RMRS Air, Water, & Aquatic Environments Science Program RMRS Air, Water, & Aquatic Environments Science Program

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AWAE Program Headquarters
322 East Front St., Ste 401

Boise, ID 83702

(208) 373-4340

 


Rocky Mountain Research Station Headquarters
2150 Centre Ave., Bldg A
Fort Collins, CO 80526

(970) 295-5923

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

USDA Link Forest Service Link

 

Rocky Mountain Research Station Home > Science Program Areas > Air, Water and Aquatics > Scientists

 

Air, Water and Aquatic Environments Science Program Scientists

 

Daniel Isaak

Fisheries Research Scientist at the Boise Aquatic Sciences Laboratory

email: disaak[at]fs.fed.us

phone: 208-373-4385

 Dan Isaak - Postdoctoral Fisheries Biologist

Personal Research Program

  • 1.Understanding effects of climate change on stream habitats and fish communities

  • 2.Development and implementation of basinscale monitoring programs for bull trout.  Collaborators:  Bruce Rieman (RMRS); Payette National Forest.

  • 3.Development of basinscale stream temperature models that account for autocorrelation and network structure.  Collaborators:  Charlie Luce and Bruce Rieman (RMRS); Erin Peterson (CSIRO).

  • 4.Assessing spatial and temporal variation in Chinook salmon populations.  Collaborators:  Russ Thurow and Bruce Rieman (RMRS); Jason Dunham (USGS).

  • 5.Effects of fire and disturbance on streams.

 

Integrated/Interdisciplinary/Cooperative Research Program

 

Fire and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Context of Climate Change: A Synthesis for Improved Management.

Collaborators:Charlie Luce (PI); Bruce Rieman, John Buffington, Matt Dare, Claire McGrath, and Kate Dwire (RMRS); Patti Morgan and Zack Holden (UI).        

Potential Influence of Changing Climate on the Persistence of Native Salmonids at Risk. 

Collaborators: Jeff Kershner (PI), Clint Muhlfeld, Bob Gresswell, Andrew Todd, Steve Hostetler (USGS), Jack Williams, Helen Neville, Nate Gillespie, and Amy Haak (TU)

Predicting climate effects on brook trout invasion into cutthroat trout habitat.

Collaborators:  Helen Neville (PI), Amy Haak, and Jack Williams (TU), Charlie Luce and Bruce Rieman (RMRS), Mary Peacock (UNR), and Alan Hamlet (UW).

Incorporating Climate into Resource Management and Planning: A Toolkit for Adapting to Climate Change on Western National Forests.          

Collaborators: Linda Joyce (PI, RMRS), Connie Millar, Carl Skinner, Pat Manley, and Mark Nechodom (PSW), Ron Neilson and David L. Peterson (PNW), Michael Furniss (PNW/PSW), Becky Kerns (Western Wildland Environmental Threat Center), Jill Baron (USGS), Mike Landram, Kathy O’Halloran, and Claudia Regan (USFS)         

Description of fine-scale genetic patterns in Chinook salmon from central Idaho streams.

Collaborators: Helen Neville (PI, Trout Unlimited); Russ Thurow and Bruce Rieman (RMRS; Jason Dunham (USGS).

Use of stable isotopes to identify life history patterns and dispersal processes in Chinook salmon populations. 

Collaborators:  Brian Kennedy (PI, University of Idaho); Russ Thurow (RMRS).

Development of a water penetrating green LiDAR system for stream habitat assessment. 

Collaborators:  Jim McKean (PI, RMRS); Wayne Wright (NASA).

Assessing accuracy of Chinook salmon redd counts. 

 Collaborators:  Claire McGrath (PI) and Russ Thurow (RMRS).

Modeling distributions of salmonid spawning substrates based on fundamental hydrologic processes. 

Collaborators:  John Buffington (PI), Russ Thurow, and Mik Lewicki (RMRS).

Assessing the effects of geomorphic and climatic factors on stream temperatures across the Interior Columbia River Basin.

Collaborators: Brett Roper (PI, USFS).

 

Of Interest

Cutthroat Trout & Climate briefing paper

 

Recent Publications

Isaak, D.J., C. Luce, B.E. Rieman, D. Nagel, E. Peterson, D. Horan, S. Parkes, and G. Chandler. In Press. Effects of recent wildfire and climate trends on stream temperature and thermal habitats for two salmonids in a mountain river network. Ecological Applications.

