Mark Pyron
Professor of Biology
Education
University of Oklahoma, Ph.D.
University of North Texas, M.S
University of Wisconsin, B.S.
Research Interests
My research interests are in aquatic ecology of river ecosystems.
We are studying the food web of the Wabash River with invasive Asian carp that appeared in the 1990s. Our work shows that Silver Carp process phytoplankton in the water column and funnel this material as fecal pellets to benthic organisms. This appears to have contributed to changes in the food web including increased abundance of benthic invertivore fishes.
Our other major project is a Macrosystems in Ecology project where we are comparing river ecosystems of western North America to Mongolian rivers. This is a collaboration with faculty from the US and Mongolia.
Recent Publications
Arsenault, E.R., Thorp, J.H., Polito, M.J., Minder, M., Dodds, W.K., Tromboni, F., Maasri, A., Pyron, M., Mendsaikhan, B., Otgonganbat, A., Altangerel, S., Chandra, S., Bennadji, H. 2022. Intercontinental analysis of temperate steppe stream food webs reveals consistent autochthonous support of fishes. Ecology Letters DOI: 10.1111/ele.14113
Yoder, C., Hughes, B., Pyron, M., Bridges, C.L. 2022. In memorium James R. Gammon. Fisheries. DOI: 10.1002/fsh.10763
Pyron, M., Maasri, A., Costello, J., Kenner, S., Otgongangbat, A., Mendsaikhan, B., Chandra, S., Thorp, J., Arsenault, E., Shields, R., Artz, C., Minder, M. In review. Fish assemblages on two continents respond to valley- and reach-scale hydrogeomorphic variation: analyses across three temperate ecoregions. Freshwater Biology.
Carlson Mazur, M.L., B. Smith, S. McMillan, B. Bird, M. Pyron. 2022. Hydrologic connectivity and land cover affect floodplain lake water quality, fish abundance, and fish diversity in floodplain lakes of the Wabash-White River basin. River Research and Applications doi.org/10.1002/rra.3888
Shields, R., M. Pyron, M. Minder, L. Etchison. 2021. Long-term trends in CPUE and relative weight of six fishes in the Wabash River, USA, prior to and following silver carp invasion. Hydrobiologia doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04652-4
Shields, R., M. Pyron, E.A. Arsenault, J.H. Thorp, M. Minder, C. Artz, J. Costello, A. Otgonganbat, B. Mendsaikhan, S. Altangerel, A. Maasri. 2021.Geomorphology variables predict fish assemblages for forested and endorheic rivers of two continents. Ecology and Evolution DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8300
Counihan, T., K. Bouska, S. Brewer, R. Jacobson, A. Casper, C. Chapman, I. Waite, K. Sheehan, M. Pyron, E. Irwin, K. Riva-Murray, A. McKerrow, J. Bayer. 2022. A conceptual model framework to hypothesize stress pathways affecting large-river fishes and identify monitoring information needs. PLOS ONE 17(4): e0267113.
Robbins, J., and M. Pyron. 2021. Geomorphological characteristics of the Wabash River, USA: influence on fish assemblages. Ecology and Evolution DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7349
Thorp, J.H., C.J. Robbins, W. Dodds, A. Maasri, E.R. Arsenault, J.A. Lutchen, G.S. Mathews, F. Trombone, B. Hayford, M. Pyron, A. Schechner, S. Chandra. 2021. A framework for lotic macrosystem research. Ecosphere 12(2): e03342. 10.1002/ecs2.3342