ORCID Profile
0000-0002-9511-905X
Current Organisation
Macquarie University
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Ecology | Ecological Applications | Ecology And Evolution Not Elsewhere Classified | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Ecosystem Function | Marine And Estuarine Ecology (Incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Microbial Ecology | Global Change Biology | Microbiology | Environment And Resource Economics | Biological Mathematics | Biotechnology Not Elsewhere Classified | Evolutionary Biology | Bio-Remediation | Population Ecology | Other Biological Sciences | Genome Structure | Applied Economics | Phycology | Fermentation, Biotechnology And Industrial Microbiology | Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Living resources (incl. impacts of fishing on non-target species) | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Land and water management | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Environments | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Marine protected areas | Biological sciences | Climate change | Land and water management | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Aquaculture | Coastal and Estuarine Water Management | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Marine Environments |
Related Links
Publications
Modelling coral reef futures to inform management: Can reducing local-scale stressors conserve reefs under climate change?
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-11-2013
Effects of spatial resolution on the performance and interpretation of marine ecosystem models
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2004
Forming sea urchin barrens from the inside out: an alternative pattern of overgrazing
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 19-09-2012
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09881
Using molecular prey detection to quantify rock lobster predation on barrens-forming sea urchins
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-07-2014
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.12795
Abstract: We apply qPCR molecular techniques to detect in situ rates of consumption of sea urchins (Centrostephanus rodgersii and Heliocidaris erythrogramma) by rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii). A non-lethal method was used to source faecal s les from trap-caught lobsters over 2 years within two no-take research reserves. There was high variability in the proportion of lobsters with faeces positive for sea urchin DNA across years and seasons dependent on lobster size. Independent estimates of lobster predation rate on sea urchins (determined from observed declines in urchin abundances in the reserves relative to control sites) suggest that rates of molecular prey detection generally overestimated predation rates. Also, small lobsters known to be incapable of directly predating emergent sea urchins showed relatively high rates of positive tests. These results indicate that some lobsters ingest non-predatory sources of sea urchin DNA, which may include (i) ingestion of C. rodgersii DNA from the benthos (urchin DNA is detectable in sediments and some lobsters yield urchin DNA in faeces when fed urchin faeces or sediment) (ii) scavenging and/or predation by rock lobsters on small pre-emergent urchins that live cryptically within the reef matrix (although this possibility could not be assessed). While the DNA-based approach and direct monitoring of urchin populations both indicate high predation rates of large lobsters on emergent urchins, the study shows that in some cases absolute predation rates and inferences of predator-prey interactions cannot be reliably estimated from molecular signals obtained from the faeces of benthic predators. At a broad semi-quantitative level, the approach is useful to identify relative magnitudes of predation and temporal and spatial variability in predation.
Hotspots of exotic free‐spawning sex: man‐made environment facilitates success of an invasive seastar
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-05-2012
Climate change cascades: Shifts in oceanography, species' ranges and subtidal marine community dynamics in eastern Tasmania
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2011
Biogeochemical marine ecosystem models I: IGBEM—a model of marine bay ecosystems
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2004
Organellar genomes of giant kelp from the southern hemisphere
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-03-2023
The Antarctic Seafloor Annotated Imagery Database
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 18-02-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.16.528770
Abstract: Marine imagery is a comparatively cost-effective way to collect data on seafloor organisms, bio ersity and habitat morphology. However, annotating these images to extract detailed biological information is time-consuming and expensive, and reference libraries of consistently annotated seafloor images are rarely publicly available. Here, we present the Antarctic Seafloor Annotated Imagery Database (AS-AID), a result of a multinational collaboration to collate and annotate regional seafloor imagery datasets from 19 Antarctic research cruises between 1985 and 2019. AS-AID comprises of 3,599 georeferenced downward facing seafloor images that have been labelled with a total of 615,051 expert annotations. Annotations are based on the CATAMI (Collaborative and Automated Tools for Analysis of Marine Imagery) classification scheme and have been reviewed by experts. In addition, because the pixel location of each annotation within each image is available, annotations can be viewed easily and customised to suit in idual research priorities. This dataset can be used to investigate species distributions, community patterns, it provides a reference to assess change through time, and can be used to train algorithms to automatically detect and annotate marine fauna.
