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DR ALISTAIR POORE
My research focuses on the ecology and evolution of interactions among marine organisms, in particular benthic invertebrates and algae.
The ecology and evolution of marine herbivory
Marine herbivores can have profound effects on the abundance and composition of algae in marine habitats. Understanding the factors that govern feeding choices is essential for predicting the impacts of herbivores on plants, the evolution of feeding behaviour, and the evolution of algal defences.
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Current and recent research projects include:
- How the spatial distribution of palatable and unpalatable algae interact to constrain host choice in marine amphipods (Poore 2004, 2005; Poore and Hill 2005).
- Evolution of host specialisation in marine amphipods (Poore and Steinberg 1999, 2001; Poore and Hill, 2006).
- Phylogenetic and geographic variation in host breadth and composition in herbivorous amphipods in the family Ampithoidae (with Erik Sotka, College of Charleston, Poore et al., in press)
- How algal secondary metabolites interact with urchin herbivory to determine algal community structure (Hill et al. 2003; Wright et al. 2005).
- The evolution of chemical defences in a red alga (Wright et al. 2004).
- Effects of grazing amphipods on algal community structure
- Tolerance of marine algae to herbivory.
- The interactions between algal stress and rates of herbivory.
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The ecology of mobile epifauna in subtidal habitats
Sessile marine organisms (macroalgae, invertebrates) support a very diverse fauna of small, mobile invertebrates whose ecology is poorly known in contrast to sessile and larger invertebrates. I am interested on the factors that govern the abundance and composition of these invertebrates as well as how this fauna is affected by anthropogenic disturbances (habitat change, heavy metal pollution and stormwater). Dr Emma Johnston (UNSW) and I are examining how mobile epifauna are affected by pollutants, both directly via changes to water quality, and indirectly via changes to their habitat.
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Current and recent research projects include:
- The relative role of nutrient enrichment and predation in regulating the abundance of epifauna in algal beds.
- The effects of habitat fragmentation on mobile epifauna (Roberts and Poore 2006).
- The specificity of associations between mobile and sessile invertebrates (Poore et al. 2000).
- The effect of copper contamination of macroalgae on epifauna (Roberts et al. 2006)
- Direct and indirect effects of copper pollution on mobile invertebrates associated with fouling assemblages (Perrett et al., 2006)
- Storm water impacts on mobile epifauna in Sydney Harbour (Roberts et al. 2007, in press)
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Evolution in modular organisms
Modular organisms whose growth involves repeated addition of component parts (e.g., plants, corals) differ fundamentally from unitary organisms with a predetermined body plan (e.g., mammals, insects). Aspects of the biology of modular organisms challenge our concept of the individual in biology and the notion that sexual reproduction is required for adaptive evolution in multicellular organisms.
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Current and recent research projects include:
- Theoretical investigations of how intraclonal variation affects organism fitness (Poore and Fagerström 2001; Pineda-Krch and Poore 2004)
- Quantifying intraclonal variation in macroalgae (Poore and Fagerström 2000; Monro and Poore 2004)
- The evolution of phenotypic plasticity in macroalgae (Monro and Poore 2005, Monro et al, in press)
- The importance of morphological traits in determining fragment success for the invasive green alga Caulerpa taxifolia (with Jeffrey Wright, University of Wollongong).
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Grants received
- ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities, 2006 to Suthers et al. Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS) aquarium facility.
- ARC Discovery project, 2005-2007 to Poore, AGB. 'Factors controlling marine food webs: consumer vs nutrient control of mobile invertebrates and algae'
- ARC Discovery project, 2002-2004. Poore, AGB. 'Host plant choice by marine herbivores: ecological, genetic and historical constraints'.
- Faculty Research Grants Program, 2004. Poore, AGB and EL Johnston. 'Responses of mobile epifauna associated with macroalgae to point sources of pollution.'
- University Research Support Program, 2001. Poore, AGB et al. 'Evolutionary processes in modular organisms: testing for intraclonal variation in macroalgae'.
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