Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Seasonal Variation Of Bacterial Diversity Along The Marine Particulate Matter Continuum, Mireia Mestre, Juan Höfer, M. Montserrat Sala, Josep M. Gasol

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Copyright © 2020 Mestre, Höfer, Sala and Gasol. Seasonal dynamics of ocean prokaryotic communities in the free-living fraction have been widely described, but less is known about the seasonality of prokaryotes inhabiting marine particles. We describe the seasonality of bacterial communities in the particulate matter continuum by sampling monthly over two years in a temperate oligotrophic coastal ecosystem and using a serial filtration (including six size-fractions spanning from 0.2 to 200 μm). We observed that bacterial communities in the particulate matter continuum had annual changes following harmonic seasonal oscillations, where alpha, beta, and gamma diversity increased during the warm …

Review Of Coast And Marine Ecosystems In Temperate Australia Demonstrates A Wealth Of Ecosystem Services, Sam Gaylard, Michelle Waycott, Paul Lavery

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Copyright © 2020 Gaylard, Waycott and Lavery. Temperate Australia has extensive and diverse coast and marine habitats throughout its inshore and offshore waters. The region includes the southernmost extent of mangroves, over 500 estuaries and coastal embayments, home to extensive meadows of seagrasses and tidal saltmarsh. In areas of hard substrate, rocky reefs are abundant and productive with large forests of macroalgae. Coastal regions can be densely populated by humans and often habitats can be degraded, polluted or lost, while some remain relatively isolated and pristine. These habitats provide services to society including provision of food, regulate our climate …

Estimating The Potential Blue Carbon Gains From Tidal Marsh Rehabilitation: A Case Study From South Eastern Australia, Anne Gulliver, Paul E. Carnell, Stacey M. Trevathan-Tackett, Micheli Duarte De Paula Costa, Pere Masqué, Peter I. Macreadie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Copyright © 2020 Gulliver, Carnell, Trevathan-Tackett, Duarte de Paula Costa, Masqué and Macreadie. Historically, coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems (tidal marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows) have been impacted and degraded by human intervention, mainly in the form of land acquisition. With increasing recognition of the role of blue carbon ecosystems in climate mitigation, protecting and rehabilitating these ecosystems becomes increasingly more important. This study evaluated the potential carbon gains from rehabilitating a degraded coastal tidal marsh site in south-eastern Australia. Tidal exchange at the study site had been restricted by the construction of earthen barriers for the purpose of reclaiming …

Impacts Of Invasive Rats And Tourism On A Threatened Island Bird: The Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl, Paul M. Radley, Robert A. Davis, Tim S. Doherty

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Invasive predators have decimated island biodiversity worldwide. Rats (Rattus spp.) are perhaps the greatest conservation threat to island fauna. The ground nesting Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius laperouse senex (Megapodiidae) inhabits many of the islands of Palau's Rock Island Southern Lagoon Conservation Area (RISL) in the western Pacific. These islands are also heavily visited by tourists and support populations of introduced rats, both of which may act as added stressors for the scrubfowl. Using passive chew-tag and call playback surveys on five tourist-visited and five tourist-free islands, we investigated if rats and tourists negatively affect scrubfowl, and if higher rat activity …

The Oceanography And Marine Ecology Of Ningaloo, A World Heritage Area, Mathew A. Vanderklift, Russell C. Babcock, Peter B. Barnes, Anna K. Cresswell, Ming Feng, Michael D. E. Haywood, Thomas H. Holmes, Paul S. Lavery, Richard D. Pillans, Claire B. Smallwood, Damian P. Thomson, Anton D. Tucker, Kelly Waples, Shaun K. Wilson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Ningaloo coast of north-western Australia (eastern Indian Ocean) hosts one of the world’s longest and most extensive fringing coral reef systems, along with globally significant abundances of large marine fauna such as whale sharks. These characteristics – which have contributed to its inscription on the World Heritage list – exist because of the unique climatic, geomorphologic and oceanographic conditions. The region is hot and arid, so runoff of water from land is low, facilitating clear water that allows corals to grow close to the shore. The poleward-flowing Leeuwin Current is an important influence, bringing warm water and generally suppressing …

Conospermum Undulatum: Insights Into Population Genetics And Pollination Ecology Of A Threatened Species, Nicola Delnevo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fragmentation of natural vegetation is currently one of the largest threats to biodiversity. Within the southwest Australia global biodiversity hotspot, the Swan Coastal Plain was historically cleared for agriculture and forestry and is now experiencing extensive land clearing for urbanisation. The wavy-leaved smokebush Conospermum undulatum is a rare species endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain, and its future persistence is threatened by urban expansion.

Throughout this research, I investigated the pollination ecology of this species and found a specific association between C. undulatum and native bees for pollination. I also demonstrated that C. undulatum has evolved pollen with resistance to …

Mdpi Oceans: A New Publication Channel For Open Access Science Focused On The Ocean, Antonio Bode, Fátima Abrantes, Agostinho Antunes, Alvise Benetazzo, Chen-Tung A. Chen, Emmanuel Devred, Martin Gade, Eulàlia Gràcia, Jochen Horstmann, Diego Macías, Joseph M. Maina, Pere Masqué Barri, Nicholas Meskhidze, Luis Somoza

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ocean is the most important subsystem of the Earth’s climate system and functions as its heart, regulating the energy distribution of the planet. It has absorbed more than 90% of the energy accumulated since 1971 and about 30% of the emitted anthropogenic carbon dioxide. As a result, water temperature rises and oceans acidify and deoxygenate, which lead to changes in oceanic circulationand biogeochemistry, to rising sea levels, to more extreme weather events, to shifts in the distribution ofspecies and migratory routes, and to loss of species and habitat diversity. Awareness of the importanceof oceans for the sustainability of the …

Morphological And Heartwood Variation Of Santalum Macgregorii In Papua New Guinea, T. Page, G. K. Jeffrey, P. Macdonell, D. Hettiarachchi, Mary C. Boyce, A. Lata, L. Oa, G. Rome

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Santalum macgregorii (sandalwood), which is endemic to the southern part of Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been heavily exploited for its fragrant heartwood and is classified as threatened across its natural range. Domestication and smallholder agroforestry offer the means to preserve remaining diversity. This study was undertaken to understand the extent of remaining natural variation to support the species’s conservation and domestication. We evaluated morphological, heartwood and essential oil characters in 126 S. macgregorii trees in five populations (districts) in PNG’s Central, Gulf and Western …

Top 30 Cm Soil C Org Stocks, Isotopic C Org Signature (13dc) And Fine Sediment Content (Silt And Clay %) Estimated In Soil Cores Sampled In Seagrass Meadows Around Australia, Ines Mazarrasa, Paul Lavery, Carlos M. Duarte, Anna Lafratta, Catherine E. Lovelock, Peter I. Macreadie, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, Cristian Salinas, Christian Sanders, Stacey Trevathan-Tackett, Mary Young, Andy Steven, Oscar Serrano

Research Datasets

This database contains data on top 30 cm soil biogeochemical properties from soil cores (minimum length of 30 cm) sampled in seagrass (n=201 cores) and adjacent unvegetated patches (n=39) around Australia.

Average biogeochemical properties per core along with information about type of environment, biotic characteristics and environmental conditions.

In particular, the variables included in sheet 1 are:

Core ID (column A): core code

Location (column B): name of the region of the sampling site.

Latitude / Longitude (columns C, D): latitude and longitude

Bioregion (column E): classified the sampling sites according to their location in Temperate-Southern …

An Investigation Into The Spatial Distribution, Habitat Selection And Resource Usage Of The Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Inhabiting Urban Reserves Within Perth, Western Australia, Michael Thomas Main

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

I attempted to track a population of urban foxes in Kings Park, but due to collar failure, only one collar was retrieved. The GPS telemetry data from this fox produced home range estimates for minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel density (KD) of 0.302 km² and 0.331 km², respectively. The fox was predominantly active at night, with a ten-fold increase in movement during nocturnal periods when compared to daytime movements. Roads and man-made tracks were important for facilitating movement of the fox through its home range, with almost 97% of location fixes recorded within 100m of these features. The fox …

Distribution And Evolution Of Fukushima Dai-Ichi Derived 137cs, 90sr, And 129i In Surface Seawater Off The Coast Of Japan, Jennifer A. Kenyon, Ken O. Buesseler, Núria Casacuberta, Maxi Castrillejo, Shigeyoshi Otosaka, Pere Masqué, Jessica A. Drysdale, Steven M. Pike, Virginie Sanial

