BSc Hons

Postgraduate

General Responsibilities

PhD student Boating, diving and general field and laboratory assistance for a range of projects including: Landscape Logic: linking land and water management to resource condition; monitoring fish, invertebrates and macroalgae in Australian marine protected areas (Tas, NSW, WA); assessing impacts and changes to Australian inshore biodiversity; movement and feeding ecology of Sevengill sharks in southern Tasmania; environmental effects of aquaculture in the Huon estuary; estuarine health: status and indicators; ecotoxicology of heavy metals on benthic fauna; biology, ecology and fisheries management of Tasmanian scallops; movement, feeding and reproductive ecology of Black bream in the Little Swanport estuary; coastal zooplankton and their environment in southeastern Australia; stock structure and dispersal of two commercial octopus species; biological status of the Derwent and Huon estuaries; estuarine responses to altered freshwater flows: the case study of the Little Swanport estuar

The main focus of the project will be the investigation of effects of changing predator size and abundance on macroinvertebrate communities, particularly with respect to how these relationships are influenced by the physical complexity and structure of reef habitat.
The project has considerable practical relevance for fisheries management, including the creation of models that predict effects of habitat structure on the recovery of invertebrate species within MPAs following cessation of fishing. MPA locations presumably vary greatly in habitat quality for particular species due to variation in reef structure, with complex habitats likely to generally experience fastest and more intense responses to release from fishing pressure. Quantifying various aspects of substratum complexity and relating this to patterns of density and size-structure of mobile invertebrates including rock lobster, abalone and sea urchins will enable us to better understand biotic responses following the establishment of MPAs, and assist in site selection for future MPAs.
Estimated submission date for PhD October 2009

Research Interests

* Influence of reef habitat structure on the response of mobile macroinvertebrates to protection from fishing (PhD) * Temperate reef ecology * Intertidal rocky reef ecology * Systematic conservation planning * Estuarine water chemistry and ecology

Research Areas:

• Marine Biodiversity Research Group  Read More

Teaching

Not applicable