Isaac J. Schlosser

Phone (701)-777-2254
E-Mail: Isaac Schlosser


Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biology


Professional Preparation:

• Illinois State University , Biology, B.S. With High Honors, 1971
• Illinois State University, Biology, M.S., 1973
• University of Illinois, Ecology, Ph.D. 1981

Aquatic Ecology, Fish Population and Community Ecology, Ecology of Natural Resources, Conservation Biology.


Appointments:

• Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor, Department of Biology,
• University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (2002 - present)
• Professor, Department of Biology, UND, (1993 - 2002)
• Associate Professor, Department of Biology, UND, (1986 - 1992)
• Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, UND, (1981 - 1986)

Primary research interests:

My primary research interests revolve around the question of how environmental variation, operating at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, influences the population and assemblage dynamics of fish. Most recently I have been exploring these issues in a group of clonal fish to assess how landscape succession and genetic variation influence population persistence and ecological interactions.

My research, which has been funded by the Ecology and EPSCoR Programs of NSF, has been conducted on small streams and beaver ponds in northern Minnesota. In the past, the work has emphasized the use of a mixture of quantitative descriptive studies in natural streams and controlled experimental manipulations in both natural and artificial stream systems. Using these complementary approaches, we have assessed the individual and interactive effects of flow regime, predation, and juvenile fish density and composition on invertebrate resources and the growth and survival of juvenile cyprinid and centrarchid fish. More recently, we have begun a study that attempts to interface ecological and population genetic approaches to investigate how genetics and environmental parameters interact to influence fish in spatially complex environments influenced by beaver activity. In addition to answering fundamental questions regarding the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors in determining the abundance of fish, this research will enhance our ability to predict the impact of human-induced environmental modifications on these resources.


Representative Publications (out of a total of > 50 publications)  

Schlosser, I.J. 1982. Fish community structure and function along two habitat gradients in a headwater stream. Ecological Monographs 52: 395-414.

Schlosser, I.J. and K.K. Ebel. 1989. Effects of flow regime and cyprinid predation on a headwater stream. Ecological Monographs 59: 41-57.

Schlosser, I.J. 1991. Stream fish ecology: A landscape perspective. BioScience 41:704-712.

Schlosser, I.J. 1995. Critical landscape attributes that influence fish population dynamics in headwater streams. Hydrobiologia 303: 71-81.

Schlosser, I.J. 1995. Dispersal, boundary processes, and trophic level interactions in streams adjacent to beaver ponds. Ecology 76:908-925.

Elder, J.F. and I.J. Schlosser. 1995. Extreme clonal uniformity of Phoxinus eos / neogaeus gynogens among variable habitats in northern Minnesota beaver ponds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 92:5001-5005.

Schlosser, I.J., M.R. Doeringsfeld, J.F. Elder, and L. Arzayus. 1998. Niche relationships of clonal and sexual fish in a heterogenous landscape. Ecology. 79:953-968.

Schlosser, I. J. and L. K. Kallemeyne. 2000.Spatial variation in fish assemblages across a beaver-influenced successional landscape. Ecology 81:1371-1382.

Schlosser, I.J, J.D. Johnson, L. K. Knotek, and M. Lapinska. 2000. Climate variability and size- structured interactions among juvenile fish along a lake-stream environmental gradient. Ecology 81:1046-1057.

Magalhaes, M.F., I.J. Schlosser, and M.J. Collares-Pereira. 2003. The role of life history in the relationship between population dynamics and environmental variability in two Mediterranean stream fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 63:300-317.

Doeringsfeld, M.R., I.J. Schlosser, J. F. Elder, and D.P.Evenson. 2004. Phenotypic consequences of genetic variation in a gynogenetic complex of Phoxinus eos-neogaeus clonal fish (Pisces: Cyprinidae) inhabiting a heterogeneous environment. Evolution 58:1261-1273.

Grants:

Five individual grants, including 3 NSF grants (totaling >$700,000) and 4 group grants (totaling >$1,750,000).

Synergistic Activities:

• Editor, Ecology and Ecological Monographs (1990 - 1993)
• Technical reviewer for 30 journals and 18 national and international agencies
• Member, National Science Foundation Panels: Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions (1994) and the Ecology Program(1998-2002).
• External reviewer for doctoral dissertations in France and Portugal
• Member, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program Working Group on "Fish and Land/Inland Water Ecotones"
• Co-organizer, Workgroup examining the application of scientific principles to the management of Atlantic Salmon. International Workshop entitled "Scale-dependent processes and Atlantic Salmon." Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Member General Education Task Force, University of North Dakota (2005 - present). The charge of the task force is to revise the GE goals at UND and facilitate development of pedagogical approaches for achieving those goals.