Biogeochemical marine ecosystem models II: the effect of physiological detail on model performance
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2004
Large-scale geographic variation in distribution and abundance of Australian deep-water kelp forests
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-02-2015
Genetic structure of a recent climate change-driven range extension
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-04-2010
Keeping Children Safe in Out‐of‐School‐Hours Care: Perceptions of Staff and Managers of One Provider in Sydney, Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-06-2021
DOI: 10.1002/CAR.2683
Abstract: This study explores perceptions of child abuse and child protection matters involving staff working in the out‐of‐school‐hours care (OSHC) sector. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through an online survey, focus group and interviews with staff and managers employed by one organisation that provided OSHC services in Sydney, Australia. This paper reports on their perceptions about implementing mandatory reporting requirements associated with the concepts of ‘significant harm’ and ‘reportable conduct’. The aim of this paper is to engage OSHC stakeholders, including government, in reviewing child protection policies and practices to support educators in their work with children. Key findings indicate the inadequacy of available training, and the importance of relationships and communication between stakeholders, especially OSHC and school staff. This requires systemic change including raising the status of OSHC and the critical role that these educators have in supporting children's development, learning and wellbeing during the early years of school. It is important that leadership supports educators to engage in respectful partnerships with families and schools to ensure child protection, and thereby child wellbeing and learning outcomes Training in supporting children's safety and wellbeing in OSHC is critical. There is a need for a systems approach to OSHC services which places children's development, learning and wellbeing at the forefront of professional practice. ‘Explores perceptions of child abuse and child protection matters involving staff working in the out‐of‐school‐hours care (OSHC) sector’
Monitoring associations between clade-level variation, overall community structure and ecosystem function in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems using terminal-restriction fragment l
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2010.07.028
Abstract: The role of Candidatus "Accumulibacter phosphatis" (Accumulibacter) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is well established but the relevance of different Accumulibacter clades to the performance of EBPR systems is unknown. We developed a terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique to monitor changes in the relative abundance of key members of the bacterial community, including Accumulibacter clades, in four replicate mini-sequencing batch reactors (mSBRs) operated for EBPR over a 35-day period. The ability of the T-RFLP technique to detect trends was confirmed using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). EBPR performance varied between reactors and over time by day 35, performance was maintained in mSBR2 whilst it had deteriorated in mSBR1. However, reproducible trends in structure-function relationships were detected in the mSBRs. EBPR performance was strongly associated with the relative abundance of total Accumulibacter. A shift in the ratio of the dominant Accumulibacter clades was also detected, with Type IA associated with good EBPR performance and Type IIC associated with poor EBPR performance. Changes in ecosystem function of the mSBRs in the early stages of the experiment were more closely associated with changes in the abundance of (unknown) members of the flanking community than of either Accumulibacter or Candidatus "Competibacter phosphatis". This study therefore reveals a hitherto unrecorded and complex relationship between Accumulibacter clades, the flanking community and ecosystem function of laboratory-scale EBPR systems.
Regional-scale scenario modeling for coral reefs: A decision support tool to inform management of a complex system
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2011
DOI: 10.1890/09-1564.1
Abstract: The worldwide decline of coral reefs threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities and puts at risk valuable ecosystem services provided by reefs. There is a pressing need for robust predictions of potential futures of coral reef and associated human systems under alternative management scenarios. Understanding and predicting the dynamics of coral reef systems at regional scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers is imperative, because reef systems are connected by physical and socioeconomic processes across regions and often across international boundaries. We present a spatially explicit regional-scale model of ecological dynamics for a general coral reef system. In designing our model as a tool for decision support, we gave precedence to portability and accessibility the model can be parameterized for dissimilar coral reef systems in different parts of the world, and the model components and outputs are understandable for nonexperts. The model simulates local-scale dynamics, which are coupled across regions through larval connectivity between reefs. We validate our model using an instantiation for the Meso-American Reef system. The model realistically captures local and regional ecological dynamics and responds to external forcings in the form of harvesting, pollution, and physical damage (e.g., hurricanes, coral bleaching) to produce trajectories that largely fall within limits observed in the real system. Moreover, the model demonstrates behaviors that have relevance for management considerations. In particular, differences in larval supply between reef localities drive spatial variability in modeled reef community structure. Reef tracts for which recruitment is low are more vulnerable to natural disturbance and synergistic effects of anthropogenic stressors. Our approach provides a framework for projecting the likelihood of different reef futures at local to regional scales, with important applications for the management of complex coral reef systems.
