Dr Bayden D. Russell

Global climate change is inevitable. What we don't know is the degree to which ecosystems will be damaged.

My research focuses on two broad questions:

1. How will climate change affect temperate marine ecosystems
2. Can we do anything to mitigate this damage?

Of particular interest to me is that human driven climate change will not occur in isolation of local disturbances, but will probably exacerbate them. Therefore, I am currently investigating the combined effects of global (i.e. climate change) and local (e.g. elevated nutrients) disturbances in South Australian waters. Can we increase the resilience of marine ecosystems to climate change by reducing (or eliminating) anthropogenic nutrient inputs?

 My past (and ongoing) research investigated the role of bottom-up processes (i.e. elevated nutrients) in South Australian waters. The waters of South Australia are generally quite oligotrophic (nutrient poor), and small increases in nutrient levels can have disproportionately large effects on habitats. Therefore, in collaboration with Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH), I am assessing whether type of land use (e.g. urban, agricultural, national park), and the associated nutrient run-off, should be part of the information used for assessing the placement of Marine Protected Areas.

Publications:

• Connell SD, Russell BD, Turner DJ, Shepherd SA, Kildea T, Miller D, Airoldi L, Cheshire A. (2008) Recovering a lost baseline: missing kelp forests from a metropolitan coast. Marine Ecology Progress Series 360:63-72.
• Russell BD,  Connell SD (2007) Response of grazers to sudden nutrient pulses in oligotrophic v. eutrophic conditions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 349:73-80.
• Russell BD (2007) Effects of canopy-mediated abrasion and water flow on the early colonisation of turf-forming algae. Marine and Freshwater Research 58:657-665
• Russell BD, Gillanders BM, Connell SD (2005) Proximity and size of neighbouring habitat affects invertebrate diversity. Marine Ecology Progress Series 296:30-38
• Russell BD, Elsdon TE, Gillanders BM, Connell SD (2005) Nutrients increase epiphyte loads: broad scale observations and an experimental assessment. Marine Biology 147:551-558
• Russell BD, Connell SD (2005) A novel interaction between nutrients and grazers alters relative dominance of marine habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 289:5-11
• Skilleter GA, Russell BD, Degnan BM, Garson MJ (2005) Living in a potentially toxic environment: comparisons of endofauna in two congeneric sponges from the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series 304:67-75
• Russell BD, Degnan BM, Garson MJ and Skilleter GA (2003) Distribution of a nematocyst-bearing sponge in relation to potential coral donors. Coral Reefs 22:11-16
• Green KM, Russell BD, Clark RJ, Jones MK, Garson MJ, Skilleter GA and Degnan BM (2002) A sponge allelochemical induces ascidian settlement but inhibits metamorphosis. Marine Biology 140:355-363

Research Funding

• 2008: ARC Linkage ($371,112)
• 2007: Wildlife Conservation Fund South Australia ($11,000)
• 2006: Mark Mitchell Foundation - Tower Trust ($6,071)
• 2006: Field Naturalists of South Australia ($1,500)
• 2004: The Nature Foundation of South Australia ($1,500)
• 2004: Wildlife Conservation Fund South Australia ($3,830)
• 2003: Wildlife Conservation Fund South Australia ($3,250)
• 2003: The Mark Mitchell Foundation - Tower Trust ($915)

Contact Information: