John C. Stella

The Stella research group studies ecological interactions in riparian zones, forested wetlands, streams, and rivers. We study how riparian communities respond to natural physical drivers and to human-altered disturbance regimes from land development, streamflow regulation, and climate change.

Research:

• Indicators of water stress and ecohydrologic change in dryland riparian woodlands
• Tree-ring isotopic indicators of riparian tree response to climate and groundwater dynamics in dryland regions‹
• Riparian forest dynamics in Mediterranean-climate river basins
• Impacts of beaver and other ecosystem engineers on riparian community biodiversity, structure and function

Past projects:

• Feedbacks between riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphic processes in sand-bed rivers
• Vernal pool restoration in forest ecosystems
• Impact of land use change and best management practices on the Chesapeake Bay watershed in New York
• Tree structure and growth in wetland forests along a hydrological gradient in southern Europe
• Ecological constraints to re-establishing native trees on severely-degraded floodplains
• Water relations of hybrid willows used for commercial biomass and groundwater remediation
• Watershed Nutrients and Stoichiometry in Multi-use Catchments
• Water Regulation and Muskrat Effects on Wetland Plant Assemblages