The majority of humans live in urban environments, yet most ecologists have ignored conducting research on these environments until recent years. Urban environments provide excellent opportunities to introduce the public to issues about biodiversity and nature. However, these areas are often impacted by numerous stressors, often at levels much greater than in more natural environments. We study these urban environments and the biodiversity within them, both in features like urban streams and in engineered environments like stormwater ponds. We examine the effects of stressors like road salt, invasive species, and elevated temperatures due to climate change and urban heat islands.
Selected recent publications
Lawson, L. and D.A. Jackson. 2024. Water quality patterns in at-risk fish habitat: Assessing frequency and cumulative duration of chloride guideline exceeded during early life stages of an endangered fish. Ecological Indicators 168, 112707
Loewen, C.J.G. and D.A. Jackson. 2024. Salinization, warming, and loss of clarity inhibit vertical mixing of small urban ponds. Limnology and Oceanography Letters (2):155-164
Marques, P., Illyes, E., McCauley, S., Jackson, D., Michalakos, D., Ferzoco, I. M., Timms, L., Murray, R., MacFarlane, Z., Duval, T., Dolson, R., Din, S., Pebesma, D., Kirkwood, A., Turner, N., Clayton, J., Horton, K., Boston, C., Sapozhnikova, E., Cadotte, M., and N. Mandrak. 2024. Ecosystem functions and services in urban stormwater ponds: co-producing knowledge for better management. Ecological Solutions and Evidence 5, e12366
Jarvie, M. and D.A. Jackson. 2023. Do four fish-based indices of biotic integrity provide similar measures of ecological condition? Ecological Indicators 153, e110395
Lawson, L. and D.A. Jackson. 2021. Salty summertime streams – road salt contaminated watersheds and estimates of the proportions of species impacts. FACETS 6:317-333