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Dr. Francis J. Burdon
I am a community ecologist specializing in aquatic ecosystems. I work at the interface of multiple disciplines on environment science projects of high societal relevance. My research interests include how human activities affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in stream and rivers.
Presentation
I am a community ecologist interested in the response of biological systems to environmental change (e.g., disturbance and stress) across multiple levels of organisation. I am particularly interested in components of biodiversity (e.g., taxa richness, functional traits, and species interactions) and how these combine and evolve in ecological networks to influence emergent properties such as food-web structure and ecosystem functioning.
I work predominantly in stream and river ecosystems with invertebrate communities. Much of my research to date has involved drivers of global change (e.g., landuse intensification) and their influence on the intrinsic properties of stream ecosystems (i.e., structure and function). I firmly believe in using general ecological theory to help frame research questions, and developing these ideas to better inform management strategies.
My introduction to stream ecology had a strong emphasis on natural history and field biology, leading me to use an observational approach with environmental gradients to help demonstrate the influences of abiotic and biotic factors on biological systems. To better understand the processes underpinning such patterns, however, I believe in the use of experimentation at different scales (e.g., laboratory and field mesocosms, whole-ecosystem manipulations). Moreover, I am interested in developing computational approaches using theory to help validate empirical evidence collected from field observations and experiments.
With this tripartite approach, I have five overlapping areas of ecology that I am interested in researching:
1. Community structure and function (e.g., determinants of biodiversity)
2. Food-web properties (e.g., food-chain length using stable isotopes)
3. Ecosystem functioning (e.g., detrital processing)
4. Allometric patterns and the role of body size
5. Cross-habitat interactions and the importance of resource subsidies
Research
Projects:
CROSSLINK: Understanding cross-habitat linkages between blue and green infrastructure to optimize management of biodiversity, ecosystem services and multiple human uses
ECOIMPACT: An Eawag-wide interdisciplinary research effort aimed at understanding how synthetic chemical pollution discharged from wastewater treatment plants affect stream ecosystems: with a focus on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.