Dr. Santiago Larrañaga
Address:
Department of Forest Sciences
3041 - 2424 Main Mall
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4
Email: Santiago
Phone: (604) 822-8927

Position: Post-doctoral Fellow

PhD (2007) - University of the Basque Country, Spain

I joined the Group of Stream Ecology¹ at the University of the Basque Country while I was an undergraduate student. I started helping with field samplings, macroinvertebrate sorting and identification, and chemical analysis. For my degree thesis in Biology I developed a research in order to identify wich factors (and to what extent) affect leaf litter retentiveness in headwater streams. My PhD research examined the effects of changes in allochthonous organic matter inputs on some both structural and functional aspects in small headwater streams. Using a manipulative approach (to avoid spatial differences between streams) we simulated inputs under different types of forest to study differences in organic matter dynamics and processing and macroinvertebrate communities. I also worked in the RivFunction project (Integrating Ecosystem Functioning into River Quality Assessment and Management²), a pan-European research project wich aims develop and communicate a diagnostic tool (based on litter decomposition) for assessing the ecological status of river quality in functional terms.

Starting in April 2008 I will working in Dr. John Richardson's Stream and Riparian Research Laboratory granted by the Basque Government. During this stay I will study some aspects about the effect of hydrological perturbations on freshwater macroinvertebrate communities and organic matter processing that are likely to occur as consequence of climatic change due to global warming.