 |
||||||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fish schools, perhaps more than any other group of organisms, are amazing three dimensional structures. Shapes such as ball, torus, hourglass, or fountain are all the result of moment-to-moment decisions by individual fish about where to go and how fast to get there. The collective result is an emergence of pattern. Our lab is interested in how fish create the collective whole of the school. We study the traffic rules of fish schools using video-computer systems to track the movements of individuals as they move through the school; simulations of school rule sets; and analytical models of higher-order interactions (like the relationship between fission and fusion). Our work is carried out as part of a dynamic set of labs interested in how individual decisions sum to group response, including Danny Grünbaum’s lab in Oceanography and Kristi Morgansen’s lab in Astronautics and Aeronautics (Engineering). For more information, visit the Traffic Rules for Fish Schools website listed above.
Parrish, JK, Viscido, SV & Grünbaum, D. 2002. Self-organized fish schools: An Examination of emergent properties. Biol. Bull. 202:296-305.
Parrish, JK & Edelstein-Keshet, L. 1999. Complexity, pattern, and evolutionary trade-offs in animal aggregation. Science 284:99-101.
Parrish, JK, & Hamner, WH (eds.). 1997. Animal Groups in Three Dimensions. Cambridge University Press, New York. 378p.
In the coastal environment, no other group of species is as visible, as recognizable, and as ecologically important as the marine birds. Ranging from the massive flocks of tiny phalaropes to the huge wingspan of a single albatross, marine birds are indicators of coastal system health through their individual, population, and community-level responses to physical (bottom-up), biological (top-down), and anthropogenic (human activities) forcing. Our lab is interested in seabird responses to these forcing factors, as well as in ameliorating human-induced changes. Thus, we study the behavior, ecology, and conservation of coastal seabirds, principally in the Pacific Northwest. Most of our current work focuses on the common murre, a ubiquitous member of the coastal community of the California Current System. We use a combination of techniques including long-term monitoring of murre population parameters at colony field sites, field experiments, tagging, and population modeling.
Parrish, JK, & Zador, SG. 2003. Seabirds as indicators: An exploratory analysis of physical forcing in the Pacific Northwest coastal environment. Estuaries 26:1044-1057.
Parrish, JK, Marvier, M. & Paine, RT. 2001. Direct and Indirect Effects: Interactions between Bald Eagles and Common Murres. Ecol. Appl. 11:1858-1869.
Parrish, JK, Lemberg, N, & South-Oryshchyn, L. 1998. Effects of colony location and nekton abundance on at-sea distribution of four seabird species. Fisheries Oceanography 7(1):126-135.
Our coastal seabird work is interwoven with efforts to identify and help resolve negative impacts of a variety of human activities, including fisheries interactions. Much of our work has been in the area of seabird bycatch in coastal fisheries, in collaboration with Ed Melvin at Washington Sea Grant. Current projects include the use of radio telemetry to determine the degree of overlap between common murres and coastal gillnet fisheries, and meta-analysis of the environmental, biological, and fishery factors influencing seabird bycatch in the North Pacific.
Melvin, E, Parrish, JK & Conquest L. 1999. Novel tools to reduce seabird bycatch in coastal gillnet fisheries. Conservation Biology 13:1386-1397.
Melvin, E. & Parrish, JK (eds.). 2001. Seabird Bycatch: Trends, Roadblocks, and Solutions. University of Alaska Sea Grant, AK-SG-01-01. 206p.
Our research and long-term monitoring projects are intimately tied to a citizen science program – Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team, or COASST. Volunteers from Washington and Oregon are trained to: (1) identify, (2) collect basic morphometric and cause of death data, (3) tag, and (4) leave in place beached birds washing up on their COASST site beach. Data are used to track natural and anthropogencially-induced mortality events; occurrence of rare and endangered species; and patterns of reproductive success and post-season dispersal for local breeders. With over 250 volunteers manning more than 100 beaches for an average of 1,000 surveys annually, COASST is the largest program of its kind in the world.
The Juan Fernandez Islands Conservancy is a small organization focused entirely on the unique environment of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile and the education of the island community about locally relevant environmental conservation. Our mission is to protect the long-term ecosystem health and vitality of the Juan Fernandez Archipelago through a combination of basic research, applied conservation, and environmental education in active collaboration with local residents. We have upheld this mission through the efforts of a dedicated staff of part-time volunteers and student assistants working in extensive collaboration with Chilean counterparts on seabird and landbird biology and conservation, island flora, and a range of education programs.
Seabirds are not only the “victims” of physical and human-induced change, they can also have a significant effect on other species within the system. The goal of this project is to determine the impacts of avian predation on threatened or endangered salmonids in the mid-Columbia River. To reach this goal, our team is investigating the spatial and temporal abundance patterns and habitat use of bird predators, their foraging patterns and distribution, caloric requirements and diet. Currently, control of avian predators at dams is lethal or is achieved through visual and auditory deterrents. A supplementary goal of this project is therefore to determine non-lethal deterrent strategies that are most effective at mitigating significant salmonid predation, should this be found.