Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Staff Member


Dr. Luke Bower

Luke hold a catfish in Belize

Assistant Unit Leader
Email: lbower@usgs.gov
Faculty Email: lmbower@clemson.edu

Links:

Education

  • Ph D Texas A&M University 2019
  • MS Southeastern Louisiana University 2013
  • BS Erskine College 2010

Biography

Dr. Bower received a MS degree from Southeaster Louisiana University and a PhD from Texas A&M University. Prior to becoming the assistant unit leader in the South Carolina Unit, he was post-doctoral fellow at Clemson University. Overall, his research focuses on understanding how changes in environmental gradients influences assemblage and functional structure of aquatic systems across multiple scales, apply community, evolutionary, and functional ecology concepts to inform the management and conservation of freshwater fishes. A primary focus of this research is to understand the roles stream flow plays in driving the ecology and evolution of fishes change across landscape gradients to better inform state flow standards. Another research focus is the use of functional traits to examine assemblage responses to environmental alteration and describe ecological patterns across levels of biological organization, niche dimensions, and spatial scales to inform the conservation and management of aquatic systems. His research encompasses several research areas including freshwater fish ecology, community ecology, flow ecology, and functional ecology. Dr. Bower teaches a graduate class in Functional Ecology.

Areas of Expertise

Aquatic Ecology, Biodiversity, Ecological Flows, Evolutionary Ecology, Fisheries Management, Population and Community Ecology, Statistics and Modelling, Stream Ecology

Taxon Groups Studied

Anadromous Fishes, Freshwater Fishes, Gamefish, Nongame Fish/Wildlife

Research Publications Publication Date
Winemiller KO, Keppeler FW, Bower LM, Cunha ER, Quintana Y, Saenz DE, Lopez‐Delgado EO, Bokhutlo T, Arantes CC, Andrade MC, Robertson CR, Mayes KB. Can spatial food web subsidies associated with river hydrology and lateral connectivity be detected using stable isotopes? Food Webs. 2023. | Abstract March 2023
Stoczynski, L., Scott, M. C., Bower, L., & Peoples, B. Effects of environment and metacommunity delineation on multiple dimensions of stream fish beta diversity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 182. | Abstract March 2023
Kubicek, K. M., Britz, R., Pinion, A. K., Bower, L. M., & Conway, K. W. (2022). Three scleral ossicles in the West African Denticle herring Denticeps clupeoides (Clupeiformes: Denticipitidae). Journal of Fish Biology, 100(3), 852-855. | Abstract February 2022
Grady, J. T., Bower, L. M., Gienger, C. M., & Blanton, R. E. (2022). Fish scale shape follows predictable patterns of variation based on water column position, body size, and phylogeny. Evolutionary Ecology, 36(1), 93-116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-021-10142-9 | Abstract January 2022
Eddy, M. C., Lord, B., Perrot, D., Bower, L. M., & Peoples, B. K. (2022). Predictability of flow metrics calculated using a distributed hydrologic model across ecoregions and stream classes: Implications for developing flow–ecology relationships. Ecohydrology, 15(2), e2387. | Abstract March 2022
Bower, L. M., Stoczynski, L., Peoples, B. K., Patrick, C. J., & Brown, B. L. (2023). Multiple dimensions of functional diversity affect stream fish taxonomic β‐diversity. Freshwater Biology, 68(3), 437-451. | Abstract March 2023
Bower, L. M., Peoples, B. K., Eddy, M. C., & Scott, M. C. (2022). Quantifying flow–ecology relationships across flow regime class and ecoregions in South Carolina. Science of The Total Environment, 149721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149721 | Download | Publisher Website January 2022
Bower, L. M., Marion, C. A., Scott, M., Kubach, K., and Gelder, A. Fish assemblage and functional trait responses to the removal of two dams on a southeastern river. Freshwater Biology. 2024. | Abstract April 2024
Bower, L. M., & Peoples, B. K. (2022). Microhabitat use of larval fish in a South Carolina Piedmont stream. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 37(1), 583-596. | Abstract November 2022
Daley, Jacob
PhD
jtdaley@g.clemson.edu

