Aquatic Food Web Ecology Lab, Dalhousie University

Research in the Aquatic Food Web Ecology Lab based at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, focuses on the consequences of biodiversity loss to the functioning and stability of aquatic food webs. All of our work is done in a food web context, which means that its not just the numbers of species that we are interested in, but also the structure of the food webs in which those species are embedded. Most of our work is done in aquatic microcosms, small container ecosystems in which we can assemble food webs and then subject them to various types of disturbance regimes . We also use mathematical models to run "in silico" experiments, otherwise known as computer simulations, to study problems that are too complex or just not possible to conduct in natural systems.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Sharky research in the food-web lab


Christine Ward-Paige (PhD student) and I have been island hopping in Thailand after a very successful ADEX (Asian Dive Exhibition) meeting in Singapore -- searching for sharks and the divemasters that see them. Our research here, which is part of the Global Shark Assessment, has been to "ground-truth" Christine's Historical Sighting Survey. So far we had interviewed divemasters and instructors in Koh Lanta, Krabi, Koh Tao, Koh Pangang, and Koh Samui. It has been a great research trip. Here are some highlights:
*the mysteries of the sharks ID's at Chumpon Pinnacles (grey reef or bull sharks?)
*snorkeling with black tips on Koh Tao at the Black Tip Dive Resort"
*a manta ray sighting at Koh Phi Phi
*meeting the Misool Eco Resort Team in Raja Ampat (who are starting an amazing conservation center which they hope will host students and researchers. These very eco-forward thinking conservationists have worked with local people to protect 200km of reef in the region and have set up a Marine Protected Area).

Press!
*wildsingapore
*bymnews
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