Ms Catherine Leigh
B Science (Hons)
Contact details for Ms Catherine Leigh c.leigh@griffith.edu.au
- Thesis
- Floodplain river function in Australia's wet/dry tropics with specific reference to macroinvertebrates and the Gulf of Carpentaria
- Description
- River systems in northern Australia's wet/dry tropics are regarded as some of the most bio-diverse and ecologically healthy in the country. My thesis studies these systems and forms a new conceptual model of large river function for the region The key scope is to determine and describe the drivers (streamflow), patterns (biodiversity) and processes (food webs) that make these rivers and their floodplains energetically dynamic and bio-complex ecosystems. In addition, my thesis predicts potential effects of land and water development options on their current level of river function, and provides recommendations for their management and protection.
- Supervisor
- Dr Fran Sheldon
Dr Michele Burford
Professor Stuart Bunn - Freshwater ecology
- River function and Australia's wet/dry tropics
- Flow variability and river-floodplain ecology
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate ecology and community analysis
- Use of stable isotopes in food web analysis
- Leigh, C., Sheldon, F. (In Press) Hydrological connectivity drives patterns of macroinvertebrate diversity in floodplain rivers of the Australian wet/dry tropics. Freshwater Biology. DOI: 10.1111/j.13652427.2008.02130.x.
- Leigh, C., Sheldon, F. (2008) Hydrological changes and ecological impacts associated with water resource development in large floodplain rivers in the Australian tropics. River Research and Applications 24: 1251-1270. DOI: 10.1002/rra.1125.