Caryn C. Vaughn, PhD
Presidential Professor and George Lynn Cross Research Professor, Member Oklahoma Biological Survey
My research focuses on the ecology and conservation biology of streams, in particular the functional roles of freshwater mussels, and in quantifying the ecosystem services provided by stream organisms. Freshwater mussels are one of the world’s most imperiled faunas, largely because their life history traits make them highly vulnerable to climate change, habitat destruction and alteration, and introduction of non-native species. Until recently, most work in mussel conservation focused on documenting and propagating the rarest species. However, most mussel species are declining, and it is the common species that do most of the work in ecosystems. Over the past 30 years, integrative research in my lab has demonstrated that mussels are important “biofilters” that transfer energy and nutrients in aquatic food webs and even subsidize terrestrial ecosystems. The biophysical processes performed by mussels vary with species and environmental conditions, particularly flow and temperature, and are highest in the most diverse communities.
Higgins, Edward, Thomas B. Parr and Caryn C. Vaughn. 2023. Freshwater mussels promote functional redundancy in sediment microbial communities under different nutrient regimes. Functional Ecology 37:2940-2952. DOI:10.1111/1365-2435.14431.
Lopez, Jonathan W., Rachel N. Hartnett, Thomas B. Parr and Caryn C. Vaughn. 2023. Ecosystem bioelement availability is associated with freshwater animal aggregations at the aquatic-terrestrial interface. Oecologia 202:796-806. DOI 10.1007/s00442-023-05437-3
DuBose, Traci P., Michel A. Patten, Alexandria S. Holt and Caryn C. Vaughn. 2022. Latitudinal variation in freshwater mussel potential maximum length in eastern North America. Freshwater Biology 67:1020-1034. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13898
Sansom, Brandon J., Sean J. Bennett, Joseph F. Atkinson and Caryn C. Vaughn. 2020. Emergent hydrodynamics and positive density dependence in mussel covered riverbeds. Water Resources Research, doi: 10.1029/2019WR026252
Vaughn, Caryn C. and Timothy J. Hoellein. 2018. Bivalve impacts in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 49:183-208.