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 American Chemical Society. The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants (FDNPPs) accident in 2011 led to an unprecedented release of radionuclides into the environment. Particularly important are 90Sr and 137Cs due to their known health detriments and long half-lives (T1/2 ≈ 30 y) relative to ecological systems. These radionuclides can be combined with the longer-lived 129I (T1/2 = 15.7 My) to trace hydrologic, atmospheric, oceanic, and geochemical processes. This study seeks to evaluate 137Cs, 90Sr, and 129I concentrations in seawater off the coast of Japan, reconcile the sources of contaminated waters, and assess the application of 137Cs/90Sr, 129I/137Cs, and …

Sdg 3: Good Health And Well-Being - Framing Targets To Maximise Co-Benefits For Forests And People, Rosemary A. Mcfarlane, John Barry, Guéladio Cissé, Maya Gislason, Marta Gruca, Kerryn Higgs, Pierre Horwitz, Giang Nguyen, Jane O'Sullivan, Subhashis Sahu, Colin D. Butler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Key Points: The achievement of SDG 3 depends on many other SDGs; some SDGs are logically inconsistent, especially in the attempt to increase conventionally defined GDP while preserving natural capital. Any short-term gains for human health from further forest conversion (e.g. food production) creates short- and long-term, direct and indirect health risks for humans, as well as for other biota. Failure to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services (including family planning) will increase pressure on forests at local, regional and global scales. The burning and clearing of forests cause significant harm to health via impaired quality of …

Production And Ecosystem Structure In Cold‐Core Vs. Warm‐Core Eddies: Implications For The Zooplankton Isoscape And Rock Lobster Larvae, Anya M. Waite, Eric Raes, Lynnath E. Beckley, Peter A. Thompson, David Griffin, Megan Saunders, Christin Sawstrom, Richard O'Rorke, Miao Wang, Jason P. Landrum, Andrew Jeffs

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Anticyclonic (warm-core) mesoscale eddies (WCEs) in the Eastern Indian Ocean carry higher surface chlorophyll signatures than cyclonic (cold-core) eddies (CCEs). Paradoxically, WCEs host rock lobster larvae (phyllosomas) with lower lipid stores and protein reserves than phyllosomas in CCEs, suggesting a poorer nutritional status. We assess primary productivity and zooplankton isotopic data from eight eddies across four research voyages (2003–2011) to determine how this contradiction might occur. We find that WCEs and CCEs are equally productive per unit chlorophyll a, but depth-integrated primary production (PP) is greater in eddies with shallower mixed layers (MLs), especially in CCEs. MLs tend to be …

Seedling Xylem Anatomy Of Two Banksia Species Relative To Availability Of Groundwater, Melissa Karlinski

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fluctuating environmental conditions place plants at risk of mortality if they cannot adapt, particularly to warmer temperatures and drier environments. Plants are known to modify their morphology, physiology and anatomy to thrive under these conditions, and xylem anatomy and hydraulic architecture are common traits studied to understand plant adaptations and responses to changeable water availability. However, little is known about the changes to the hydraulic architecture of groundwater dependent plants during their early establishment in water-limited environments. By exposing young seedlings of two Banksia species to contrasting groundwater availability treatments in a glasshouse experiment, it was possible to analyse the …

Modeling Organic Carbon Accumulation Rates And Residence Times In Coastal Vegetated Ecosystems, E. Fay Belshe, Jose Sanjuan, Carmen Leiva-Dueñas, Nerea Piñeiro-Juncal, Oscar Serrano, Paul Lavery, Miguel Angel Mateo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Coastal vegetated “blue carbon” ecosystems can store large quantities of organic carbon (OC) within their soils; however, the importance of these sinks for climate change mitigation depends on the OC accumulation rate (CAR) and residence time. Here we evaluate how two modeling approaches, a Bayesian age-depth model alone or in combination with a two-pool OC model, aid in our understanding of the time lines of OC within seagrass soils. Fitting these models to data from Posidonia oceanica soil cores, we show that age-depth models provided reasonable CAR estimates but resulted in a 22% higher estimation of OC burial rates when …

Projected Sea Level Rise And The Conservation Ecology Of The Micronesian Megapode (Megapodius Laperouse Senex) In Palau, Micronesia, Paul M. Radley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Climate change has been a subject of numerous studies. While findings suggest that most biological taxa will be affected by its manifestations, aspects of a species life history may increase its susceptibility to climate change. Given their reliance on environmental sources of heat to incubate their eggs, I examined the vulnerability to climate change of the avian family Megapodiidae. I also assessed habitat use, susceptibility to sea level rise, and the effect of introduced rats and tourist presence, as added stressors to climate change, on the Micronesian Megapode (Megapodius

laperouse senex) in Palau.

