Our aims are to more accurately characterize the invertebrate community in the San Pedro River.  Since insects and other invertebrates fulfill important roles in riparian food webs, the data from this study can provide information on food availability for both aquatic and terrestrial consumers.  For this long-term study, we plan on measuring long-term trends and shifts in freshwater invertebrate communities and making connections to environmental impacts (climate change, annual variability, and anthropogenic impacts).  Invertebrate composition can help predict water quality and can be an important tool in rapid bioassessment of the health of a river.  Long-term datasets can inform management and development decisions.  Lastly, we hope to show the importance of seasonal connections and intermittent stream flow on community composition and abundance of freshwater invertebrate communities.

Students have presented research related to this topic at the Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) in 2019 (San Marcos, CA) and 2022 (Malibu, CA). 

Beavers were reintroduced in 1999 to the San Pedro River after they were exterminated in the 1920’s.  In coordination with the Friends of the San Pedro River and Watershed Management Group, Cochise College faculty and students have been helping to monitor beaver populations in the Upper San Pedro on the U.S. side of the border since Fall 2019.  Students have been involved in walking along the river looking for beaver sign (dams, caches, tracks, and fresh herbivory).  In 2021, we collaborated with partners in Arizona and Sonora (Naturalia and Profauna) to survey the river for beavers on both sides of the border.

In May and June of 2022, we observed interesting food caching behavior on a drying beaver pond.  Students are currently working with faculty to present these findings the SCCUR conference at Pepperdine University in November 2022 and preparing this research for a scientific manuscript.