Steven Kohler

Dr. Steven Kohler is emeritus professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and past director of the environmental and sustainability studies program at Western Michigan University.

Kohler's research focuses on the nature of interactions among species and the consequences of these interactions for the dynamics of populations and the structure of communities. These questions are addressed with experimental and observational approaches over a broad range of temporal and spatial scales, using trout streams as a model system. His team is using replicated, long-term whole-stream perturbations, brought about by the disease-induced collapse of populations of a dominant competitor, to address questions regarding the:

• Effects of biotic processes and disturbance on the food web structure.
• Importance of disease in the dynamics of host populations and the structure and dynamics of communities.
• Resilience of communities to perturbations in food web structure.

Kohler is also interested in the responses of stream systems to environmental perturbations and restoration activities at local to watershed scales.

Students in Kohler's laboratory:

• Taylor Marshall, M.S. degree program