Overfishing reduces resilience of kelp beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 29-12-2009
Abstract: A key consideration in assessing impacts of climate change is the possibility of synergistic effects with other human-induced stressors. In the ocean realm, climate change and overfishing pose two of the greatest challenges to the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems. In eastern Tasmania, temperate coastal waters are warming at approximately four times the global ocean warming average, representing the fastest rate of warming in the Southern Hemisphere. This has driven range extension of the ecologically important long-spined sea urchin ( Centrostephanus rodgersii ), which has now commenced catastrophic overgrazing of productive Tasmanian kelp beds leading to loss of bio ersity and important rocky reef ecosystem services. Coincident with the overgrazing is heavy fishing of reef-based predators including the spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii . By conducting experiments inside and outside Marine Protected Areas we show that fishing, by removing large predatory lobsters, has reduced the resilience of kelp beds against the climate-driven threat of the sea urchin and thus increased risk of catastrophic shift to widespread sea urchin barrens. This shows that interactions between multiple human-induced stressors can exacerbate nonlinear responses of ecosystems to climate change and limit the adaptive capacity of these systems. Management actions focused on reducing the risk of catastrophic phase shift in ecosystems are particularly urgent in the face of ongoing warming and unprecedented levels of predator removal from the world's oceans.
Exploring alternative states in ecological systems with a qualitative analysis of community feedback
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2011
A multi-scale biophysical model to inform regional management of coral reefs in the western Philippines and South China Sea
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
Space - Time variation in catchability of southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii in Tasmania explained by environmental, physiological and density-dependent processes
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2003
Long-term trends in invertebrate–habitat relationships under protected and fished conditions
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-05-2014
Global regime shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-01-2015
Abstract: A pronounced, widespread and persistent regime shift among marine ecosystems is observable on temperate rocky reefs as a result of sea urchin overgrazing. Here, we empirically define regime-shift dynamics for this grazing system which transitions between productive macroalgal beds and impoverished urchin barrens. Catastrophic in nature, urchin overgrazing in a well-studied Australian system demonstrates a discontinuous regime shift, which is of particular management concern as recovery of desirable macroalgal beds requires reducing grazers to well below the initial threshold of overgrazing. Generality of this regime-shift dynamic is explored across 13 rocky reef systems (spanning 11 different regions from both hemispheres) by compiling available survey data (totalling 10 901 quadrats surveyed in situ ) plus experimental regime-shift responses (observed during a total of 57 in situ manipulations). The emergent and globally coherent pattern shows urchin grazing to cause a discontinuous ‘catastrophic’ regime shift, with hysteresis effect of approximately one order of magnitude in urchin biomass between critical thresholds of overgrazing and recovery. Different life-history traits appear to create asymmetry in the pace of overgrazing versus recovery. Once shifted, strong feedback mechanisms provide resilience for each alternative state thus defining the catastrophic nature of this regime shift. Importantly, human-derived stressors can act to erode resilience of desirable macroalgal beds while strengthening resilience of urchin barrens, thus exacerbating the risk, spatial extent and irreversibility of an unwanted regime shift for marine ecosystems.
Regional-scale scenario analysis for the Meso-American Reef system: Modelling coral reef futures under multiple stressors
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2011
Assessing the ecological impacts of an introduced seastar: The importance of multiple methods
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2003
Population genomic analysis reveals genetic structure and thermal-tolerant genotypes in remnant Tasmanian giant kelp populations
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 10-10-2023
Understanding community-habitat associations of temperate reef fishes using fine-resolution bathymetric measures of physical structure
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 23-06-2014
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10788
The 'Great Southern Reef': Social, ecological and economic value of Australia's neglected kelp forests
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF15232
Abstract: Kelp forests define km of temperate coastline across southern Australia, where ~70% of Australians live, work and recreate. Despite this, public and political awareness of the scale and significance of this marine ecosystem is low, and research investment miniscule ( %), relative to comparable ecosystems. The absence of an identity for Australia’s temperate reefs as an entity has probably contributed to the current lack of appreciation of this system, which is at odds with its profound ecological, social and economic importance. We define the ‘Great Southern Reef’ (GSR) as Australia’s spatially connected temperate reef system. The GSR covers ~71000km2 and represents a global bio ersity hotspot across at least nine phyla. GSR-related fishing and tourism generates at least AU$10 billion year–1, and in this context the GSR is a significant natural asset for Australia and globally. Maintaining the health and ecological functioning of the GSR is critical to the continued sustainability of human livelihoods and wellbeing derived from it. By recognising the GSR as an entity we seek to boost awareness, and take steps towards negotiating the difficult challenges the GSR faces in a future of unprecedented coastal population growth and global change.
