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Dr. Thomas Diggins Assistant Professor Evolution and Ecology 330-941-3605 tpdiggins@ysu.edu WBSH 4042 B.A.   Kent State University, Political Science M.S.   State University of New York at Buffalo, Environmental Studies Ph.D.   State University of New York at Buffalo, Biological Sciences

Research Interests

I conduct applied and theoretical research on ecosystem ecology, specifically as related to human impacts on and/or conservation of lake and river ecosystems. My current projects include: 1) studying and modeling primary vegetational succession on floodplains and raised terraces in the pristine Zoar Valley Canyon in Western New York State, 2) exploring spatial and environmental influences on macroinvertebrate communities in wooded headwater streams, 3) applying biological metrics of aquatic invertebrate communities to environmental assessment and monitoring of industrially impacted waterways, and 4) ecology and food web impacts of invasive species in the North American Great Lakes.

Selected Publications

Diggins, T. P., and A. M. Newman. (in press) Environmental and spatial influences on benthic community composition in wooded headwater streams in Zoar Valley, New York, USA. In press in Hydrobiologia.

Pfeil, E. K., N. Casacchia, G. J. Kerns, and T. P. Diggins. 2007. Volume, composition, and orientation of down deadwood in old-growth riparian woodlands in Zoar Valley, New York, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 239: 159-168.

Diggins, T. P., and B Kershner. 2005. Canopy and understory composition of old-growth riparian forest in Zoar Valley, New York, USA. Natural Areas Journal. 25: 219-227.

Diggins, T. P., M. Weimer, K. M. Stewart, R. E. Baier, A. E. Meyer, R. F. Forsberg, and M. A. Goehle. 2004. Epiphytic refugium: are two species of invading freshwater bivalve partitioning spatial resources? Biological Invasions 6: 83-88.

Diggins, T. P., and R. J. Snyder. 2003. Three decades of change in the macroinvertebrate community and associated water quality variables in the Buffalo River Area of Concern, 1964 - 1993. Journal of Great Lakes Research 29: 652-663.

Diggins, T. P., J. Kaur, R. K. Chakraborti, and J. V. DePinto. 2002. Diet choice by the exotic round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) as influenced by prey motility and environmental complexity. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28: 411-420