Jenny Linton

Current Position: MSc Student

Degrees:

BSc Biology Honours and Distinction

University of Victoria

Email: jennifer_linton@sfu.ca

My Research

I am studying food web dynamics and trophic cascades in low order streams on the central coast of British Columbia. My research is specifically looking at periphyton and invertebrates in pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon dominated systems.  Carcasses provide important nutrient subsidies, in the form of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, to potentially nutrient limited coastal watersheds. These nutrients have been shown to have positive impacts on periphyton and stream invertebrate communities in experimental streams but this has yet to be tested on a wide range of natural coastal stream sites. I have surveyed 16 different watersheds spanning 45 km testing whether periphyton growth and invertebrate density and diversity are positively linked to salmon biomass. With this information and knowledge gained from other students working in the area, we will test the potential positive feedback loop proposed between carcass density, the nutritional quality of benthic invertebrates and juvenile coho growth rate and survival.