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 landscape dynamics and ecosystem functioning, 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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To this end, I study such biophysical landscape systems at spatial scales ranging from an entire river basin (or a region) down to an individual landform/patch of microhabitat (see images on the right side). So far, the work I have carried out with my collaborators and graduate students has primarily explored connections between riverine habitats and the associated aquatic and terrestrial organisms (e.g., fish, riparian/floodplain forests). However, in my ongoing research I also study links between such systems and other environments and ecosystems (e.g., hillslope, lacustrine, marine).

Mountainous Pacific Northwest (both costal and interior) has been my primary region of interest because it provides a rich choice of biophysical landscape systems to study. Streams and rivers, with abundant fish like salmon and trout, run through valleys covered by productive temperate rainforest and are commonly affected by disturbances on the slopes of rugged mountains that flank them. Natural and anthropogenic disturbances readily propagate through these systems. 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.

To address our research questions, my research typically combines fieldwork, remote sensing (especially drones, LiDAR), and geospatial analysis. Occasionally, I also get involved in experimental (laboratory) work.