Research Areas
Habitat-specific use and productivity in freshwater & estuarine fish populations
The Farmer lab is interested in understanding how physicochemical conditions affect fish habitat across spatial scales using a variety of approaches in the field (e.g., acoustic telemetry, otolith chemistry, stable isotopes, long-term monitoring surveys) paired with new methods to quantify aquatic habitats, such as hydroacoustics. Current and past projects include studies on black bass species in large reservoirs and work on Southern Flounder populations in estuaries. Overall, this work seeks to not only quantify habitat use, but understand how dynamic environmental conditions along with alterations in physical habitat affect fish at the individual and population levels.
Climate change effects on fish and aquatic ecosystems
While research has indicated that climate change may have positive effects on temperate fish populations, climate change may also negatively affect fish populations through a variety of mechanisms. As thermal regimes change and the timing of seasonal transitions shifts, we are conducting field and laboratory research to understand how fish will respond to altered environmental conditions. Specifically, we are focusing on how longer growing seasons and shorter, warmer winters will impact fish growth and reproduction. Additionally, new projects aim to quantify thermal tolerances of native fish and understand if thermal regimes in aquatic systems may exceed these tolerances under current and future, predicted water withdrawal and climate scenarios.
New tools to improve fish passage science
A variety of approaches have been applied over the past 250 years to improve non-salmonid fish passage at dams and migration barriers, but successful passage for many non-salmonid species remains problematic. Current research in the Farmer Lab aims to use new and emerging acoustic telemetry techniques to quantify fine-scale movements of American Shad, Striped Bass, and Atlantic Sturgeon near the largest nature-like fishway on the Atlantic Coast located at historic lock and dam 1 on the Cape Fear River. Additionally, students in the Farmer Lab are working with collaborators at the NC Nature Conservancy, US Army Corps of Engineers, UNC Wilmington, and NC Wildlife Resources Commission to understand how environmental flows and conservation lockage affect fish passage at other lock and dam structures without nature-like fishways. This work will inform current and future management actions aimed at improving diadromous fish passage.
Downstream effects of forestry operations on stream fish
Working forests of the southeastern U.S. provide important economic benefits and numerous ecological services. However, forestry operations also create short- and long-term disturbances in terrestrial landscapes that often result in downstream transport of sediments, nutrients, and/or contaminants into aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, forestry operations may alter light levels reaching streams, altering productivity dynamics in aquatic ecosystems. Working with collaborators with the US Forest Service, Clemson's Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, UNC Greensboro, and Auburn University, the FarmerLab is working to investigate how forestry operations affect mercury bioaccumulation and fish health in coastal environments.