Density‐dependence and seasonal variation in reproductive output and sporophyte production in the kelp, Ecklonia radiata
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-11-2021
DOI: 10.1111/JPY.13214
Abstract: The kelp, Ecklonia radiata , is an abundant subtidal ecosystem engineer in southern Australia. Density‐dependent changes in the abiotic environment engineered by Ecklonia may feedback to affect reproduction and subsequent recruitment. Here, we examined: 1) how the reproductive capacity of Ecklonia in iduals in the field (zoospores released · mm −2 reproductive tissue) varied with adult density and time, and 2) how the recruitment of microscopic gametophytes and sporophytes was influenced by zoospore density at two times. Zoospore production did not vary with adult density, with only one month out of ten s led over a 2‐y period showing a significant effect of density. However, zoospore production varied hugely over time, being generally highest in mid‐autumn and lowest in mid‐late summer. There were strong effects of initial zoospore density on gametophyte and sporophyte recruitment with both a minimum and an optimum zoospore density for sporophyte recruitment, but these varied in time. Almost no sporophytes developed when initial zoospore density was .5 · mm −2 in spring or .5 · mm −2 in winter with optimum densities of 90‐355 · mm −2 in spring and 21‐261 · mm −2 in winter, which resulted in relatively high recruitment of 4‐7 sporophytes · mm −2 . Sporophyte recruitment declined at initial zoospore densities · mm −2 in spring and · mm −2 in winter and was zero at very high zoospore densities. These findings suggest that although adult Ecklonia density does not affect per‐capita zoospore production, because there is a minimum zoospore density for sporophyte production, a decline in population‐level output could feedback to impact recruitment.
Reproductive potential of a marine ecosystem engineer at the edge of a newly expanded range
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-01-2008
Abundance of the introduced seastar, Asterias amurensis, and spatial variability in soft sediment assemblages in SE Tasmania: Clear correlations but complex interpretation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2006
Climate-driven range extension of a sea urchin: inferring future trends by analysis of recent population dynamics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2009
Mortality and predation in ecosystem models: is it important how these are expressed?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2003
The influence of wound location on decay extent in plantation-grown Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus nitens
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2007
Variability in the impact of an introduced predator (Asterias amurensis: Asteroidea) on soft-sediment assemblages
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2003
Find your tribe! Early childhood educators defining and identifying key factors that support their workplace wellbeing
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 03-09-2019
Abstract: Historically, research on educator wellbeing has focused on ill health including stress, burnout and emotional exhaustion. There is a dearth of research examining healthy workplace wellbeing among early childhood educators, which makes developing strategies to support their wellbeing difficult. Moreover, there is a lack of clarity about the concept of educator workplace wellbeing and a lack of understanding of the complex interplay between factors supporting and thwarting wellbeing within long day-care centres. This two-phase study used a mixed-methods research design. Presented in this paper are the findings from phase one. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 early childhood educators in long day-care centres reflected on educator workplace wellbeing as a broad concept encompassing social, emotional, physical and economic factors. Educator ‘voices’ provided insight into the in idual, relational and contextual elements impacting on their personal workplace wellbeing.
Stop ignoring map uncertainty in biodiversity science and conservation policy
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-05-2022
Detecting ecological regime shifts from transect data
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-08-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECM.1312
Trophic effects of fishing southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii shown by combined fatty acid and stable isotope analyses
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 19-08-2009
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS08096
Repeated AUV surveying of urchin barrens in north eastern Tasmania
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 05-2010
Mesoscale dispersal of the introduced kelp Undaria pinnatifida attached to unstable substrata
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1515/BOT.2006.051
A molecular approach to identify prey of the southern rock lobster
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 28-04-2008
DOI: 10.1017/S0007485308005981
Abstract: We demonstrate the use of molecular techniques to detect specific prey consumed by the southern rock lobster ( Jasus edwardsii ). A quick and non-lethal method was used to collect rock lobster faecal material and a molecular protocol was employed to isolate prey DNA from faecal s les. The isolated DNA was lified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with PCR primers designed to target specific prey items. Feeding experiments determined that DNA from black-lipped abalone ( Haliotis rubra ) and sea urchins ( Centrostephanus rodgersii and Heliocidaris erythrogramma ) can be detected in rock lobster faecal s les within seven hours and remains present for up to 60 h after ingestion.
