Skip to main content

Peter Koetsier III, Ph.D.

Pete Koetsier in nature

Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Year arrived at BSU: 1995

Mailing Address:
Department of Biology
Boise State University
Boise, ID 83725-1515
Office Location: Science Building, Room 217-C
Office Number: 208-426-3817
Fax Number: 208-426-1040
E-Mail Address: pkoet@boisestate.edu

I am taking on potential M.S. – level students.
If interested, contact me via e-mail.

ACADEMIC DEGREES

• B.S. Fisheries Management, Michigan State University, 1982
• M.S. Fisheries Science, Louisiana State University, 1986
• Ph.D. Aquatic Ecology, Idaho State University, 1993
• Post-Doc., Savannah River Ecology Lab, University of Georgia

TEACHING

Field research occurring at stream. With two men holding nets.

• BIOL 100 Concepts of Biology [Non majors core course]
• BIOL 192 General Biology
• BIOL 304 Ecology and Evolution
• BIOL 323 General Ecology
• BIOL 427/527 Stream Ecology
• ZOOL 425/525 Aquatic Entomology
• ZOOL 428/528 Fish Biology and Management
• BIOL 561 Advanced Topics in Aquatic Biology
• BIOL 598 Biology Graduate Seminars

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Population/Community/ecosystem ecology related to the structure and function of flowing waters
• Fish / Macroinvertebrate / Algal Ecology
• Disturbance theory as it applies to stream recovery and restoration
• Wildfire and its effect on stream food webs
• Invasive / endangered aquatic species
• Predator-Prey relationships

SELECTED PUBLICATIONSStream running through a recently burned area.

Tuckett, Q.M., and P. Koetsier. 2018. Post-fire debris flows delay recovery and create novel headwater stream macroinvertebrate communities. Hydrobiologia 814: 161-174.

Tuckett, Q., and P. Koetsier. 2016. Mid- and long-term effects of wildfire and debris flows on stream ecosystem metabolism. Society for Freshwater Sciences 35: 445-456.

Koetsier, P. and L.M.M. McCauley. 2015. An irrigation canal as a lotic mesocosm: examining the relationship between macroinvertebrate benthos and drift. Western North American Naturalist 75: 259-270.

Urquhart, A.N. and P. Koetsier. 2014. Low-temperature tolerance and critical thermal minimum of the invasive Oriental Weatherfish, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, in Idaho, USA. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 143: 68-76.

Urquhart, A.N. and P. Koetsier. 2014. Diet of a cryptic but widespread invader, the Oriental Weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) in Idaho, USA. Western North American Naturalist 74: 92-98.

Koetsier, P., and A.N. Urquhart. 2012. Desiccation tolerance in a wild population of the invasive Oriental Weatherfish (Cobitidae: Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Cantor) in Idaho, USA. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141: 365-369.

Urquhart, A.N., and P. Koetsier. 2011. Pectoral fin morphology as a reliable field sexing characteristic in populations of the invasive Oriental Weatherfish (Misqurnus anguillicaudatus). Copeia 2011 (3): 296-300.

Oriental Weatherfish

Koetsier, P., T.R.B. Krause, and Q. Tuckett. 2010. Present effects of past wildfires on leaf litter breakdown in stream ecosystems. Western North American Naturalist 70 (2): 164-174.

Monnot, L., J.B. Dunham, T. Hoem, and P. Koetsier. 2008. Influences of body size and environmental
factors on autumn downstream migration of bull trout in the Boise River, Idaho. North American
Journal of Fisheries Management 28: 231-240.

Koetsier, P., Q. Tuckett, and J. White. 2007. Current effects of a past wildfire on stream fish diet. Western North American Naturalist 67 (3): 429-438.

Lysne, S., and P. Koetsier. 2006. Experimental studies on habitat preference and tolerances of three species of snails from the Snake River of southern Idaho, USA. American Malacological Bulletin 21: 77-85.

Lysne, S., and P. Koetsier. 2006. Growth rate and thermal tolerance of two endangered Snake River snails.
Western North American Naturalist 66: 230-238.

Lysne, S., and P. Koetsier. 2006. The life history of the Utah (desert) valvata, Valvata utahensis, in the
Snake River, Idaho. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 21: 285-291.

Valvata utahensis

Koetsier, P. 2005. The effects of disturbance time interval on algal biomass in a small Idaho stream.
Northwest Science 79: 211-217.

Koetsier, P. 2005. Response of a stream diatom community to top predator manipulations.
Aquatic Sciences 67: 517-527 (invited paper).

Koetsier, P. 2002. Short-term benthic colonization dynamics in an agricultural stream recovering from
slaughterhouse effluents. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38 (5): 1-14.

Koetsier, P. and J V. McArthur. 2000. Organic matter retention by macrophyte beds in two southeastern USA,
low-gradient, headwater streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 19: 633-647

Koetsier, P., J V. McArthur, and L.G. Leff. 1997. Spatial and temporal response of stream bacteria to sources
of dissolved organic carbon in a blackwater stream. Freshwater Biology 37: 79-89.

Koetsier, P., and J V. McArthur. 1997. New concepts in stream ecology: proceedings of a symposium.
Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16: 303-305.

Koetsier, P., G.W. Minshall, and C.T. Robinson. 1996. Benthos and macroinvertebrate drift in six streams
differing in alkalinity. Hydrobiologia 317: 41-49.

River

Koetsier, P., and C.F. Bryan. 1996. Is invertebrate drift a density-dependent mechanism of the benthos?
Journal of Freshwater Ecology 11: 1-10.

Koetsier, P., and C.F. Bryan. 1995. Effects of abiotic factors on macroinvertebrate drift in the lower Mississippi
River, Louisiana (USA). American Midland Naturalist 134: 63-74.

Koetsier, P., and C.F. Bryan. 1992. Diel, size-differential drift patterns of three macroinvertebrate species in the
lower Mississippi River, Louisiana (USA). Hydrobiologia 228: 225-230.

Koetsier, P., P.D. Dey, G. Mladenka, and J.W. Check. 1990. Rejecting equilibrium theory: a cautionary note.
Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 71: 229-230.

Koetsier, P. 1989. The effects of fish predation and algal biomass on insect community structure in an
Idaho stream. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 5: 187-196.

Koetsier, P., and C.F. Bryan. 1989. Winter and spring macroinvertebrate drift in an outpocketing of the lower
Mississippi River, Louisiana (USA). Hydrobiologia 185: 205-209.

Bear and fish statue