9515459 Holomuzki This award will support the travel of Dr. Joseph Holomuzki of the Division of Natural Sciences, Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, to enable him to conduct collaborative research with Barry Biggs from the Freshwater Division of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWAR), located in Christchurch, New Zealand. The goal of this research is to document the role of native and non-native fishes as community organizers in New Zealand streams. Specifically the work seeks to determine whether native and non-native fishes differ in their abilities to withstand scouring floods and to examine the effects of these fishes on post-flood recovery patterns of stream communities. Interest in how biotic (trophic interactions) and abiotic (flooding) forces interrelate to organize communities is of current importance in studies of stream ecology. The effect of introduced trout on New Zealand stream communities is little known. The American investigator brings to the study his expertise in biotic dynamics and interactions; the New Zealand researcher has extensive background in abiotic factors. This study brings together the complementary skills of the collaborating scientists. The research in New Zealand is supported through the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.
