Tag Archives: conservation

Wetlands on the Edge

By Andrew L. Rypel It’s really easy to overlook and undervalue wetlands. Some are small or just don’t look very important. Others are enormous, and cause flooding issues for homeowners and growers. Some might even think wetlands are gross, worry … Continue reading

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Shell-shocking Details About Freshwater Mussel Reproduction

By Andrew L. Rypel, Miranda Bell Tilcock, and Christine A. Parisek One of our favorite aspects of teaching is (occasionally) being able to really surprise a student. Many of the fun nature facts folks pick up nowadays come from TV, … Continue reading

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Hidden links between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems: part 2 – Sacramento River

By Nicholas Wright Running through the Central Valley’s patchwork of yellow, green, and brown farmlands is the deep blue of California’s largest river–the Sacramento. Once a much wider river, meandering across the flat valley floor, the Sacramento has been straight-jacketed … Continue reading

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Will more wildfire and precipitation extremes mussel-out California’s freshwater streams?

By Andrew J. Lawrence and Andrew L. Rypel Apocalyptic scenes of wildfires and floods are now familiar to Californians. However, the ecological impacts from these events remain understudied in California and across the world. Gaps in awareness and understanding on … Continue reading

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Defending ‘Rough Fish’

by Andrew L. Rypel Have any of you ever reached a tipping point with some topic, issue, or bone-to-pick? Well, one benefit of being a tenured professor is the ability to speak up when you feel like the science or … Continue reading

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Science of an underdog: the improbable comeback of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River

By Andrew L. Rypel, Gabriel Singer, and Nann A. Fangue “You can’t design a worse evolutionary strategy for the Anthropocene” There are many variants on this quote, and we’ve heard them often in reference to the status of native fishes … Continue reading

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Sometimes, studying the variation is the interesting thing

By Andrew L. Rypel As scientists, we’re trained to key in on ‘response variables’. In my case, fisheries scientists often examine how fish physiology, populations, communities or whole ecosystems react to various environmental drivers or human alteration. Unfortunately, variation in … Continue reading

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A Swiss Cheese Model for Fish Conservation in California

by Andrew L. Rypel, Peter B. Moyle, and Jay Lund We read with great interest Nicholas Chistakis’s piece outlining a “Swiss Cheese Model For Combating Covid-19” in the Wall Street Journal. Christakis presents a model for considering the individual steps … Continue reading

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New insights into Putah Creek salmon

by Malte Willmes, Anna Steel, Levi Lewis, Peter B. Moyle, and Andrew L. Rypel It’s November 2016, and we’re out in canoes on Putah Creek as part of the annual salmon survey. Just as we navigate our watercraft through a … Continue reading

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