Quantification of the impacts of finfish aquaculture and bioremediation capacity of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture using a 3D estuary model
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-10-2016
Characterizing sensitivity and uncertainty in a multiscale model of a complex coral reef system
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2011
Limited effectiveness of divers to mitigate ‘barrens’ formation by culling sea urchins while fishing for abalone
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF14255
Abstract: Climate-driven incursion of the long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) in eastern Tasmania has prompted calls for strong management intervention given the urchins’ capacity to overgraze kelp beds and cause local collapse of valuable reef fisheries. We examined the effectiveness of commercial ers culling C. rodgersii while undertaking otherwise normal fishing for black-lip abalone (Haliotis rubra). Diver effort appears to be driven by fishing yield and not the opportunity to maximise numbers of urchins culled the greatest culls occurred on shorter es when abalone fishing was poor. Despite culling thousands of urchins, ers culled urchins only from within a small proportion of the total barrens patches on particular reefs. Thus, urchin density, size-frequency of barrens patches, and benthic community structure showed no detectable change relative to ‘no-cull’ control reefs. Nonetheless, ers were effective in culling urchins in the few patches they targeted, and these patches were quickly recolonised by canopy-forming kelps. Ongoing urchin culling by abalone ers will increase resilience of the kelp habitats on which the valuable abalone fishery depends, but only at highly localised spatial scales (10m). The effectiveness of this control strategy is dependent on sustainable local harvest of abalone warranting recurrent er visitation to affected sites. However, abalone ers culling urchins while fishing are unlikely to control urchin densities at scales ≥102 m.
Phenotypic plasticity and biogeographic variation in physiology of habitat-forming seaweed: response to temperature and nitrate
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/JPY.12330
Abstract: Southeastern Australian waters are warming at nearly four times the global average rate (~0.7°C · century(-1) ) driven by strengthening incursions of the warm oligotrophic East Australian Current. The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) predicts that nutrient depletion will impact more severely on seaweeds at high latitudes with compressed growth seasons. This study investigates the effects of temperature and nutrients on the ecophysiology of the habitat-forming seaweed Phyllospora comosa in a laboratory experiment using temperature (12°C, 17°C, 22°C) and nutrient (0.5, 1.0, 3.0 μM NO3 (-) ) scenarios representative of observed variation among geographic regions. Changes in growth, photosynthetic characteristics (via chlorophyll fluorescence), pigment content, tissue chemistry (δ(13) C, % C, % N, C:N) and nucleic acid characteristics (absolute RNA and DNA, RNA:DNA ratios) were determined in seaweeds derived from cool, high-latitude and warm, low-latitude portions of the species' range. Performance of P. comosa was unaffected by nitrate availability but was strongly temperature-dependent, with photosynthetic efficiency, growth, and survival significantly impaired at 22°C. While some physiological processes (photosynthesis, nucleic acid, and accessory pigment synthesis) responded rapidly to temperature, others (C/N dynamics, carbon concentrating processes) were largely invariant and biogeographic variation in these characteristics may only occur through genetic adaptation. No link was detected between nutrient availability, RNA synthesis and growth, and the GRH was not supported in this species. While P. comosa at high latitudes may be less susceptible to oligotrophy than predicted by the GRH, warming water temperatures will have deleterious effects on this species across its range unless rapid adaptation is possible.
Population dynamics of an ecologically important range-extender: kelp beds versus sea urchin barrens
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 13-01-2009
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS07729
Early childhood educators’ workplace well-being: It’s everyone’s right!
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 29-10-2020
Abstract: Extant literature on Early Childhood educator workplace well-being focuses on the disease model of well-being, with studies mainly addressing stress and burnout. There is a paucity of research conceptualising healthy workplace well-being for educators and an absence of theorising to frame, understand and enhance Early Childhood educator workplace well-being. This paper reports on Phase 2 of an exploratory sequential mixed methods study, which aimed to explore the in idual, relational, and contextual factors influencing healthy workplace well-being. Using Phase 1 interview findings (Author, blind for review), a survey was developed to investigate predictors on workplace well-being in early childhood services in Australia. The survey drew on the sub-theory ‘Basic psychological needs’ of Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that autonomy, relatedness, and competence predicted workplace well-being even after controlling for demographic and organisation variables.
