The University of Western Australia
Assoc/Prof Bob Black
Associate Professor
Contact details
| Address | School of Animal Biology The University of Western Australia (M092) 35 Stirling Highway CRAWLEY WA 6009 Australia |
|---|---|
| Phone | 6488 2232 / 6488 1473 |
| Fax | 6488 1029 |
| rblack@cyllene.uwa.edu.au |
Biography
I am broadly interested in ecology. My formal teaching includes ANIM3301 Animal Ecology, ANIM3314 Marine Ecology, and ANIM2203 Invertebrate Zoology. My postgraduate students are involved with projects in ecology. With my students and my colleagues, I am involved in research in marine biology at Ningaloo Reef, at Princess Royal Harbour and at Rottnest Island.
In my research, I study population ecology of marine invertebrates. I use studies of demography of populations and experimental investigations of competition and predation within communities to determine the mechanisms underlying patterns of distribution and abundance of shallow-water marine invertebrates. My students and I have worked recently at rocky intertidal, sandy and mangrove shores and the shallow subtidal. I have investigated limpets, littorines and other grazing gastropods, predatory whelks, suspension-feeding bivalves, urchins, fishes and coral. I am particularly interested in population dynamics and the role of recruitment, in competitive interactions, in the functional significance of plastic morphological characteristics and in trade-offs in life history characteristics.
In my research, I study population ecology of marine invertebrates. I use studies of demography of populations and experimental investigations of competition and predation within communities to determine the mechanisms underlying patterns of distribution and abundance of shallow-water marine invertebrates. My students and I have worked recently at rocky intertidal, sandy and mangrove shores and the shallow subtidal. I have investigated limpets, littorines and other grazing gastropods, predatory whelks, suspension-feeding bivalves, urchins, fishes and coral. I am particularly interested in population dynamics and the role of recruitment, in competitive interactions, in the functional significance of plastic morphological characteristics and in trade-offs in life history characteristics.
Key research
- Ecology, Marine Ecology, Life-history, Plasticity, Population models
Major research interests
- Experimental ecology and marine biology
Qualifications
BA Sask., MSc Br.Col., PhD Calif.
Publications
Recent publications
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2008. Adaptive responses of independent traits to the same environmental gradient in the intertidal snail Bembicium vittatum. Heredity 101: 83-91.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2008. Effects of contrasting tidal habitats on growth, survivorship and dispersal in an intertidal snail. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 363: 96-103.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2006. Effects of mode of reproduction on genetic divergence over large spatial and temporal scales in intertidal snails of the genus Bembicium Philippi (Gastropoda: Littorinidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 89: 689-704.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2006. Islands increase genetic subdivision and disrupt patterns of connectivity of intertidal snails in a complex archipelago. Evolution 60: 2498-2506.
Johnson, M.S., & Black, R. 2005. Effects of a larval stage on isolation of populations of the trochid Austrocochlea constricta in tidal ponds. Marine Biology 147: 189-195.
Black, R., & Johnson, M.S. 2001. Contrasting life histories and demographies of eight species of littorines at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Journal of Shellfish Research 20, 393-402.
Pudovskis, M.S., Johnson, M.S. & Black, R. 2001. Genetic divergence of peripherally disjunct poplations of the gastropod Batillariella estuarina in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Molecular Ecology 10, 2605-2616.
Yeap, K.L., Black, R., & Johnson, M.S. 2001. Developmental constraints and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in the intertidal snail Nodilittorina australis . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 72, 63-76.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2008. Adaptive responses of independent traits to the same environmental gradient in the intertidal snail Bembicium vittatum. Heredity 101: 83-91.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2008. Effects of contrasting tidal habitats on growth, survivorship and dispersal in an intertidal snail. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 363: 96-103.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2006. Effects of mode of reproduction on genetic divergence over large spatial and temporal scales in intertidal snails of the genus Bembicium Philippi (Gastropoda: Littorinidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 89: 689-704.
Johnson, M.S., and Black, R. 2006. Islands increase genetic subdivision and disrupt patterns of connectivity of intertidal snails in a complex archipelago. Evolution 60: 2498-2506.
Johnson, M.S., & Black, R. 2005. Effects of a larval stage on isolation of populations of the trochid Austrocochlea constricta in tidal ponds. Marine Biology 147: 189-195.
Black, R., & Johnson, M.S. 2001. Contrasting life histories and demographies of eight species of littorines at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Journal of Shellfish Research 20, 393-402.
Pudovskis, M.S., Johnson, M.S. & Black, R. 2001. Genetic divergence of peripherally disjunct poplations of the gastropod Batillariella estuarina in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Molecular Ecology 10, 2605-2616.
Yeap, K.L., Black, R., & Johnson, M.S. 2001. Developmental constraints and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in the intertidal snail Nodilittorina australis . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 72, 63-76.
Memberships
Australian Ecological Society
Australian Marine Sciences Association
British Ecological Society
Ecological Society of America
Royal Society of Western Australia
Sigma Xi
Australian Marine Sciences Association
British Ecological Society
Ecological Society of America
Royal Society of Western Australia
Sigma Xi
Teaching
ANIM2203 Invertebrate Zoology
ANIM3301 Animal Ecology
ANIM3314 Marine Ecology
SCIE2204 Introduction to Marine Sciences
ANIM3301 Animal Ecology
ANIM3314 Marine Ecology
SCIE2204 Introduction to Marine Sciences
Research profile
