Prof. Sean D. Connell

My work spans local-regional-biogeographic scales in tests of: 

• THE PAST and 'natural' patterns & processes:  maintenance of systems
• TODAY and changing patterns & processes: pollution & fishing
• FUTURE change: accelerated, retarded or reversed?

Below are some extracted papers from my 'thesis'

TITLE: CHANGING HABITATS and the HUMAN INFLUENCE

 ABSTRACT

I am constantly reminded of a lack of coherent research across time, space and taxonomic scales, and the need for a broader vision by those charged with the administration of science.  Most of us have life spans that are outlived by the systems we study and are painfully aware of disparity between our research breadth and complexity of nature. Consequently, my papers often reflect on how they may assist with a more coherent understanding of nature across time, space & biological organisation. 

 INTRODUCTION

• Connell SD & Gillanders 2007 Marine Ecology. Oxford University Press, 630 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-555302-4
• Connell SD & Irving 2009  The subtidal ecology of rocky coast: local-regional-biogeographic regional patterns and their experimental analysis. in Marine Macroecology. Chapter 15, pgs 392-417, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
• Harley & SD Connell 2009  Shifts in abiotic variables and consequences for diversity.  In Hard Bottom Communities: Patterns, Dynamics and Changes. Springer 206: 257-268

 METHODS

• Underwood, Chapman & SD Connell 2000 Observations in ecology: you can't make progress on processes without understanding the patterns. JEMBE 250:97-115.
• Drummond & SD Connell 2005 Quantifying percentage cover on subtidal organisms on rocky coasts: a comparison of the costs and benefits of standard methods. MFR 56:865-876.
• Russell & SD Connell 2009  Eutrophication science: moving into the future. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24: 527-528

 RESULTS 

 What is natural?

 Natural patterns: local through biogeographic scales

• Connell SD & Irving 2008 Integrating ecology with biogeography using landscape characteristics: a case study of subtidal habitat across continental Australia. J. Biogeography. 35: 1608-1621.
• Anderson, SD Connell, Gillanders et al. 2005 Relationships between taxonomic resolution and spatial scales of multivariate variation. J Animal Ecology 74:636-646.
• Fowler-Walker & SD Connell 2002 Opposing states of subtidal habitat across temperate Australia: consistency and predictability in kelp canopy - understorey associations. MEPS 240:49-56.

 Natural patterns: mechanisms of maintenance

• Coleman MA… SD Connell, etal. 2011. Variation in the strength of continental boundary currents determines continent-wide connectivity in kelp. Journal of Ecology 99,1026-1032
• Connell SD 2005 Assembly and maintenance of subtidal habitat heterogeneity: synergistic effects of light penetration and sedimentation. MEPS 289:53-61.
• Connell SD 2003 Negative effects overpower the positive of kelp to exclude invertebrates from the understorey community. Oecologia 137:97-103.
• Goodsell & SD Connell 2005 Disturbance initiates diversity in recruitment of canopy-forming algae... Phyc 44:632-639.

What is changing?

 Changing patterns: 30-70 years of change

• Connell SD, Russell et al. 2008 Recovering a lost baseline: missing kelp forests on a metropolitan coast. MEPS 360:63-72
• Wernberg, Russell, et al. and SD Connell. 2011. Seaweed communities in retreat from ocean warming. Current Biology 21, 1828-1832

 Change by humans: today's causes & consequences

• Connell SD 2007. Water quality and the loss of coral reefs and kelp forests: alternative states and the influence of fishing. Marine Ecology. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Pp 556-568
• Gorman, Russell & SD Connell 2009 Land-to-sea connectivity: linking human-derived terrestrial subsidies to subtidal habitat change on open rocky coasts. Ecological Applications 19: 1114-1126
• Goodsell & SD Connell 2002 Can habitat loss be treated independently of habitat configuration? Implications for rare and common taxa in fragmented landscapes. MEPS 239:37-44.

 Changes of the future: climate & non-climate stressors

• Connell SD & Russell 2010  The direct effects of increasing CO2 and temperature on non-calcifying organisms: increasing the potential for phase shifts in kelp forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. 277:1409-1415.
• Russell et al. and SD Connell 2009. Synergistic effects of climate change and local stressors: CO2 and nutrient driven change in subtidal rocky habitats. Global Change Biology 15, 2153-2162.
• Wernberg, Russell, et al. and SD. Connell. 2011. Impacts of climate change in a global hotspot for temperate marine biodiversity and ocean warming. J. Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 400, 7-16.

 What is robust?

 Change impeded: where are ecosystems robust and where can we repair?

• Falkenberg, Russell  SD Connell 2012. Strong species interactions resist the synergistic effects of local and global pollution in kelp forests. PloS One
• Gorman & SD Connell 2009 Recovering subtidal forests in human-dominated landscapes.  J Applied Ecology 46: 1258-1265
• Irving, SD Connell & Russell  2011 Restoring coastal plants to improve global carbon storage: reaping what we sow. PloS One 6:e18311

DISCUSSION

• Airoldi, SD Connell & Beck 2009  The loss of natural habitats and the addition of artificial substrata. In Hard Bottom Communities: Patterns, Dynamic, Diversity and Change. Springer 206: 269-280.
• Connell SD & Gillanders 2007 Marine Ecology. Oxford University Press, 630 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-555302-4
• Connell SD 2009. Diversity patterns and their causes. Hard Bottom Communities: Patterns, Scales, Dynamics, Functions, Shifts. M. Wahl, editor. Springer Verlag. Ecological Studies. Pp 76-80
• Russell & SD Connell 2010 Honing the geoengineering strategy. Science 327, 144-5

Final word:  These papers were "...shaped by our colleagues' responses to our work across temperate Australia's major biogeographic break. By working both sides of this break we have been neither on the side of the ‘trophic crusader’ nor ‘benthic mafia’, but instead have been of nuisance to both" (Connell et al. 2011).

I find the changing research culture in ecological research both encouraging and discouraging.  I am encouraged by a culture that is reducing the penalty of collaboration and inheritance of data; both promote reconciliation and coherency through space and time.  I am less encouraged by the short-sighted use of research metrics that pull some towards outputs of high instant value.  As I conclude in Connell et al. (2008), "...we encourage some progress to fall on the shoulders of individuals with a focus on collective rather than personal goals, and on long-term progress".

      Acknowledgements

I thank those who shared their time with me in the field (sea-by-day & swag-by-night) and inspired moments in the office & lab.  It is reassuring that our government has engaged us through policy development.  I hope these efforts help benefit those live from and enjoy the sea. 

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