Ecology Research
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Ecology, the study of organisms and how they relate to their environment is a major research discipline at UC.
The discipline is divided into the three broad areas of terrestrial ecology, freshwater ecology and marine ecology. Extensive overlap into other disciplines occurs, such as conservation biology, behavioural ecology and gene ecology.
The South Island of New Zealand provides a fantastic environment in which to study ecology, day trips from the campus allow access to environments from seashore to alpine, rainforest to tussock grassland. UC also maintains five field stations around the island for research and teaching. Extensive linkages also exist to enable international collaborations and comparisons.
Freshwater Ecology
Extensive freshwater ecosystems exist in New Zealand, from alpine tarns and braided rivers to rural ditches and urban drains. Research at UC aims to better understand these environments and the organisms that inhabit them.
The Mackenzie Charitable Foundation has funded a Chair in Freshwater Ecology with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of riparian management to reduce the impacts of sediments and pollutants on Canterbury waterways.
Staff and students have applied their skills on campus with the award winning restoration of the Okeover stream, home of the endangered Canterbury mudfish.
Examples of research include:
- Investigation of the responses of stream ecosystems to urban and rural land-use pressures
- Distribution and Ecology of mosquitoe larvae in Tonga. Mosquitoes are a significant pest and human health issue and research was carried out to to determine the potential for control through larval habitat management.
- Variation in strength of cascading trophic interactions across a riverscape.
- The effects of long-term land use activities on stream ecosystems with emphasis on benthic diversity and impacts on regionally endemic species.
Research Staff
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Prof Angus McIntosh Mackenzie Foundation Chair in Freshwater Ecology Freshwater Ecology Research Group (FERG) |
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Assoc Prof Jon Harding Stream Biology Freshwater Ecology Research Group (FERG) |
Postgraduate projects in Ecology and Environmental Science.
Marine Ecology
The major focus of marine ecology research at UC is marine intertidal and subtidal ecology and to integrate ecology with physics, chemistry, and genetics in order to develop a greater understanding of processes that structure marine communities.
The Edward Percival field station on the coast at Kaikoura, two hours drive north of Christchurch provides an excellent base for researchers with laboratory facilities and comfortable living quarters.
Collaborations exist nationally and internationally on large long term research programmes.
Examples of research include:
- Large research programme involving the coordination of estuarine and rocky coast ecological research with nearshore physical oceanography and problems relating to land use. This is in collaboration with NIWA, the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research.
- Ecology of rocky shores to examine the effects of key habitat-forming species on biodiversity, the resilience of communities to disturbance, invertebrate/algal interactions, and top-down bottom-up effects in the rocky intertidal.
- Physiological ecology of marine invertebrates, especially Crustacea and bivalve molluscs.
- Mechanisms of adaptation used by animals to survive in intertidal habitats, including sand beaches and estuaries.
- Investigating marine and estuarine species as indicators of environmental stress.
- Understanding the effects of environmental factors including toxic dinoflagellates on the metabolism, survival and reproduction of sand beach bivalves.
Research Staff
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Dr Sharyn Goldstien Marine Ecology |
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Assoc Prof Islay Marsden Marine Biology |
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Prof David Schiel Marine Ecology Marine Ecology Research Group (MERG) |
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Dr John Pirker Marine Ecology |
Recent Posters
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| Are Canterbury cockle beds sustainable? |
Postgraduate projects in Ecology and Environmental Science.
Terrestrial Ecology
Research projects in terrestrial ecology at UC range in scale from investigating individual organisms to whole ecosystems, and from pristine environments to those that are highly modified.
Examples of research include:
- Effects of land use, especially agriculture, and global change phenomena on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
- Mathematical modelling of the impact of biological control agents on weeds and plant/herbivore co-evolution involving inducible defences.
- The effects of forest fragmentation, particularly edge effects, on insect community structure.
- Bird-plant mutualisms - the importance and resilience of bird pollination and bird seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora
- The impact of biodiversity loss on trophic structure dynamics.
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Developing a preliminary mutualist web in a West African
montane forest.
Research Staff
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Dr Hazel Chapman Evolutionary Ecology Nigerian Montane Forest Project |
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Dr Daniel Stouffer Complex Systems Ecology |
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Dr Raphael Didham Terrestrial Ecology |
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Prof Matthew Turnbull Plant Physiological Ecology |
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Prof Dave Kelly Ecology Mistletoe Research Group |
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Dr Jason Tylianakis Terrestrial Ecology |
Recent Posters
Course Advice
- Studying Ecology at undergraduate level.
- Postgraduate projects in Ecology and Environmental Science.