Christopher Swan

Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2003
Associate Professor
211H Sondheim Hall
410-455-3957
Chris.Swan@umbc.edu
http://userpages.umbc.edu/people/cmswan

 

Research Interests

Community Ecology, Biodiversity, Urban Ecology, Ecology of Rivers & Streams

Recent Research Activities
  • Metacommunities in River Networks
  • Multi-Scale Diversity in Built Ecosystems
  • Urban Metacommunity Concept
  • Community Assembly and Stream Restoration
Recent Publications

Van Meter, R.J., C.M. Swan & C.A. Trossen. Effects of road deicer (NaCl) and amphibian grazers on detritus processing in pond mesocosms. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 31(10):2306-2310.

Swan, C. M. & C. A. DePalma. 2012. Elevated chloride and consumer presence independently influence processing of stream detritus. Urban Ecosystems 15(3):625-635.

Swan, C. M. 2011. Consumer presence and resource diversity independently induce stability of ecosystem function in a Piedmont stream. Ecosphere 2(12):136.

Brown, B.L., C.M. Swan, D. Auerbach, E.H. Campbell-Grant, N.P. Hitt, K.O. Maloney & C. Patrick. 2011. The metacommunity concept as a multi-species, multi-scale framework for studying the influence of river network structure on riverine communities and ecosystems. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 30(1):310-327.

Gessner, M.O., C.M. Swan, C.K. Dang, B.G. McKie, R.D. Bardgett, D.H. Wall & S. Hättenschwiler. 2010. Diversity meets decomposition. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25(6):372-380.

Brown, B.L. & C.M. Swan. 2010. Dendritic network structure constrains metacommunity properties in riverine ecosystems. Journal of Animal Ecology 79:571-580.

Boyero, L., R.G. Pearson, D.D. Dudgeon, V. Ferreira, A.J. Boulton, M.A.S. Graça, E. Chauvet, C.M. Yule, M.O. Gessner, R.J. Albariño, A. Ramirez, J.E. Helson, M. Callisto, M. Arunachalam, J. Chará, R. Figueroa, J.M. Mathooko, J.F. Gonçalves Jr., M. Moretti, A.M. Chará, J.N. Davies, A. Encalada, S. Lamothe, L.M. Buria, J. Castela, A. Cornejo, A.O.Y. Li, C. M’Erimba, V.D. Villanueva, M.d.C. Zúñiga, C. Swan & L. Barmuta. 2011. Global patterns of stream detritivore species richness: implications for biodiversity loss in changing climates. Global Ecology & Biogeography 21(2):134–141.

Lecerf A., G. Marie, J.S. Kominski, C. LeRoy, C. Bernardet & C.M. Swan. 2011. Incubation time, functional litter diversity, and ecosystem characteristics predict nonadditive litter mixing effects on decomposition: A synthesis from streams. Ecology 92(1):160-169.

Rosemond, A.D., C.M. Swan, J.S. Kominoski & S.E. Dye. 2010. Non-additive effects of litter mixing are canceled in a nutrient-enriched stream. Oikos 19:326-336.

Swan, C.M., M.A. Gluth* & C.L. Horne*. 2009. The role of leaf species evenness on non-additive breakdown of mixed-litter in a headwater stream. Ecology 90(6):1650-1658.

Recent Presentations

Brundrett, K. and C.M. Swan. Local and regional constraints on diversity of an experimental urban metacommunity. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR, 2012.

Johnson, A.L., E. Tauzer and C.M. Swan. A metacommunity approach to urban plant community assembly. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR, 2012.

Swan, C.M. and S.T.A. Pickett. The role of urban centers in 21st century conservation. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR, 2012.

Domingos, C., Ferreira, V., Swan, C. and Canhoto, C. Effect of temperature and a dominant shredder in the variability patterns of macro invertebrate assemblages. XVIth Congress of the Iberian Society of Limnology in Guimarães (Portugal) from 2 to 6 of July 2012

Follstad Shah, J.; Ardon, M.; Kominoski, J.; Dodds, W.; Gessner, M.; Griffiths, N.; Johnson, S.; Lecerf, A.; Manning, D.; Rosemond, A.; Swan, C; Webster, J; and Zeglin, L. MASS LOSS: A quantitative synthesis of leaf decomposition in streams and rivers. Society for Freshwater Science 2012 Annual Meeting, Louisville, Kentucky, May 20-14 2012.

Johnson, A. L., D. J. Bain, E. M. Copeland and C. M. Swan. Volunteer urban environmental stewardship: An effective way to manage plant communities in city parks. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, Texas, 2011.

Willey, K. T., C. M. Swan and B. L. Brown. Local resource control versus regional constraints on species coexistence in restored stream reaches. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, Texas, 2011.

Swan, C. M. and B. L. Brown. The interaction between the effects of habitat heterogeneity and isolation on beta diversity suggest the nature of community assembly in river networks. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Austin, Texas, 2011.

Courses Taught

Ecology, Conservation Biology, Field Ecology, Aquatic Ecology, Advanced Ecology