INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Fish Ecology & Otolith Lab at UC Santa Cruz
Welcome to Rachel Barnett-Johnson's lab at the Institute of Marine Sciences, where we study the ecology of freshwater, anadromous, and marine fishes. Our goal is to develop innovative tools to better understand migration and connectivity in fish populations. We use natural variations in isotopes in the aquatic environment that are recorded in fish otoliths (ear bones) to reconstruct birth places and track movement patterns in native fishes. We combine fieldwork with lab research involving aquatic biology and ecology approaches as well as more specialized analytical chemistry. We aim to understand mechanisms of population persistence and aid in determining critical habitats for reproduction, survival, and growth of endangered species and those targeted by fisheries.
Some topics we investigate include:
(1) Isotopes in fish ecology
(2) Ecology of Pacific salmon
(3) Role of aquaculture in fish population dynamics
(4) Maintenance of life history diversity
(5) Environmental effects and size selection in native fish
(6) Ecological consequences of otolith function & sound reception
(7) Quantification of larval dispersal in marine fishes
