The phase "marine gunk" was coined by some of my invertebrate
zoology students and includes all the sessile marine invertebrates
that provide structure and colour to marine benthic communities
but are not charismatic enough to warrant their own protection society.
The organisms were are generally talking about here are the sponges,
ascidians and bryozoans-some of the most conspicuous and cosmopolitan
animals on the planet but also some of the most understudied. I
am generally interested in how changes in the environment can effect
marine organisms and communities. The research in my lab focuses
on three general areas
Benthic-Pelagic Coupling
Physical-Biological Processes
Deep Sea Research
And sometimes two of the areas overlap to form projects on the
physical processes associated with benthic-pelagic coupling.
Deep Sea Research
| This lab is a member
of SERPENT. SERPENT
is a novel collaboration between the major players in the
oil and gas industry which aims to increase access to cutting
edge ROV technology for the world's science community and
to progress knowledge and techniques of in situ experimentation,
interaction with other research communities worldwide and
to increase the general public's awareness of our marine resources.
Read 'Unravelling secrets of The Deep' here.
A feature article from the Woodside Energy Ltd. employee magazine.
Current Projects
The SEA (South East Asia) SERPENT part of the global programme
is now expanding through a series of new offshore missions
and projects and new industry partners. We are currently conducting
research in Bass Straight and off the Northwest Shelf of Australia.
Our aims in this lab, as part of SEA SERPENT, are to develop
the fundamental deep-sea science that will underpin environmentally
sustainable drilling practices. Take a look at the latest
SERPENT Scene Newsletter here
to read all about it our most current project.
We have conducted 8 SERPENT missions over the last two years
and 2007 hopes to bring more adventures and new discoveries.
A recent mission was down to Bass Strait where Adele and honours
student Gareth Andrews carried out detailed ROV megafaunal
video surveys and deployed bait traps and food arrays within
and outside of the drill spoil to determine the effects of
the physical disturbance associated with drilling on the diet
of benthic fauna. For mission logs of our other voyages, click
here.
Our next missions are out to the Northwest Shelf in March
and April…stayed tuned!
We have also been involved in using the deep sea submersible
Pisces V in 2005 to explore the volcano for the first time.
We will be examining the impact of volcanic fluids on benthic
communities at the Vialulu'u, an undersea volcano near Samoa.
This research is in collaboration with Drs Hubert
Staudigel, Craig
Young and Ray
Lee. This research is funded by the Hawaii
Undersea Research Laboratory and an ARC linkage grant.
Recent publication: Staudigel
et al. 2006
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Physical-Biological Processes
| Plant structure changes in response
to high energy environments from wind or water currents (thicker
tree stems, smaller, tougher algal fronds); and plant chemistry
may also change. Importantly, plant characteristics that alter
due to energy regimes are likely to affect herbivory. This
link between energy and herbivory remains essentially unstudied
in ecological systems despite its broad relevance. I am currently
undertaking a study with Clare
McArthur and Charlie
Warren which will quantify and compare effects of wind
and water currents on plant-herbivore interactions. We will
use mammalian/invertebrate herbivores, true plants/algae,
and terrestrial/aquatic environments to test of the generality
and significance of wind and water currents as a driving force
in ecosystem interactions.
Recent Publication: Prowse
& Pile 2005 |
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Benthic-Pelagic Coupling
| In the marine environment the
community of organisms that live in the water column and those
that live in the benthos are linked by a series of processes.
For example, plankton is a major source of food for most benthic
animals and nitrogenous waste from benthic animals supports
plankton growth. Currently we are studying the role of sponges
and bryozoans in linking the pelagic microbial food web to
the benthos.
Recent Publication: Pile 2005
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