Ryan Peek joined the Center for Watershed Sciences full time in February 2011. He is currently a PhD candidate in Ecology. His current research focuses on the spatial and temporal effects of anthropogenic and environmental change on river ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada. In particular, he is interested in ecological responses to watershed alteration, and how conservation genetics may be used as a tool to understand historical, current and future adaptation. He has worked extensively with sensitive amphibians, including a mountain / sierra yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa / sierra) restoration project with the National Park Service, as well as assessment of connectivity and genetic fragmentation of foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) in managed rivers in California. He currently is conducting research that applies modern genetics and river ecosystem processes to assess biodiversity and watershed resilience in managed systems in the Sierra Nevada, with a focus on integrating and maintaining riverine habitat diversity under current and future climate conditions. His research experience includes extensive analyses of freshwater ecosystems throughout CA and OR, with special focus on hydropower regulation and environmental management of rivers and streams in the Sierra Nevada. He was the field lead and one of the main authors for the Spring Recession Project and has contributed to PISCES, Mountain Meadows, CEC Yuba, and Freshwater Conservation projects. He is also a Software and Data Carpentry Instructor and core member of the Davis R-Users Group.
Ryan Peek
Research Staff, Graduate Student
Summary
Published articles Show More
Management of the Spring Snowmelt Recession in Regulated Systems
Published in JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association
In an effort to restore predictable ecologically relevant spring snowmelt recession flow patterns in rivers regulated by dams, this study defined a methodology by which spring flow regimes can be modeled in regulated systems from the quantifiable characteristics of spring snowmelt recessions in unregulated rivers. An analysis of eight unregulated r...
Missing the Boat on Freshwater Fish Conservation in California
...Published in Conservation Letters
Population growth and increasing water-use pressures threaten Californias freshwater ecosystems and have led many native fishes to the brink of extinction. To guide fish conservation efforts, we provide the first systematic prioritization of river catchments and identify those that disproportionately contribute to fish taxonomic diversity. Using hi...
Patterns of Freshwater Species Richness, Endemism, and Vulnerability in California
...Published in PLoS ONE
The ranges and abundances of species that depend on freshwater habitats are declining worldwide. Efforts to counteract those trends are often hampered by a lack of information about species distribution and conservation status and are often strongly biased toward a few well-studied groups. We identified the 3,906 vascular plants, macroinvertebrates...
Reports Show More
Management of the Spring Snowmelt Recession
Over the past decade, the Natural Flow Regime paradigm has garnered widespread study, discussion and general acceptance in the scientific community as a guide for conservation, restoration and management of rivers. However, one fundamental aspect of the natural flow regime that has received little attention in both scientific study and resource man...
Montane Meadows in the Sierra Nevada: Changing Hydroclimatic Conditions and Concepts for Vulnerability Assessment
This technical report provides guidance for resource managers in considering conservation and restoration options for meadow ecosystems considering that the very foundation of meadow ecosystems\textemdashthe dynamic interplay of surface and ground waters supporting unique vegetation\textemdashwill likely change in time due to global atmospheric war...
Misc. Show More
Habitat Models for the Foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) in the Sierra Nevada of California
In many current hydropower project relicensing studies, instream flow assessment methods are used to evaluate flow effects and proposed flow prescriptions on fish. These techniques may be applicable to other sensitive aquatic species, such as the riverine-breeding Foothill Yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii). Two major components of flow modeling were...