Interaction and impacts of two introduced species on a soft-sediment marine assemblage in SE Tasmania
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2004
An experimental model for the spatial structuring and selection of bacterial communities
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIMET.2011.08.010
Abstract: Community-level selection is an important concept in evolutionary biology and has been predicted to arise in systems that are spatially structured. Here we develop an experimental model for spatially-structured bacterial communities based on coaggregating strains and test their relative fitness under a defined selection pressure. As selection we apply protozoan grazing in a defined, continuous culturing system. We demonstrate that a slow-growing bacterial strain Blastomonas natatoria 2.1, which forms coaggregates with Micrococcus luteus, can outcompete a fast-growing, closely related strain Blastomonas natatoria 2.8 under conditions of protozoan grazing. The competitive benefit provided by spatial structuring has implications for the evolution of natural bacterial communities in the environment.
Modeling macroalgae growth and nutrient dynamics for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-07-2015
Corrigendum to Sensitivity analysis and pattern-oriented validation of TRITON, a model with alternative community states: Insights on temperate rocky reefs dynamics [Ecol. Model. 258 (2013) 16-32]
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2014
Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-02-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15539
Abstract: Globally, collapse of ecosystems—potentially irreversible change to ecosystem structure, composition and function—imperils bio ersity, human health and well‐being. We examine the current state and recent trajectories of 19 ecosystems, spanning 58° of latitude across 7.7 M km 2 , from Australia's coral reefs to terrestrial Antarctica. Pressures from global climate change and regional human impacts, occurring as chronic ‘presses’ and/or acute ‘pulses’, drive ecosystem collapse. Ecosystem responses to 5–17 pressures were categorised as four collapse profiles—abrupt, smooth, stepped and fluctuating. The manifestation of widespread ecosystem collapse is a stark warning of the necessity to take action. We present a three‐step assessment and management framework (3As Pathway Awareness , Anticipation and Action ) to aid strategic and effective mitigation to alleviate further degradation to help secure our future.
Marine reserves reduce risk of climate-driven phase shift by reinstating size- and habitat-specific trophic interactions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2012
DOI: 10.1890/11-1587.1
Abstract: Spatial closures in the marine environment are widely accepted as effective conservation and fisheries management tools. Given increasing human-derived stressors acting on marine ecosystems, the need for such effective action is urgently clear. Here we explore mechanisms underlying the utility of marine reserves to reinstate trophic dynamics and to increase resilience of kelp beds against climate-driven phase shift to sea urchin barrens on the rapidly warming Tasmanian east coast. Tethering and tagging experiments were used to examine size- and shelter-specific survival of the range-extending sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii (Diadematidae) translocated to reefs inside and outside no-take Tasmanian marine reserves. Results show that survival rates of C. rodgersii exposed on flat reef substratum by tethering were approximately seven times (small urchins 10.1 times large urchins 6.1 times) lower on protected reef within marine reserve boundaries (high abundance of large predatory-capable lobsters) compared to fished reef (large predatory lobsters absent). When able to seek crevice shelter, tag-resighting models estimated that mortality rates of C. rodgersii were lower overall but remained 3.3 times (small urchins 2.1 times large urchins 6.4 times) higher in the presence of large lobsters inside marine reserves, with higher survival of small urchins owing to greater access to crevices relative to large urchins. Indeed, shelter was 6.3 times and 3.1 times more important to survival of small and large urchins, respectively, on reserved relative to fished reef. Experimental results corroborate with surveys throughout the range extension region, showing greater occurrence of overgrazing on high-relief rocky habitats where shelter for C. rodgersii is readily available. This shows that ecosystem impacts mediated by range extension of such habitat-modifying organisms will be heterogeneous in space, and that marine systems with a more natural complement of large and thus functional predators, as achievable within no-take reserves, will minimize local risk of phase shifts by reinstating size and habitat-specific predator-prey dynamics eroded by fishing. Importantly, our findings also highlight the crucial need to account for the influence of size dynamics and habitat complexity on rates of key predator-prey interactions when managing expectations of ecosystem-level responses within marine reserve boundaries.