Related website: Spatial Statistical Stream Temperature Model -  with data, maps, methods and related presentations and publications

McKean, J., D. Isaak, and W. Wright. 2009a. Stream and Riparian Habitat Analysis and Monitoring with a High-Resolution Terrestrial-Aquatic LiDAR. Pages 7-16 in J.M. Bayer and J.L. Schei, editors. PNAMP Special Publication: Remote Sensing Applications for Aquatic Resource Monitoring. Proceedings from a symposium at the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Portland, OR.

McKean, J., D. Isaak, and W. Wright. 2009b. Seeing through the water: improving stream studies with a narrow-beam green lidar. EOS Transactions 90:000.

Isaak, Dan; Rieman, Bruce; Horan, Dona. 2009. A watershed-scale monitoring protocol for bull trout. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-224. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 25 p.

Related Website: Multiple Regression Stream Temperature Modeling with data, maps, methods and related publications

Courbois, J., S.L. Katz, D.J. Isaak, A. Steel, R.F. Thurow, M. Rub, T. Olsen, and C.E. Jordan. 2008. Evaluating probability sampling strategies for estimating redd counts: an example with Chinook salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries Management 65:1814-1830.

McKean, J., D.J. Isaak, and C.W. Wright. 2008. Geomorphic controls on salmon nesting patterns described by a new narrow-beam terrestrial-aquatic lidar. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 6:125-130.

Isaak, D.J., R.F. Thurow, B.E. Rieman, and J.B. Dunham. 2007. Chinook salmon use of spawning patches: relative roles of habitat quality, size, and connectivity. Ecological Applications. 17(2):352-364.

Rieman, B.E., D.J. Isaak, D. Myers, S. Adams, C. Luce, D. Horan, D. Nagel. 2007. Anticipated effects of climate warming on bull trout within the Interior Columbia River Basin. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 136: 1552-1565.

Related Website: Air Temperature Based Stream Temperature Modeling with data, maps, methods and related publications

Neville, H., D.J. Isaak, R.F. Thurow, J.B. Dunham, and B.E. Rieman. 2006. Fine-scale natal homing and localized movement as shaped by sex and spawning habitat in Chinook salmon: insights from spatial autocorrelation analysis of individual genotypes. Molecular Genetics 15:4589-4602.

Isaak, D.J. and R.F. Thurow. 2006. Network-scale and temporal variation in Chinook salmon redd distributions: patterns inferred from spatially continuous replicate surveys. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63:285-296.

Neville, H., D.J. Isaak, R.F. Thurow, J.B. Dunham, and B.E. Rieman. 2006. Microsatellite variation reveals weak genetic structure and retention of genetic variability in threatened Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytcha) within a Snake River watershed. Conservation Genetics DOI 10.1007/s10592-006-9155-4.

Isaak, D.J., and W.A. Hubert. 2004. Nonlinear response of trout abundance to summer stream temperatures across a thermally diverse montane landscape. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 133:1254-1259.

Quist, M.C., W.A. Hubert, and D.J. Isaak. 2004a. Factors Affecting Allopatric and Sympatric Occurrence of Two Sculpin Species Across a Rocky Mountain Watershed. Copeia 2004:618-624.

Quist, M.C., W.A. Hubert, and D.J. Isaak. 2004b. Fish assemblage structure and relations with environmental conditions in a Rocky Mountain watershed. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82:1554-1565.

Isaak, D.J., R.F. Thurow, B.E. Rieman, and J.B. Dunham. 2003. Temporal variation in synchrony among Chinook salmon redd counts from a wilderness area in central Idaho. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 60:840-848.

Isaak, D.J., and W.A. Hubert. 2001a. Production of stream habitat gradients in montane landscapes: hypothesis tests based on spatially-explicit path analyses. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 58:1089-1103.

Isaak, D.J., and W.A. Hubert. 2001b. A hypothesis about factors that affect maximum summer stream temperatures across montane landscapes. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37:351-366.

Isaak, D.J., and W.A. Hubert. 2000. Are trout populations affected by reach-scale stream slope? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57:468-477.

Isaak, D.J., and W.A. Hubert. 1999a. Catalyzing the transition from student to scientist: a model for graduate research training. BioScience 49:321-326.

Isaak, D.J., W.A. Hubert, and K.L. Krueger. 1999. Accuracy and precision of stream reach water surface slopes estimated in the field and from maps. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 19:141-148.

Rocky Mountain Research Station - Air, Water and Aquatic Environments Sciences Program
Last Modified:  Tuesday, 09 February 2010 at 15:38:35 EST February 9, 2010

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