Hill, Jacob
Master's
jshll@g.clemson.edu

Niles, Madison
Master's
mbniles@clemson.edu

Presentations Presentation Date
Niles, M. B., and Bower, L. M. (2023). Temporal and spatial patterns of larval fish assemblages across a river-reservoir continuum. Southern Division of The American Fisheries Society Meeting. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 2 February 2024. February 2024
Mruzek, J.L., Kubach, K., Scott, M.C., Peoples, B.K., and Bower, L.M. Role of flow, environmental and anthropogenic factors on fish biodiversity. The American Fisheries Society Meeting. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 21 August 2023. August 2023
Mruzek, J.L, Peoples, B.K., Scott, C. S., Kuback, K., and Bower, L.M. Hierarchical relationship between local and regional environmental factors and stream fish life history. The Southern Division American Fisheries Society Meeting. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 2 February 2024 February 2024
Mruzek, J. L., Peoples, B. K., Bower, L. M. (2023). Role of flow and environmental variables on stream biodiversity. The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Norfolk, Virginia. 02 February 2023. February 2023
Hill, J. H., Bower, L. M., and Farmer, T. M. (2024). Thermal refugia and summer microhabitat selection in Edisto River, SC, Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis). The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society Meeting. Chattanooga, Tennessee, 02 February 2024 February 2024
Daley, J.T., Bower, L. M., Farmer, T. M. (2024). A Potential Unifying Model to Assess Fish Thermal Tolerance. The Southern Division American Fisheries Society Meeting. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 2 February 2024 February 2024
Conway, K. W., Kubicek, K. M., Bower, L. M. Carson, E. W., Pinion, A. K. Hunt, E. P., and Portnoy D. S. Integrative Taxonomic Investigation of <i>Cyprinella sp. Nueces</i>, a Putative Undescribed Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Texas. Desert Fishes Council Annual Meeting. 2022. November 2022
Bower, L.M. (2022). The influence of instream flow and microhabitat on larval fish abundance. Clemson Water Research Symposium. Clemson, South Carolina. 9 May 2022 May 2022
Bower, L. M., Peoples, B. K., Eddy, M. C., & Scott, M. C. (2022). Quantifying flow–ecology relationships across flow regime class and ecoregions in South Carolina. UCOWR/NIWR Annual Water Resources Conference. June 2022. June 2022
Bower, L. M., Peoples, B. K., Eddy, M. C., & Scott, M. C. (2022). Quantifying flow–ecology relationships across flow regime class and ecoregions in South Carolina. Clemson Water Research Symposium. Clemson, South Carolina. 9 May 2022 May 2022
Bower, L. M., Peoples, B. K., Eddy, M. C., & Scott, M. C. (2022). Quantifying Flow Alteration-Ecology Relationships Across South Carolina. South Carolina Water Resources Conference. Columbia, South Carolina. 19 October 2022 October 2022
Bower, L. M., Marion, C. A., Scott, M., Kubach, K., and Gelder, D. (2023). Stream fish assemblage and functional trait responses to dam removal. The American Fisheries Society Meeting. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 21 August 2023. August 2023
Bower, L. M., Marion, C. A., Scott, M., Kubach, K., and Gelder, D. (2023). Stream fish assemblage and functional trait responses to dam removal. Southern Division American Fisheries Society Meeting. Chattanooga, Tennessee. 2 February 2024​​​​ February 2024
Bower, L. M. (2023). Stream fish assemblage and functional trait responses to dam removal. The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Norfolk, Virginia. 02 February 2023. February 2023
Annis, W. K., Peoples, B. K., Thompson, L., Midway, S. R., Bower, L. M., Olden, J. D. (2023). Elucidating the hierarchical relationships between mechanisms of stream fish taxonomic compositional change. The American Fisheries Society Meeting. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 21 August 2023. August 2023
Role and Organization Individual         Start Date        End Date       
Southeastern Fishes Council - General member Bower January 2010 Present
Society for Freshwater Science - General member Bower January 2022 Present
American Fisheries Society - Regular member. Bower 2019 Present