BSc (Technology) - Biology, MSc - Aquatic Ecology

Contact details for Mr Matthew Prentice m.prentice@griffith.edu.au

Thesis

Phosphorus sources fuelling cyanobacterial blooms in subtropical reservoirs

Description

Phosphorus is generally considered the limiting macro-nutrient in freshwater ecosystems. My PhD research will investigate sources of phosphorus promoting cyanobacterial blooms (e.g. Cylindrospermoposis raciborskii) in Wivenhoe reservoir. The study will have a particular emphasis on phosphorus cycling - uptake, storage and regeneration - within the epilimnetic algal assemblage, and also the effects of alkaline phosphatase production by certain algae, promoting their proliferation under phosphate deplete conditions.

Supervisors

Dr Michele Burford
Dr Kate O'Brien
A/Prof Charles Lemckert
Prof David Hamilton

Research expertise

• Lake and reservoir ecology
• Bloom-forming algae, specifically cyanobacteria
• Hydrodynamic and ecological modelling (i.e. DYRESM-CAEDYM)