Assistant Professor
(The one in the hat!!)
Department of Biology
The University of South Dakota
414 E. Clark Street,
Vermillion,
SD
57069
Tele: (605) 677-6567, Fax: (605)
677-6557
Email: Mark.Dixon@usd.edu
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001
M.S. South Dakota State University, 1994
B.S. Iowa State University, 1987
Landscape ecology, riparian plant ecology, avian ecology, climate change, hydrobiology, ecological modeling
My research centers on the drivers of change in riparian landscapes, with a particular focus on how hydrologic and geomorphic processes - and alterations to these by climate or flow regulation - influence the dynamics and structure of floodplain forests. In South Dakota, I am investigating how 50 years of flow regulation have influenced land cover, patch dynamics, and forest successional trajectories on the Missouri River floodplain, and what these trajectories of change might mean to the future ecological state of the system and its value as wildlife habitat. Other interests include the potential influence of climate change on riparian ecosystems in the southwestern U.S. and the effects of patterns and processes at different spatial scales on local plant and animal communities. My research utilizes GIS, historic aerial photography, field sampling, and simulation modeling to investigate past, present, and future dynamics of ecological systems.
COURSES
BIOL 311 Principles of Ecology
BIOL 420 Introduction to Biostatistics and Computational Biology
BIOL 720 Survey of Biostatistical Methods
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Dixon, M. D., J. C. Stromberg, J. Price, H. Galbraith, A. Fremier, and E. Larsen. In review. Climate change and riparian vegetation response. Chapter 8, In: Stromberg, J. and B. Tellman (eds.), Ecology and Conservation of Desert Riparian Ecosystems: The San Pedro River Example. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
Dixon, M. D., and M. G. Turner. In press. Simulated recruitment of riparian trees and shrubs under natural and regulated flow regimes on the Wisconsin River. River Research and Applications.
Stromberg, J., M. Dixon, and V. Beauchamp. In press. Importance of flow regimes to restoration of riparian ecosystems in semi-arid, southwestern United States. Freshwater Biology.
Stromberg, J. C., S. J. Lite, T. J. Rychener, L. Levick, M. D. Dixon, and J. W. Watts. 2006. Status of the riparian ecosystem in the upper San Pedro River, Arizona: Application of an assessment model. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 115:145-173
Jansson, R., H. Backx, A. J. Boulton, M. Dixon, D. Dudgeon, F. Hughes, K. Nakamura, E. Stanley, and K. Tockner. 2005. Stating mechanisms and refining criteria for ecologically successful river restoration: A comment on Palmer et al. (2005). Journal of Applied Ecology 42:218-222.
Sabo, J. L., R. Sponseller, M. Dixon, K. Gade, T. Harms, J. Heffernan, A. Jani, G. Katz, C. Soykan, J. Watts, and J. Welter. 2005. Riparian zones increase regional species diversity by harboring different, not more species. Ecology 86(1):56-62.
Miller, J. R., M. D. Dixon, and M. G. Turner. 2004. Response of avian communities in large-river floodplains to environmental variation at multiple scales. Ecological Applications 14:1394-1410.
Turner, M. G., S. E. Gergel, M. D. Dixon, and J. R. Miller. 2004. Distribution and abundance of trees in floodplain forests of the Wisconsin River: environmental influences at different scales. Journal of Vegetation Science 15:729-738.
Dixon, M. D. 2003. Effects of flow pattern on riparian seedling recruitment on sandbars in the Wisconsin River, Wisconsin, USA. Wetlands 23(1):125-139.
Dixon, M. D., M. G. Turner, and C. Jin. 2002. Seedling distribution on Wisconsin River sandbars: Controls at different spatial scales. Ecological Monographs 72(4):465-485.
Gergel, S. E., M. D. Dixon, and M.G. Turner. 2002. Effects of altered disturbance regimes: levees, floods, and floodplain forests along the Wisconsin River. Ecological Applications 12(6):1755-1770.
Dixon, M. D., and W. C. Johnson. 1999. Riparian vegetation along the middle Snake River: Zonation, geographical trends and historical changes. Great Basin Naturalist 59(1):18-34.
Dixon, M. D., W. C. Johnson, and C. S. Adkisson. 1997. Effects of weevil larvae on acorn use by Blue Jays. Oecologia 111:201-208.
Dixon, M. D., W. C. Johnson, and C. S. Adkisson. 1997. Effects of caching on acorn tannin levels and Blue Jay dietary performance. Condor 99:756-764.
Johnson, W. C., C. S. Adkisson, T. R. Crow, and M. D. Dixon. 1997. Nut caching by Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata L.): Implications for tree demography. American Midland Naturalist 138:357-370.
Johnson, W. C., M. D. Dixon, R. Simons, S. Jenson, and K. Larson. 1995. Mapping the response of riparian vegetation to possible flow reductions in the Snake River, Idaho. Geomorphology 13:159-173.