Dr Thomas Wernberg

Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research

Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Marine & Estuarine)

Contact Details

Centre for Ecosystem Management,
Edith Cowan University,
270 Joondalup Drive,
Joondalup WA 6027,
Australia.

Qualifications

Ph.D. Marine Botany (Distinction), University of Western Australia , Australia (2003)

M.Sc. Environmental Biology & Geography, Roskilde University , Denmark (1998)

General Research Interests

I study ecological interactions on and around subtidal temperate reefs and in estuaries. My research has a strong quantitative and empirical focus, relying on field and laboratory observations and experiments to tease apart the causes of patterns of species distribution in nature. My interests and experiences are broad and not confined to particular taxa or processes other than perhaps an emphasis on macroalgae, perturbation ecology and broad-scale comparisons;

Topics include:

• Effect of ocean climate and human stressors on the resilience of communities to disturbances;
• Ecological costs of physiological adaptation to stress and disturbance;
• The role of canopy algae as foundation species in marine ecosystems;
• Morphological variation of macrophytes, and its effects on the ecology of the understorey;
• Biomechanics of canopy formers and the prediction of physical disturbances;
• Trophic linkages between habitats in the form of export and consumption of detached reef algae;
• The ecology of invasive species and their impacts on native algal assemblages;

Current Projects

• Ocean climate and resilience of kelp beds to disturbances
  In collaboration with Gary Kendrick, Mads Thomsen, Fernando Tuya and Russ Babcock.
• Effects of climate on the reproduction of kelp (Ecklonia radiata)
  In collaboration with Margie Mohring and Gary Kendrick
• Latitudinal gradients in herbivory
  In collaboration with Adriana Vergés and Mat Vanderklift
• Understanding habitat connectivity: processes that generate
  In collaboration with Thibaut de Bettignies, Paul Lavery and Mat Vanderklift
• Impacts of aquatic invasive species - a meta-analysis of manipulative field experiments
  In collaboration with Mads Thomsen, Brian Silliman, John Bruno, Jeb Byers and Julian Olden
• Interactive effects of invasive species, algae, nutrients and environmental drivers on seagrasses in the Swan River Esturay.
  In collaboration with Mads Thomsen, and Jose Roepstorff
• Invasion ecology of Caulerpa-species: unconfounding phylogeny and ecological traits
  In collaboration with Mads Thomsen and Fernando Tuya
• Modelling impacts of climate change on marine macroalgae in temperate Australia
  In collaboration with Vegetation Function Network working group 58
• Biogeography of coastal flora in Australia
  In collaboration with Vegetation Function Network working group 47

Opportunities for Student Research

I am open to supervision of serious and enthusiastic students wishing to do quantitative research in subtidal benthic ecology.

Students (primary supervisor)

Margaret Mohring: Effects of climate on the reproduction of kelp (Ecklonia radiata). Co-supervised by A/Prof Kendrick, PhD, The University of Western Australia, on-going.

Thibaut de Bettignies: Sources and supply of wrack: quantifying vectors of habitat connectivity. Co-supervised by Prof Lavery and Dr Mat Vanderklift (CSIRO), PhD, Edith Cowan University, on-going.

Jose Escano Placido Roepstorff: Ecology of Caulerpa spp. in Western Australia – understanding traits and impacts of super-invaders. Co-supervised by A/Prof Marianne Holmer (USD) and Dr Mads Thomsen, MSc, The University of Southern Denmark, on-going.

Melissa White: Grazing pressure by herbivorous gastropods on macroalgae in southwestern Australian kelp forests. Co-supervised by A/Prof Kendrick and Dr Vanderklift (CSIRO), BSc(Hons), The University of Western Australia, 2006.

Students (co-supervisor)

Hannes Höffle: Impacts of invasive species on seagrass health under present and future temperature regimes – a case study from two climate zones. Supervised with A/Prof Holmer (SDU) and Dr Thomsen. MSc, The University of Southern Denmark, 2008.

Meegan Fowler-Walker: Regional and local patterns in kelp morphology and benthic assemblages. Supervised with A/Prof Connell, PhD, The University of Adelaide, 2005

Benjamin D. Toohey: The influence of Ecklonia radiata canopy on the abiotic environment and the foliose understorey. Supervised with A/Prof Kendrick. BSc(Hons), The University of Western Australia, 2002.

Publications

Selected Publications

Wernberg, T., White, M. & Vanderklift, M. A. (2008). Population structure of turbinid gastropods on wave-exposed subtidal reefs: effects of density, body size and algae on grazing behaviour. Marine Ecology Progress Series Vol. 362: 169–179, doi: 10.3354/meps07416.

Wernberg, T. & Goldberg, N. (2008). Species richness and short-term temporal dynamics of foliose algae in a subtidal kelp bed in relation to changes in environmental conditions and canopy biomass. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 76(2): 265-272.

Wernberg, T., Vanderklift, M.A., How, J. & Lavery, P.S. (2006). Export of detached algae from reefs to adjacent seagrass beds. Oecologia, 147: 692-701.

Wernberg, T. (2006). Scale of impact determines early post-disturbance assemblage structure in subtidal Fucus beds in the Baltic Sea (Bornholm, Denmark). European Journal of Phycology

Wernberg, T. (2005). Holdfast aggregation in relation to morphology, age, attachment and drag for the kelp Ecklonia radiata. Aquatic Botany 82: 168-180.

Wernberg, T.; Coleman, M.; Fairhead, A; Miller, S. & Thomsen, M. S. (2003). Morphology of Ecklonia radiata (C. Ag.) J. Agardh along its geographic distribution in southwestern Australia and Australasia. Marine Biology 143:47-55.

Wernberg, T.; Kendrick, G. A. & Phillips, J. (2003). Regional differences in kelp-associated algal assemblages found on temperate limestone reefs in southwestern Australia. Diversity and Distributions 9:427-441.

Full Publication List

Colleagues and collaborators

Dr. Mat Vanderklift, CSIRO Marine Research, PO Box 5, Wembley 6913 WA, Australia.

Dr. Mads Thomsen, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia.

Dr. Gary Kendrick, School of Plant Biology , MO90, University of Western Australia , Crawley 6009 WA, Australia.
Recherche Project

Dr. Russ Babcock, CSIRO Marine Research, PO Box 5, Wembley 6913 WA, Australia.