Thinning of kelp canopy modifies understory assemblages: the importance of canopy density
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 06-11-2014
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10964
Sensitivity analysis and pattern-oriented validation of TRITON, a model with alternative community states: Insights on temperate rocky reefs dynamics
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2013
Determining marine bioregions: A comparison of quantitative approaches
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-08-2020
Building Resilience Against Climate-Driven Shifts in a Temperate Reef System: Staying Away from Context-Dependent Ecological Thresholds
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-09-2016
Trophic mediation and ecosystem stability: An assessment using qualitative network models
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-09-2021
DOI: 10.1002/LNO.11926
Abstract: Nontrophic interactions can contribute to negative and positive feedbacks within a community, thus affecting likelihood of regime shifts however, assessing the nature and importance of these effects in a network remains challenging, especially for pelagic ecosystems. Here, we present a qualitative modeling approach for assessing the importance of different effects and resultant feedbacks for community stability, using a Southern Ocean ex le. A potentially important positive feedback in the Southern Ocean ecosystem involves production of a chemical cue, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), by some phytoplankton. Production of DMS can promote phytoplankton growth by attracting predators of phytoplankton‐grazers, and nutrients released as feces from those predators help fertilize the water column. We explored how uncertainties in the nature of this feedback affect community stability in a set of small, community models. We found that stability varied substantially depending on how the community was modeled, but that the interactions most important for determining stability were consistent across all models. Model stability was sensitive to the strength of phytoplankton competition, controls on phytoplankton, DMS production and release, and predator attraction to DMS, suggesting that the community could be destabilized by perturbation affecting these interactions. Incorporating DMS‐mediated feedbacks into a larger Southern Ocean network had a moderate impact on stability characteristics and altered the trophic level at which the system would be most vulnerable to perturbation.
Impacts of introduced seaweeds
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Date: 16-01-2007
Interacting forces of predation and fishing affect species’ maturation size
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.6995
Abstract: Fishing is a strong selective force and is supposed to select for earlier maturation at smaller body size. However, the extent to which fishing‐induced evolution is shaping ecosystems remains debated. This is in part because it is challenging to disentangle fishing from other selective forces (e.g., size‐structured predation and cannibalism) in complex ecosystems undergoing rapid change. Changes in maturation size from fishing and predation have previously been explored with multi‐species physiologically structured models but assumed separation of ecological and evolutionary timescales. To assess the eco‐evolutionary impact of fishing and predation at the same timescale, we developed a stochastic physiologically size‐structured food‐web model, where new phenotypes are introduced randomly through time enabling dynamic simulation of species' relative maturation sizes under different types of selection pressures. Using the model, we carried out a fully factorial in silico experiment to assess how maturation size would change in the absence and presence of both fishing and predation (including cannibalism). We carried out ten replicate stochastic simulations exposed to all combinations of fishing and predation in a model community of nine interacting fish species ranging in their maximum sizes from 10 g to 100 kg. We visualized and statistically analyzed the results using linear models. The effects of fishing on maturation size depended on whether or not predation was enabled and differed substantially across species. Fishing consistently reduced the maturation sizes of two largest species whether or not predation was enabled and this decrease was seen even at low fishing intensities ( F = 0.2 per year). In contrast, the maturation sizes of the three smallest species evolved to become smaller through time but this happened regardless of the levels of predation or fishing. For the four medium‐size species, the effect of fishing was highly variable with more species showing significant and larger fishing effects in the presence of predation. Ultimately our results suggest that the interactive effects of predation and fishing can have marked effects on species' maturation sizes, but that, at least for the largest species, predation does not counterbalance the evolutionary effect of fishing. Our model also produced relative maturation sizes that are broadly consistent with empirical estimates for many fish species.
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP1096573
Start Date: 06-2010
End Date: 06-2015
Amount: $275,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0452665
Start Date: 2004
End Date: 12-2007
Amount: $210,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP130101113
Start Date: 06-2013
End Date: 12-2017
Amount: $325,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivitySuper Science Fellowships - Grant ID: FS110200029
Start Date: 01-2012
End Date: 12-2016
Amount: $556,800.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0773857
Start Date: 2007
End Date: 02-2011
Amount: $485,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP190101858
Start Date: 03-2019
End Date: 08-2023
Amount: $660,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivitySpecial Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354638
Start Date: 01-2004
End Date: 12-2004
Amount: $20,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0559246
Start Date: 03-2005
End Date: 12-2008
Amount: $260,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity