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Misty Slope

Sewanee Research at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute

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The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute hosts 4 replicate Living Streams indoors and 24 replicated stream mesocosms outdoors!

Designed as part of the construction of the TNACI space, they provide unparalleled manipulative research opportunities.

Located on the campus of Baylor School, our collaborations involve research professionals from Sewanee, TNACI, and Baylor as well as students from all three institutions at the undergraduate and high school levels.

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IMG_1597.HEIC

Inside you find the living streams

Designed as part of the construction of the TNACI propagation space, they provide unparalleled manipulative research opportunities. Set up as sequenced three pools separated by riffles, each system is a ~5m independently recirculating system where flow, temperature, and any number of physical, chemical, and biological properties can be manipulated. Publications are forthcoming on climate impacts on trout and the synergistic effects of invasive sunfish and small dams on freshwater communities.

Outside you find the replicated stream mesocosms

With 24 independent replicates, many experimental questions can be addressed. Located outside next to the Tennessee River under a shaded carport, they are at the ambient light and climate of Chattanooga. With access to power, ambient conditions can be modified. We have asked questions related to community structure and climate impacts on freshwater communities. 

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Publications

* indicates an undergraduate coauthor

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Drake, S.*, K.K. Cecala, S. Fix, J.E. Ennen, and J.M. Davenport. In press. Interspecific interactions between headwater stream vertebrates is not mediated by flow in experimental streams. Ichthyology & Herpetology.

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Rudman, L.*, E. Culp*, B. Morris*, T. Whitesell*, S. Fix, and K.K. Cecala. In press. Exploring the impacts of experimental design on salamander outcomes in ex-situ stream mesocosms. Herpetological Review.

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Culp, E.H.*, S. Fix, J.E. Ennen, J.M. Davenport, and K.K. Cecala. 2023. Exploring the competitive relationships between introduced sunfish and native Tennessee Dace. Ichthyology & Herpetology 111:634-640.

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Cragg, S., K.K. Cecala, J.R. Ennen, S. Fix, and J.M. Davenport. 2021. Role of abiotic factors and habitat heterogeneity in the interactions between stream salamanders and crayfish in the southern Appalachians. Freshwater Science 40:608-614.

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Kirsch, D.R.*, J.R. Ennen, S.M. Fix, K.K. Cecala, and J.M. Davenport. 2021. Body size is related to temperature preference in Hyla chrysoscelis tadpoles. Journal of Herpetology 55:21-25.

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Ennen, J.R., K.K. Cecala, P. Gould*, R. Colvin, J. Dennison, D. Garig, S. Hyer, L. Recker, and J.M. Davenport. 2021. Size matters: the influence of trap and mesh size on turtle captures. Wildlife Society Bulletin 45:130-137.

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Ennen, J.R., B.R. Kuhajda, S.C. Sweat, S. Fix, and K.K. Cecala. 2021. Assessing the success of conservation efforts for a North American topminnow at risk of extinction from spatially variable mosquitofish invasions. Freshwater Biology 66:438-467.

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Cecala, K.K., E.H. Walker*, S.M. Fix, J.R. Ennen, and J.M. Davenport. 2020. Seasonal variation in the strength of interference competition among headwater vertebrates. Freshwater Biology 65:1440-1449.

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Hoffacker, M.L.*, K.K. Cecala, J.R. Ennen, S. Mitchell, and J.M. Davenport. 2018. Interspecific interactions are conditional on temperature in an Appalachian stream salamander community. Oecologia 188:623-631.

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Liles, L.*, K.K. Cecala, J. Ennen, and J. Davenport. 2017. Elevated temperatures change competitive outcomes in stream salamanders. Animal Conservation 20:502-510.

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​Mitchell, S.M., J.R. Ennen, K.K. Cecala, and J.M. Davenport. 2017. Ex-situ PIT tag retention study in two Desmognathus species. Herpetological Review 48:313-316.

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