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RESEARCH

Flowchart of research catergories; Thermal Ecology, Movement Ecology and Population Dynamics

The research in our lab focuses on the thermal ecology, movement ecology and population dynamics of freshwater fishes. These seemingly disparate fields of research are actually tightly linked.

 

Most fishes cannot physiologically regulate their body temperature and, as a result, their temperature is mainly determined by that of the surrounding water. Therefore, water temperature influences all aspects of a fish’s life (e.g. growth, reproduction, survival) and in fact it has long been considered “the master environmental factor” for fish. Fish readily respond to daily and seasonal changes in water temperature and, if needed and possible, they will move to nearby or distant habitats in search of suitable thermal conditions. Changes in fish growth, reproduction, survival and spatial location/distribution brought about by variation in water temperature (and the interaction of temperature with other factors!) will largely determine the abundance of fish populations over time and space (i.e. the dynamics of their populations).

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Our research methods combine biotelemetry (e.g. radio, acoustic) and biologging (e.g. accelerometers) technologies to collect data from wild, free-ranging fish with advanced statistical and mathematical approaches (e.g. mark-recapture, hierarchical, hidden Markov, matrix projection models) to analyse data and infer ecological processes.

THERMAL 

ECOLOGY

 

Our goal is to determine how water temperature influences the vital rates (e.g. reproduction, survival) and behaviour (e.g. activity, migration) of freshwater fishes.

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MOVEMENT

ECOLOGY

 

Our goal is to determine the causes and consequences of freshwater fish movements over small and large spatial scales.

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POPULATION DYNAMICS

 

Our goal is to determine how multiple factors (including temperature) interact to influence the abundance of freshwater fishes over time and space.

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If you wish to learn more about our research or have any questions, please get in touch and we will respond as soon as possible.

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