School of Geography - Research Publications
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ItemCelebrating women conducting research in freshwater ecology ... and how the citation game is damaging them(CSIRO Publishing, 2019-01-01)We highlight women's contributions to freshwater ecology by firstly considering the historical context and gender-based barriers faced by women attempting to gain an education and secure research jobs in science over the past 100+ years. The stories of four remarkable, pioneering women in freshwater ecology (Kathleen Carpenter, Ann Chapman, Rosemary Lowe-McConnell and Ruth Patrick) illustrate the impact of barriers, emphasise the significance of their contributions and provide inspiration for the challenges ahead. Women still face barriers to participation in science, and the second part of the paper focuses on a current form of discrimination, which is citation metrics used to measure the 'quality' or 'impact' of research. We show that arguments that citation metrics reflect research quality are logically flawed, and that women are directly disadvantaged by this practice. Women are also indirectly disadvantaged in ecology because they are more likely to carry out empirical than theoretical research, and publications are generated more slowly from empirical research. Surveys of citation patterns in ecology reveal also that women are less likely to be authors of review papers, which receive three times more citations than do original articles. Unless unfettered use of citation metrics is stopped, research will be damaged, and women will be prominent casualties.
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ItemAquatic versus Terrestrial Insects: Real or Presumed Differences in Population Dynamics?(MDPI, 2018-12)The study of insect populations is dominated by research on terrestrial insects. Are aquatic insect populations different or are they just presumed to be different? We explore the evidence across several topics. (1) Populations of terrestrial herbivorous insects are constrained most often by enemies, whereas aquatic herbivorous insects are constrained more by food supplies, a real difference related to the different plants that dominate in each ecosystem. (2) Population outbreaks are presumed not to occur in aquatic insects. We report three examples of cyclical patterns; there may be more. (3) Aquatic insects, like terrestrial insects, show strong oviposition site selection even though they oviposit on surfaces that are not necessarily food for their larvae. A novel outcome is that density of oviposition habitat can determine larval densities. (4) Aquatic habitats are often largely 1-dimensional shapes and this is presumed to influence dispersal. In rivers, drift by insects is presumed to create downstream dispersal that has to be countered by upstream flight by adults. This idea has persisted for decades but supporting evidence is scarce. Few researchers are currently working on the dynamics of aquatic insect populations; there is scope for many more studies and potentially enlightening contrasts with terrestrial insects.
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ItemSpecies and environmental characteristics point to flow regulation and drought as drivers of riparian plant invasion(Wiley Open Access, 2014-09-01)Aim: Many factors facilitate biological invasions, making it difficult to determine their relative importance, especially when relying on survey data that include confounded variables. Incorporating information about species characteristics can improve inferences drawn from species-environment relationships, which can inform management. We seek to understand why the abundance of exotic, and not native, terrestrial plants is higher in riparian wetlands most impacted by flow regulation. Location: River Murray, SE Australia. Methods: We use variance components analysis and hierarchical generalised linear models to examine whether the positive relationship between flow regulation and proportional cover of exotic plants is driven by altered hydrological regimes, wetland drying and drought, superior colonisation ability of exotic species following disturbance or human-increased propagule pressure. Results: Of the four hypotheses, hydrological modification (indicated by flood magnitude) most likely drives invasion. Flow regulation may inhibit native species adapted to the historical hydrological regime, facilitating exotic species with different environmental ranges. A symptom of environmental change, invasion may have been exacerbated by drought, although it is unclear why. There was no indication that human-increased propagule pressure or colonisation ability facilitated invasion. Exotic cover was unrelated to proximity to towns, recent flood frequency and cattle grazing intensity. Additionally, similar proportions of exotic and native species were used in cultivation and, despite a higher proportion of exotics being known weeds, weed status was unrelated to exotic species occupancy. Overall, colonisation ability was unrelated to species' origin or response to water depth and hydrological change. Although exotics had higher specific leaf area and shorter longevity (indicative of higher colonisation ability), they had heavier (not lighter) seeds and did not differ in height from natives. Main conclusions: Using environmental flows to reinstate mid-range floods and augmenting the propagule supply of native species with characteristics suitable for modified conditions may help limit invasion in these wetlands.