Piotr Cienciala

Landscapes and the associated biota coevolve as a result of complex and reciprocal interactions between physical and ecological processes. By sculpting landforms through erosion and deposition of sediment, physical earth surface processes create, reshape, and destroy habitat for living organisms. In return, animals and plants modify their habitat, thereby altering these earth surface processes. In order to better understand how landscape and ecosystem function, predict their responses to environmental change, and to guide conservation and restoration efforts, it is crucial to understand these complex inter-relationships.      

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My research has focused on understand such biophysical landscape systems at spatial scales ranging from an entire river basin (watershed) down to an individual landform/patch of microhabitat (see images on the right hand side). The work I have carried out so far has primarily focused on the connections between riverine habitats and the associated aquatic and terrestrial organisms (e.g., fish, riparian/floodplain forests). However, I have also explored the links between such systems interact with a broader landscape, including the adjacent hillslopes and mountains. My current work focuses on how we can use this understanding to guide efforts to asses and mitigate environmental damage and restore ecosystem health.

Mountainous Pacific Northwest provides a rich choice of biophysical landscape systems to explore and restore. Streams and rivers, with abundant fish like salmon and trout, run through valleys covered by productive forests, and are commonly affected by disturbances on the slopes of rugged mountains that flank them. Natural and anthropogenic disturbances readily propagate through this steep and active landscape. Changes in the disturbance regime (e.g., storm or wildfire frequency) due to changes in climate or land use, such as forest harvest, can greatly modify these intricate and dynamic systems. Because of the negative consequences that the regional human impacts have had for ecosystem function and the associated natural resources, there is a growing desire and efforts to restore them.