B Science (Hons), PhD

Centre Director, Australian Rivers Institute, Nathan
Director, Australian Rivers Institute, Nathan

Contact details for Professor Stuart Bunn

Research Interests

• Pattern of energy and nutrient flux in aquatic ecosystems
• Structure of aquatic food webs
• Application of multiple stable isotope tracing in the study of aquatic ecosystems
• Development & application of cost-effective methods to assess aquatic ecosystem health

Selected Publications

• Davies, P.M., Bunn, S.E. and Hamilton, S.K. (in press).  Primary production in tropical rivers.  In:  D. Dudgeon (ed).  Tropical Stream Ecology.  Academic Press.
• Tockner, K., Bunn, S.E., Gordon, C., Naiman, R.J., Quinn, G.P. and Stanford, J.A. (in press).  Floodplains: Critically threatened ecosystems.  In: N. Polunin (ed).  Future of aquatic ecosystems.  Cambridge University Press.
• Cook, B.D., Bunn, S.E. and Hughes, J.M. (2007).  Molecular genetic and stable isotope signatures reveal complementary patterns of population connectivity in the regionally vulnerable southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis).  Biological Conservation 138, 60-72.
• Fellows, C.S., Wos, M., Pollard, P. and Bunn, S.E. (2007).  Ecosystem metabolism in a dryland river waterhole.  Marine and Freshwater Research 58, 250-262.
• Arthington, A.H., Bunn, S.E., Poff, N.L. & Naiman, R.J. (2006).  The challenge of providing environmental flow rules to sustain river ecosystems. Ecological Applications 16, 1311-1318.
• Fellows, C.S., Clapcott, J.E., Udy, J.W., Bunn, S.E., Harch, B.D. and Davies, P.M. (2006). Benthic metabolism as an indicator of stream ecosystem health. Hydrobiologia 572, 71-87.
• Brito, E.F., Moulton, T.P., de Souza, M.L. and Bunn, S.E. (2006). Stable isotope analysis indicates microalgae as the predominant food source of fauna in a coastal forest stream of southeast Brazil. Austral Ecology 31, 623-633.
• Bernhardt, E., Bunn, S.E., Hart, D.D., Malmqvist, B., Muotka, T., Naiman, R.J., Pringle, C., Reuss, M., and van Wilgen, B. (2006).  The challenge of ecologically sustainable water management.  Water Policy 8, 475-479.
• Bunn, S.E., Thoms, M.C., Hamilton, S.K. and Capon, S.J. (2006).  Flow variability in dryland rivers: boom, bust and the bits in between.  River Research and Applications 22, 179-186.
• Bunn, S.E., Balcombe, S.R., Davies, P.M., Fellows, C.S. and McKenzie-Smith, F.J. (2006).  Productivity and aquatic food webs of desert river ecosystems.  In: R.T. Kingsford (ed).  Changeable, Changed, Changing: the Ecology of Desert Rivers. pp 76-99.  Cambridge University Press.
• Hadwen, W.L. and Bunn, S.E. (2005).  Food web responses to low-level nutrient and 15N-tracer additions in the littoral zone of an oligotrophic dune lake.  Limnology and Oceanography 50, 1096-1105.
• Douglas, M.M., Bunn, S.E. and Davies, P.M. (2005).  River and wetland food webs in Australia’s wet-dry tropics: general principles and implications for management.  Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 329-342.
• Hamilton, S.K., Bunn, S.E., Thoms, M.C. and Marshall, J. (2005).  Persistence of aquatic refugia between flow pulses in a dryland river system (Cooper Creek, Australia).  Limnology and Oceanography 50, 743–754.
• Hadwen, W.L. and Bunn, S.E. (2004).  Tourists increase the contribution of autochthonous carbon to littoral zone food webs in oligotrophic dune lakes.  Marine and Freshwater Research 55, 701-708.
• Clapcott, J.E. and Bunn, S.E. (2003). Can C4 plants contribute to the aquatic food webs of subtropical streams?  Freshwater Biology 48, 1105-1116.
• Bunn, S.E., Davies, P.M and Winning, M. (2003). Sources of organic carbon supporting the food web of an arid zone floodplain river. Freshwater Biology 48, 619-635.
• Bunn, S.E. and Arthington, A.H. (2002). Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity.  Environmental Management 30, 492-507.
• Lynch, R.J., Bunn S.E. and Catterall, C.P. (2002).  Adult aquatic insects: potential contributors to riparian food webs in Australia’s wet-dry tropics. Austral Ecology 27, 515-526.
• Mosisch, T.D., Bunn, S.E. and Davies, P.M. (2001). The relative importance of riparian shading and nutrients on algal production in subtropical streams. Freshwater Biology 46, 1269-78.
• Bunn, S.E. and Davies, P.M. (2000).  Biological processes in running waters and their implications for the assessment of ecological integrity. Hydrobiologia 422, 61-70.