Bachelor of Environmental Management (Hons)
Contact details for Mrs Barbara Johnston research@mogalakwena.com
Thesis
A temporal study of benthic macroinvertebrate and diatom assemblage composition response to the varying flow regime of an ephemeral system.
Description
In ephemeral rivers, contrasting states of flow (flood/drought) are thought to drive biotic assemblages. My thesis studies the response of macroinvertebrate and diatom community assemblages to different states of flow connectivity in an ephemeral system over time. The principle objective of this study is to determine whether flow variability is a key driver of assemblage composition, or whether changes to community structure is a result of other environmental (eg. habitat integrity) and biological (eg life-history traits) considerations. This analysis is taken further by comparing the sensitivity between macroinvertebrate and diatom assemblage compositions to flow variability, followed then as a function of surrounding catchment land-use practices, which may give insight into assessment needs and recommendations for river health monitoring programs in ephemeral systems.
Supervisor
- Dr Fran Sheldon
- Professor Stuart Bunn
- Mr. Paul Fouche
Research expertise
- Environmental management
- Protected area management
- Riparian ecology and community analysis
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate ecology and community analysis
- Basic ephemeral river structure and function