Katherine Cheshire

Biography/ Background

Natural river systems around the world have been heavily modified to serve the needs of an ever-growing population. The environmental degradation caused by these anthropogenic impacts has severely affected riverine ecosystems, within Australia river regulation has had the biggest impact on the ecosystem health of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The decrease in environmental health has caused serious declines in range, abundance and diversity for many of the native fish species in the MDB. Despite the recognition of this decline for many decades, research into the threat mitigation has progressed slowly.

While much of our understanding is still under investigation, we are now more aware that there is a diversity of reproductive strategies employed by native fish as a response to differing hydrological conditions. Water discharge volumes are believed to be a significant contributor to the spawning and survivorship of some native fish species, while the roles of other aspects, such as water level and floodplain inundation, are less clear cut.

For my PhD research I am aiming to improve our understanding for larval fish communities in the main river channel of South Australia through:

Determining spatial variation in spawning patterns and assemblage structure.

Determining the interannual variation in relation to years with differing hydrology.

Looking into the linkages between larval assemblage structure and their food in relation to environmental conditions.

Determining the importance of embayments in comparison to the main channel environment for the Lower Murray SA, compared to the mid and upper reaches of the Murray.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science(2001-2005), with first class honours at the University of Adelaide

Doctor of Philosophy (2006-present) "Early life history of freshwater fish in the River Murray, SA" Supervisors: Assoc. Prof Bronwyn Gillanders, Dr Qifeng Ye (SARDI), Dr Alison King (ARI).

Research Interests

Funding and awards

2005- ASFB John Glover Travel Scholarship

2006- University Divisional Postgraduate scholarship

2006- CSIRO, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship postgraduate scholarship

2006- SARDI Womens Bursary award

2007- Australian Society for Limnology student travel award

Publications

Cheshire KJ, Ye Q (2008) 'Larval fish assemblage structure below Locks 5 and 6 in the River Murray, South Australia: with reference to the weirpool manipulation trials.' South Australian Research and Development Institute, SARDI Research Report Series No: 175; ISBN: 978-0-7308-5381-7, Adelaide, SA.

Entry last updated: Thursday, 8 May 2008

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