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Freshwater Biology @ QUB

Freshwater Biology @ QUB. Chris Harrod School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University of Belfast c.harrod@qub.ac.uk. www.fsbi.org.uk/2010. School of Biological Sciences: outline. Organised into 2 separate research clusters:

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Freshwater Biology @ QUB

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  1. Freshwater Biology @ QUB Chris Harrod School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University of Belfast c.harrod@qub.ac.uk

  2. www.fsbi.org.uk/2010

  3. School of Biological Sciences: outline Organised into 2 separate research clusters: • Ecology, Evolution, Behaviour and Environmental Economics • Molecular Biosciences • Microbial ecology & functional biology • Identification, characterisation and function of aquatic toxins • Parasitology

  4. Freshwater research in EEBEE • 8 academics & > 15 postgraduate research students active in freshwater biology across Ireland, the UK, Europe and further afield • Broad scale • Molecule to ecosystem • Many different taxa (animal bias)

  5. Ecology, Evolution, Behaviour & Environmental Economics • Ecology • Invasion ecology • Autecology • Limnology • Ecosystem function • Conservation • Fisheries management • Scientific support to Lough Neagh eel fishery • Environmental impact assessment • Theoretical biology • Taxonomy • Water quality • Evolution • Phylogeography • Speciation & rapid evolution • Population genetics • Conservation genetics • Margaritiferamargaritifera • Pollan • Arctic charr • Brown trout • Life history specialisation in invasive species • Divergent migratory components • Eels • Trout • Lampreys

  6. Ecology, Evolution, Behaviour & Environmental Economics • Behaviour • Individual specialisation • Interactions between native & invasive species • Functional response curves • Telemetry • Acoustic & radio • GPS • Depth & accelerometer • Foraging ecology of piscivorous predators • Environmental Economics • Economic valuation of environmental and natural resources. • Willingness to pay for ferox trout conservation

  7. Undergraduate aquatic ecology research

  8. Current activities

  9. Support for Lough Neagh fishery: • Few fisheries-independent data available for management and conservation • 122 random purse seine samples distributed across the main bed of the lough • Species abundance per haul • Individual length (± 1 mm) • First quantitative estimates to include eels since the ban on trawling (1980s)

  10. Lough Neagh: fish community Abundance Biomass

  11. River lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) in Lough Neagh • Evidence of freshwater feeding • Scarring of resident fishes, e.g. pollan • Relative impact of parasitism on different prey? • Evidence for anadromous v freshwater feeding?

  12. Evidence for freshwater foraging Inger et al 2010 J App Ecol 47: 121-129

  13. Inger et al 2010 J App Ecol 47: 121-129

  14. Isotopic variation in Lough Neagh Freshwater

  15. Isotopic variation in Lough Neagh & Strangford Lough Marine Freshwater

  16. Cormorants: energetic conduits between aquatic habitats Marine Freshwater

  17. Relative importance of freshwater v marine feeding in breeding cormorants • Bird Island breeding colony • Subset forage on L. Neagh (70 km) • Why? • Freshwater provisioned chicks have greater condition factors R2=0.44, P=0.01 Brown et al, in prep.

  18. Invasive species

  19. Invasive Aquatic Species in Irish water bodies • Funded through EPA STRIVE • Collaboration with National Biodiversity Data Centre, & Central Fisheries Board • QUB leading on WP2: Invasive species impacts on community structure and function • Lagarosiphon major in Lough Corrib • Leuciscus cephalus in the River Inny

  20. Lough Corrib and Lagarosiphon major • Kevin Gallagher (PhD student) kgallagher23@qub.ac.uk • Paul McIlwaine (Mphil student) pmcilwaine03@qub.ac.uk

  21. Marked habitat shift… Pre-invasion Post-invasion

  22. Growth rates differ in fish captured in invaded and native habitats Mean ± 95% CI back-calculated length at age

  23. Hemimysis anomala (another Ponto-Caspian invader) 5 mm Kevin Gallagher (kgallagher23@qub.ac.uk ) Collaboration: Dan Minchin & CFB

  24. The current distribution and status of Hemimysis in Ireland • Lough Ree: found at 4 sites (north, south, east and west of the lough). • considered widespread. • Also present in • Lough Key • Lough Boderg (Dr Dan Minchin) • no evidence of Hemimysis in Loughs Allen, Scur, Garadice, upper / lower Lough Erne or Lough Neagh. • Future work • More study sites • Examine relative abundance at invaded sites. • Public awareness campaign

  25. Hemimysis – examining feeding behaviour • Small bodied invasive Hemimysis anomala, killed and consumed x7 more juvenile Gammarus pulex than the larger-bodied native Mysis relicta, in one third of the time. Hemimysis – 12 hours Mysis – 40 hours

  26. Invasive freshwater plants in Ireland:Distribution, spread and physiological responses to climate change Ruth Kelly (PhD student) rkelly35@qub.ac.uk

  27. Evolutionary ecology of the three spined stickleback in Ireland • Important (and undervalued) ecological role • Key model for evolution of new species • Almost unstudied in Ireland • Mark Ravinet (PhD student) mravinet01@qub.ac.uk

  28. Stickleback phylogeography • Mixture of lineages present in Ireland – and perhaps some uniquely Irish? Green = Irish populations

  29. Stickleback phylogeography • Mixture of lineages present in Ireland – and perhaps some uniquely Irish? Green = Irish populations Barents Sea/North Eastern European Trans-Atlantic Irish/Western European

  30. Funding bodies Fisheries Society of the British Isles

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