Darren Ward

Photo Darren Ward

 

Assistant Professor


Education

  • B.S. in Fisheries, 1998, Utah State University
  • M.S. in Fisheries, 2002, University of Minnesota
  • Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2007, Dartmouth College


Courses currently taught at HSU

  • FISH 430 Ecology of Freshwater Fishes
  • Fish Conservation and Management


Research Interests

I do research in basic and applied freshwater ecology. My current research focus is Pacific salmon conservation, with specific interests in mechanisms of population regulation, predator/prey interactions, and using mercury and other elemental tracers to study fish bioenergetics. Most of my research has a strong field work component because that's the fun part of fisheries biology!


Selected Publications

  • Ward, D. M. and Hvidsten, N. A. 2010. Predation: Compensation and Context Dependence, in Atlantic Salmon Ecology (eds Ø. Aas, S. Einum, A. Klemetsen and J. Skurdal), Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
    DOI: 10.1002/9781444327755.ch8

  • Ward, D.M., K.H. Nislow, C.Y. Chen, and C.L. Folt.  2010.  Reduced trace element concentrations in fast-growing juvenile Atlantic salmon in natural streams.  Environmental Science & Technology 44:3245-3251.
    DOI:10.1021/es902639a

  • Ward, D.M, K.H. Nislow, and C.L. Folt.  2010.  Bioaccumulation syndrome: identifying factors that make some stream food webs prone to methylmercury accumulation.  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1195 The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology 2010: 62-83.
    DOI:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05456.x

  • Ward, D.M., K.H. Nislow, C.Y. Chen, and C.L. Folt.  2010.  Rapid, efficient growth reduces mercury concentrations in stream-dwelling Atlantic salmon.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 139:1-10.
    DOI:10.1577/T09-032.1

  • Chen, C.Y., M. Dionne, B.M. Mayes, D.M. Ward, S. Sturup, and B. Jackson.  2009.  Mercury bioavailability and bioaccumulation in estuarine food webs in the Gulf of Maine.  Environmental Science & Technology 43:1804-1810.
    DOI:10.1021/es8017122

  • Ward, D.M., K.H. Nislow, and C.L. Folt.  2009.  Increased population density and suppressed prey biomass: relative impacts on juvenile Atlantic salmon growth.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 138:135-143.
    DOI: 10.1577/T08-128.1

  • Ward D.M., K.H. Nislow, and C.L. Folt.  2008.  Predators reverse the direction of density dependence for juvenile salmon mortality. Oecologia 156:515-522.   DOI:10.1007/s00442-008-1011-4

  • Ward, D.M., K.H. Nislow, and C.L. Folt. 2008.  Do native species limit survival of reintroduced Atlantic salmon in historic rearing streams? Biological Conservation 141:146-152. DOI:0.1016/j.biocon.2007.09.006

  • Ward, D.M., K.H. Nislow, J.D. Armstrong, S. Einum, and C.L. Folt. 2007. Is the shape of the density-growth relationship for stream salmonids evidence for exploitative rather than interference competition? Journal of Animal Ecology 76: 135-138.  DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01169.x

  • Ward, D.M. and R.M. Newman. 2006. Fish predation on Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) herbivores and indirect effects on macrophytes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63: 1049-1057. DOI:10.1139/F06-010

Contact:  Darren.Ward@humboldt.edu