Based on available literature, I …

Causes And Possible Consequences Of Hybridisation In Angelfishes At Christmas Island, Federico Vitelli

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The angelfishes (family Pomacanthidae) have the greatest proportion (~30%) of hybridising species, compared to other families of reef fishes, with 26 species implicated in hybridisation. However, very little is known about hybridisation in angelfish, especially in terms of fitness of the hybrids and possible ecological consequences. Hybrids between three species (C. flavissima, C. eibli and C. vroliki) in the genus Centropyge have previously been reported from Christmas island, where these have been observed in heterospecific harems and interbreeding. This provides the unique opportunity to examine the breakdown in assortative mating in marine fishes. The broad aim of this …

Biotime: A Database Of Biodiversity Time Series For The Anthropocene, Maria Dornelas, Laura H. Antão, Faye Moyes, Amanda E. Bates, Anne E. Magurran, Dušan Adam, Asem A. Akhmetzhanova, Ward Appeltans, José Manuel Arcos, Haley Arnold, Narayanan Ayyappan, Gal Badihi, Andrew H. Baird, Miguel Barbosa, Tiago Egydio Barreto, Claus Bässler, Alecia Bellgrove, Jonathan Belmaker, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Brian J. Bett, Anne D. Bjorkman, Magdalena Błażewicz, Shane A. Blowes, Christopher P. Bloch, Timothy C. Bonebrake, Susan Boyd, Matt Bradford, Andrew J. Brooks, James H. Brown, Helge Bruelheide, Phaedra Budy, Fernando Carvalho, Edward Castañeda-Moya, Chaolun Allen Chen, John F. Chamblee, Tory J. Chase, Laura Siegwart Collier, Sharon K. Collinge, Richard Condit, Elisabeth J. Cooper, J Hans C. Cornelissen, Unai Cotano, Shannan Kyle Crow, Gabriella Damasceno, Claire H. Davies, Robert A. Davis, Frank P. Day, Steven Degraer, Tim S. Doherty, Timothy E. Dunn, Giselda Durigan, J. Emmett Duffy, Dor Edelist, Graham J. Edgar, Robin Elahi, Sarah C. Elmendorf, Anders Enemar, S. K. Morgan Ernest, Rubén Escribano, Marc Estiarte, Brian S. Evans, Tung-Yung Fan, Fabiano Turini Farah, Luiz Loureiro Fernandes, Fábio Z. Farneda, Alessandra Fidelis, Robert Fitt, Anna Maria Fosaa, Geraldo Antonio Daher Correa Franco, Grace E. Frank, William R. Fraser, Hernando García, Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Or Givan, Elizabeth Gorgone-Barbosa, William A. Gould, Corinna Gries, Gary D. Grossman, Julio R. Gutierréz, Stephen Hale, Mark E. Harmon, John Harte, Gary Haskins, Donald L. Henshaw, Luise Hermanutz, Pamela Hidalgo, Pedro Higuchi, Andrew Hoey, Gert Van Hoey, Annika Hofgaard, Kristen Holeck, Robert D. Hollister, Richard Holmes, Mia Hoogenboom, Chih-Hao Hsieh, Stephen P. Hubbell, Falk Huettmann, Christine L. Huffard, Allen H. Hurlbert, Natália Macedo Ivanauskas, David Janík, Ute Jandt, Anna Jażdżewska, Tore Johannessen, Jill Johnstone, Julia Jones, Faith A. M. Jones, Jungwon Kang, Tasrif Kartawijaya, Erin C. Keeley, Douglas A. Kelt, Rebecca Kinnear, Kari Klanderud, Halvor