Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Ecology, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Spain, 2012
B.S. Biology, University of Girona, Spain, 2006
Freshwater ecology, biodiversity conservation, community ecology, global change
Our research seeks to understand how freshwater communities and ecosystems respond to global change, with a focus on the effects of hydrologic alteration and drought.
Research foci:
- Joint effects of hydroclimatic anomalies and invasion on native biodiversity
- Regime shifts in riverine food webs
- Metacommunity dynamics in highly-dynamic ecosystems
- Wetland restoration for biodiversity conservation
Read more about our research on the Ruhi Lab website.
Leathers, K., Herbst. D., de Mendoza, G., Doerschlag, G. & A. Ruhi (2024). Climate change is poised to alter mountain stream ecosystem processes via organismal phenological shifts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, in press.
Tu, T., Comte, L. & A. Ruhi (2023). The color of environmental noise in river networks. Nature Communications, 14:1728.
Fournier, R., de Mendoza, G., Sarremejane, R. & A. Ruhi (2022). Isolation controls reestablishment mechanisms and post-drying community structure in an intermittent stream. Ecology, 104(2):e3911.
Ruhi, A., Hwang, J., Devineni, N., Mukhopadhyay, S., Kumar, H., Comte, L., Worland, S. & A. Sankarasubramanian (2022). How does flow alteration propagate across a large, highly-regulated basin? Dam attributes, network context, and implications for biodiversity. Earth’s Future, 10(6): e2021EF002490.
Comte, L., Olden, J.D., Tedesco, P., Ruhi, A & X. Giam (2021). Climate and land-use changes interact to drive long-term reorganization of riverine fish communities globally. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 118(27):118 (27) e2011639118.
Comte, L., Grantham, T. & A. Ruhi (2021). Human stabilization of river flows is linked with fish invasions across the United States. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30(3):725–737.
Palmer, M*. & A. Ruhi* (2019) [*equal contribution]. Linkages between flow regime, biota, and ecosystem processes: implications for river restoration. Science, 365(6459):eaaw2087.
Ruhi, A., Messager, M. & J.D. Olden (2018). Tracking the pulse of the Earth’s fresh waters. Nature Sustainability 1:198–203.
Ruhi, A., Dong, X., Holt, C., Batzer, D.P. & J.L. Sabo (2018). Detrimental effects of a novel flow regime on the functional trajectory of an aquatic invertebrate metacommunity. Global Change Biology 24(8): 3749-3765.
Ruhi, A., Datry, T. & J.L. Sabo (2017). Interpreting beta diversity components over time to conserve metacommunities in highly-dynamic ecosystems. Conservation Biology 31(6):1459-1468.
Sabo, J.L., Ruhi, A., Elliot, V., Arias, M., Holtgrieve, G. & N. So (2017). Designing flows that improve food security futures in the Lower Mekong Basin. Science 358(6368): eaao1053.
Dong, X., Ruhi, A. & N.B. Grimm (2017). Evidence for self-organization in determining spatial patterns of stream nutrients, despite primacy of the geomorphic template. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617571114.
Acuña, V., Hunter, M. & A. Ruhi (2017). Managing temporary streams and rivers as unique rather than second-class ecosystems. Biological Conservation 211:12-19.
Ruhi, A., Olden, J. & J.L. Sabo (2016). Declining streamflow induces collapse and replacement of native fish in the American Southwest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14(9):1-8.
Ruhi, A., Muñoz, I., Tornés, E., Batalla, R.J., Vericat, D., Ponsatí, L., Acuña, V., von Schiller, D., Marcé, R., Bussi, G., Francés, F. & S. Sabater (2016). Flow regulation increases food‐chain length through omnivory mechanisms in a Mediterranean river network. Freshwater Biology 61(9):1536-1549.
Ruhi, A., Holmes, E., Rinne, J. & J.L. Sabo (2015). Anomalous droughts, not invasion, decrease persistence of native fishes in a desert river. Global Change Biology 21, 1482-1496.
Batzer, D. & A. Ruhi (2013). Is there a core set of organisms that structure invertebrate assemblages in freshwater wetlands? Freshwater Biology 58:1647-1659.
Ruhi, A., Boix, D., Sala, J., Gascón, S. & X.D. Quintana (2013). Nestedness and successional trajectories of macroinvertebrate assemblages in created wetlands. Oecologia 171:545-556.
2023 Winkler Scholar, UC Berkeley.
2021 UC Berkeley, Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Award.
2021 NSF CAREER Award.
2021 California Sea Grant New Faculty Award.
2020 Hellman Foundation Fellow.
2013 Extraordinary Doctoral Degree Award in Environmental Sciences, University of Girona (Catalonia, Spain).
We are always interested in inquiries from motivated students and postdocs. If you are interested in our research program please contact the lab at: albert.ruhi@berkeley.edu
Contact details
Albert Ruhi
UC Berkeley
130 Mulford Hall #3114
Berkeley, CA 94720