David B Lewis
I am interested in how biogeochemical cycles in soil and water (mainly those of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) interact with phenotypic variation, ecological communities, land use, and hydrology. Research in my lab presently studies these relationships in seasonally inundated freshwater wetlands and intertidal mangrove forests and salt marshes, i.e., systems at a dynamic land-water interface. In addition, another emphasis in our lab is to study these biogeochemical dynamics in urban ecosystems. Our scales of interest range from distinct landscape elements (e.g., single wetlands) to the regional matrix in which they are set. We address basic ecological questions at the heart of applied problems, such as water management in urban environments, and nutrient retention in coastal habitats. We collaborate with hydrogeologists, remote sensing experts, social scientists, and natural resource managers. Please visit our lab website at http://lewislab.org.
Phone: 813-974-8108
Address: University of South Florida
Dept of Integrative Biology
4202 E. Fowler Ave., SCA110
Tampa, FL 33620
Phone: 813-974-8108
Address: University of South Florida
Dept of Integrative Biology
4202 E. Fowler Ave., SCA110
Tampa, FL 33620
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Papers by David B Lewis
Changes in wetland ecohydrology and water management reveal (i.) cyclical feedbacks between biophysical and socio-political subsystems of the TBRS, and (ii.) interactions among natural resource managers across hierarchical levels. Human water needs in the TBRS are largely met by groundwater pumped from wellfields. In the 20th Century, area governments maintained independent ownership of wellfields, often beyond jurisdictional boundaries, generating tension over resource rights and ultimately motivating the 1998 formation of a regional utility that consolidated wellfield ownership. This utility receives permits from a state-governed authority, which in 2010 required a 25% reduction in groundwater withdrawals. Our ULTRA thus begins studying the TBRS at the outset of a regulatory transition. Through focus groups and public meeting observations, we have captured variability in perceptions of water policy and ecological change. These findings have led to an instrument for household surveys stratified by location relative to putative conflict zones in the water supply/use mosaic, and a directory of key informants to continue answering Q1 and Q2. These results are being coupled with investigations of sentinel changes in wetland ecosystems (Q3). We have documented variability among wetlands in soil oxidation and long-term water table and vegetation dynamics, suggesting an uneven response to water management activities. We are now testing landscape position hypotheses for this spatial variability and are poised to investigate how this ecohydrological change feeds back on future iterations of the management cycle.