Knutsen, Christopher C. Koenig, Alessandra R. Kortz, Kamil Král, Linda A. Kuhnz, Chao-Yang Kuo, David J. Kushner, Claire Laguionie-Marchais, Lesley T. Lancaster, Cheol Min Lee, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Esther Lévesque, David Lightfoot, Francisco Lloret, John D. Lloyd, Adrià López-Baucells, Maite Louzao, Joshua S. Madin, Borgþór Magnússon, Shahar Malamud, Iain Matthews, Kent P. Mcfarland, Brian Mcgill, Diane Mcknight, William O. Mclarney, Jason Meador, Peter L. Meserve, Daniel J. Metcalfe, Christoph F. J. Meyer, Anders Michelsen, Nataliya Milchakova, Tom Moens, Even Moland, Jon Moore, Carolina Mathias Moreira, Jörg Müller, Grace Murphy, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Randall W. Myster, Andrew Naumov, Francis Neat, James A. Nelson, Michael Paul Nelson, Stephen F. Newton, Natalia Norden, Jeffrey C. Oliver, Esben M. Olsen, Vladimir G. Onipchenko, Krzysztof Pabis, Robert J. Pabst, Alain Paquette, Sinta Pardede, David M. Paterson, Raphaël Pélissier, Josep Peñuelas, Alejandro Pérez-Matus, Oscar Pizarro, Francesco Pomati, Eric Post, Herbert H. T. Prins, John C. Priscu, Pieter Provoost, Kathleen L. Prudic, Erkki Pulliainen, B. R. Ramesh, Olivia Mendivil Ramos, Andrew Rassweiler, Jose Eduardo Rebelo, Daniel C. Reed, Peter B. Reich, Suzanne M. Remillard, Anthony J. Richardson, J. Paul Richardson, Itai Van Rijn, Ricardo Rocha, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Christian Rixen, Kevin P. Robinson, Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues, Denise De Cerqueira Rossa-Feres, Lars Rudstam, Henry Ruhl, Catalina S. Ruz, Erica M. Sampaio, Nancy Rybicki, Andrew Rypel, Sofia Sal, Beatriz Salgado, Flavio A. M. Santos, Ana Paula Savassi-Coutinho, Sara Scanga, Jochen Schmidt, Robert Schooley, Fakhrizal Setiawan, Kwang-Tsao Shao, Gaius R. Shaver, Sally Sherman, Thomas W. Sherry, Jacek Siciński, Caya Sievers, Ana Carolina Da Silva, Fernando Rodrigues Da Silva, Fabio L. Silveira, Jasper Slingsby, Tracey Smart, Sara J. Snell, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Gabriel B. G. Souza, Flaviana Maluf Souza, Vinícius Castro Souza, Christopher D. Stallings, Rowan Stanforth, Emily H. Stanley, José Mauro Sterza, Maarten Stevens, Rick Stuart-Smith, Yzel Rondon Suarez, Sarah Supp, Jorge Yoshio Tamashiro, Sukmaraharja Tarigan, Gary P. Thiede, Simon Thorn, Anne Tolvanen, Maria Teresa Zugliani Toniato, Ørjan Totland, Robert R. Twilley, Gediminas Vaitkus, Nelson Valdivia, Martha Isabel Vallejo, Thomas J. Valone, Carl Van Colen, Jan Vanaverbeke, Fabio Venturoli, Hans M. Verheye, Marcelo Vianna, Rui P. Vieira, Tomáš Vrška, Con Quang Vu, Lien Van Vu, Robert B. Waide, Conor Waldock, Dave Watts, Sara Webb, Tomasz Wesołowski, Ethan P. White, Claire E. Widdicombe, Dustin Wilgers, Richard Williams, Stefan B. Williams, Mark Williamson, Michael R. Willig, Trevor J. Willis, Sonja Wipf, Kerry D. Woods, Eric J. Woehler, Kyle Zawada, Michael L. Zettler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.

Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains …

Contemporary Fire Regimes Of The Arid Carnarvon Basin Region Of Western Australia, Megan Ladbrook, Eddie Van Etten, William D. Stock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study investigates the fire regime for the arid Carnarvon Basin region of Western Australia using remotely sensed imagery. A fire history database was constructed from satellite images to characterise the general fire regime and determine any effect of vegetation types and pre-fire weather and climate. The study area was divided into two sections (northern and southern) due to their inherently different vegetation and climate. A total of 23.8% (15,646 km2) of the study area was burnt during the 39-year study period. Heathland vegetation (54%) burnt the most extensively in the southern study area, and hummock grasslands (68%) in the …

Expanding Greenland Seagrass Meadows Contribute New Sediment Carbon Sinks, Núria Marbà, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Pere Masque´, Carlos M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The loss of natural carbon sinks, such as seagrass meadows, contributes to grenhouse gas emissions and, thus, global warming. Whereas seagrass meadows are declining in temperate and tropical regions, they are expected to expand into the Arctic with future warming. Using paleoreconstruction of carbon burial and sources of organic carbon to shallow coastal sediments of three Greenland seagrass (Zostera marina) meadows of contrasting density and age, we test the hypothesis that Arctic seagrass meadows are expanding along with the associated sediment carbon sinks. We show that sediments accreted before 1900 were highly 13C depleted, indicative of low inputs of seagrass …

Tracing Water Masses With 129i And 236u In The Subpolar North Atlantic Along The Geotraces Ga01 Section, Maxi Castrillijo, Núria Casacuberta, Marcus Christl, Christoph Vockenhuber, Hans A. Synall, Maribel I. García-Ibáñez, Pascale Lherminier, Géraldine Sarthou, Jordi García-Orellana, Pere Masqué

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Pathways and timescales of water mass transport in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean (SPNA) have been investigated by many studies due to their importance for the meridional overturning circulation and thus for the global ocean. In this sense, observational data on geochemical tracers provide complementary information to improve the current understanding of the circulation in the SPNA. To this end, we present the first simultaneous distribution of artificial 129I and 236U in 14 depth profiles and in surface waters along the GEOVIDE section covering a zonal transect through the SPNA in spring 2014. Our results show that the two tracers …

Organic Carbon Sequestration And Storage In Vegetated Coastal Habitats Along The Western Coast Of The Arabian Gulf, M Cusack, V Saderne, A Arias-Ortiz, Pere Masque, P K. Krishnakumar, L Rabaoui, M A. Qusem, P Prihartato, R A. Loughland, A A. Elyas, C M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Certain coastal ecosystems such as mangrove, saltmarsh and seagrass habitats have been identified as significant natural carbon sinks, through the sequestration and storage of carbon in their biomass and sediments, collectively known as 'blue carbon' ecosystems. These ecosystems can often thrive in extreme environments where terrestrial systems otherwise survive at the limit of their existence, such as in arid and desert regions of the globe. To further our understanding of the capability of blue carbon ecosystems to sequester and store carbon in such extreme climates, we measured carbon sediment stocks in 25 sites along the Western Arabian Gulf coast. While …

A Review Of Heat Stress Policies In The Context Of Climate Change And Its Impacts On Outdoor Workers: Evidence From Zimbabwe, Bigboy Ngwenya, Jacques Oosthuizen, Martyn Cross, Kwasi Frimpong, Cynthia N. Chaibva

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Record-breaking summer heat events are increasing in frequency in Zimbabwe and 2016 was a particularly hot year with the country experiencing its worst heat wave event in decades. Currently, Zimbabwe has no coordinated public health response to deal with heat wave events and no specific data on heat-related morbidity and mortality. The country has no legislation for protecting workers against environmental heat exposure, particularly those most vulnerable who are employed in the informal sector. These workers are also at risk due to their outdoor work environments. The article outlines the state of climate and heat stresses in Zimbabwe, as benchmarked …

The Distribution And Trophic Ecology Of Golden Ghost Crabs (Ocypode Convexa), Caitlin Rae

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Sandy beaches make up approximately three-quarters of the world’s shorelines. They are important ecosystems, hosting abundant invertebrate macrofaunal communities that provide food resource for vertebrate predators such as shorebirds, seabirds, marine mammals and fish. Although possessing a terrestrial appearance, food input on sandy beaches is derived predominantly from the sea. Such food input includes detrital matter, mostly in the form of wrack, and has the potential to support a great diversity of species, as well as stabilising energy fluxes and dynamics of consumer populations. The movement of detritus, along with other vectors such as organisms and nutrients, across ecosystem boundaries …

