. L. Crenshaw. 2006. Surface-subsurface interactions in streams. In F. R. Hauer and G. A. Lamberti, editors. Methods in stream ecology. Academic Press, San Diego. 2nd Edition. In press.
Torgersen, C.E., C.V. Baxter, H.W. Li, and B.A. McIntosh. 2006. Landscape influences on longitudinal patterns of stream fishes: spatially continuous analysis of fish-habitat relationships. In R. Hughes, L. Wang, and P. Seelbach, editors. Influences of landscapes on stream habitats and biological communities. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Baxter, C. V., K. D. Fausch, and W. C. Saunders. 2005. Tangled webs: reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey link streams and riparian zones. Freshwater Biology 50(2):201-220.
Laeser, S.R., C.V. Baxter and K.D. Fausch. 2005. Effects of stream channelization and riparian vegetation loss on web-weaving spiders in northern Japan. Ecological Research 20:646-651.
Wright, K.K, C.V. Baxter, J. Li. 2005. Restricted hyporheic exchange in an alluvial river system: implications for stream ecology theory and watershed management. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 24:447-460.
Baxter, C.V., K.D. Fausch, M. Murakami and P.L. Chapman. 2004. Non-native stream fish invasion restructures stream and riparian forest food webs by interrupting reciprocal prey subsidies. Ecology 85: 2656-2663.
Baxter, C.V., F.R. Hauer and W.W. Woessner 2003. Measuring groundwater-stream water exchange: new techniques for installing mini-piezometers and estimating hydraulic conductivity. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 132: 493-502.
Fausch, K.D., C.E. Torgersen, C.V. Baxter, H.W. Li. 2002. Landscapes to riverscapes: bridging the gap between research and conservation of stream fishes. BioScience 52: 483-498.
Baxter, C.V. and F.R. Hauer. 2000. Geomorphology, hyporheic exchange and selection of spawning habitat by bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57: 1470-1481.
Staley, K., S. Gregory, J.B. Kauffman, J. Hall, K.A. Dwire, C.V. Baxter, and J. Brookshire. 2000. Scientists as citizens: integrating ecological considerations with riverfront development. Proceedings of the American Water Resources Research Association Riparian Ecosystems Conference, Portland, OR.
Baxter, C.V., C.A. Frissell, and F.R. Hauer. 1999. Geomorphology, logging roads, and the distribution of bull trout spawning in a forested river basin: implications for management and conservation. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 128: 854-867.
Hauer, F.R., G. Poole, J. T. Gangemi, and C. V. Baxter. 1999. The role of coarse woody debris in bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) spawning streams of logged and wilderness watersheds in northwest Montana. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56: 915-924.