Within-Fire Patchiness Associated With Prescribed Burning In The Northern Jarrah Forests Of Western Australia, Zigourney Nielsen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There is growing understanding of the importance of landscape mosaics and heterogeneity for biodiversity outcomes in Western Australia. However, there is limited information on the patchiness (spatial configuration of unburnt and burnt patches which occur at a range of spatial scales) within the perimeter of a single prescribed burn. Of particular concern is the idea that prescribed burning operations, carried out under very restricted weather and environmental conditions, can lead to structural and floristic homogenization of the area within a burn perimeter. This may be evident as reduced post-fire vegetation patchiness. Western Australian Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forests are managed to …

The Value Of Animal Behaviour As A Bio-Indicator Of Restoration Quality, Floyd Holmes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Woodland restoration is a complex endeavour, and restoration ecology as a scientific discipline requires constant re-assessments and adjustments if it is to improve outcomes and better provide for biodiversity. The promise of effective restoration is often used to justify destructive processes that affect many of the world’s ecosystems. It is therefore imperative that those promises can be met, which comes down to restoration ecologists’ and land managers’ capacity to predict and facilitate desirable ecological changes in a timely and socio-economically responsible manner. As perspectives have changed, and knowledge has been gained over the past few decades there have been several …

Trophic Roles Of Tadpoles In Tropical Australian Streams, Katrin Schmidt, Melanie L. Blanchette, Richard G. Pearson, Ross A. Alford, Aaron M. Davis

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Tadpoles can be abundant consumers in stream ecosystems, and may influence the structure and function of streams through their feeding activities and interactions with other organisms. To understand the contribution of tadpoles to stream functioning, and the potential impact of their loss, it is necessary to determine their diets and how they might influence food-web structure. Using gut-content analysis and stable-isotope analysis of N and C, we determined the main food sources and trophic positions of tadpoles of five native frog species, invertebrates, and fish in upland and lowland Australian Wet Tropics streams. Omnivory was prevalent among the tadpoles and …

First Circumglobal Assessment Of Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whale Mitochondrial Genetic Variation And Implications For Management, Howard C. Rosenbaum, Francine Kershaw, Martín Mendez, Cristina Pomilla, Matthew S. Leslie, Ken P. Findlay, Peter B. Best, Timothy Collins, Michel Vely, Marcia H. Engel, Robert Baldwin, Gianna Minton, Michael Meÿer, Lilian Flórez-González, M. Michael Poole, Nan Hauser, Claire Garrigue, Muriel Brasseur, John Bannister, Megan Anderson, Carlos Olavarría, C. Scott Baker

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The description of genetic population structure over a species' geographic range can provide insights into its evolutionary history and also support effective management efforts. Assessments for globally distributed species are rare, however, requiring significant international coordination and collaboration. The global distribution of demographically discrete populations for the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae is not fully known, hampering the definition of appropriate management units. Here, we present the first circumglobal assessment of mito - chondrial genetic population structure across the species' range in the Southern Hemisphere and Arabian Sea. We combine new and existing data from the mitochondrial (mt)DNA control region that …

Freshwater Future: The Influence Of Exposure To Extreme Summer Rainfall Events On The Resistance And Recovery Patterns Of An Estuarine Seagrass, Chanelle Webster

Theses : Honours

Restoring and maintaining the ecological resilience of seagrass ecosystems will be a major challenge of the 21st century. The decline of seagrasses worldwide is attributed to the erosion or elimination of their ecological resilience driven by human impacts, extreme climate events and climate change. Ecological resilience refers to the ability of ecosystems to resist or recover from disturbances whilst maintaining their integral structure and function. Seagrass resilience is influenced by life history, meadow form (transitory or enduring) and habitat type. The purpose of this honours project was to investigate the influence of extreme climate events and meadow form on a …

Biodiversity Monitoring Using Environmental Dna: Can It Detect All Fish Species In A Waterbody And Is It Cost Effective For Routine Monitoring?, Lia Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The challenges associated with environmental monitoring such as the impact on the environment and the financial costs are problems we face when trying to conserve freshwater systems around the world. The need for precise and accurate results that are cost effective is important so that we can achieve our conservation goals.

The overall aim of this study was to explore Next-Generation - metabarcoding for the detection of feral and native freshwater fish species based on the DNA shed by individual organisms into the water column. Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) primers were developed for this study using DNA from six …