Alastair M M RichardsonUniversity of Tasmania · School of Zoology
Alastair M M Richardson
BSc (Hons) Exeter 1969; PhD Exeter 1972
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (194)
Biogeographical patterns explain variation in body size, although the strength and directions of these patterns vary. When researchers account for the micro- or macrohabitats that species inhabit, they often find that biogeographical relationships with body size are modified, especially in taxa that inhabit diverse environments. Freshwater crayfish...
Temperate Australian saltmarshes, including those in the southern island state of Tasmania, are considered to be a threatened ecological community under Australian federal legislation. There is a need to improve our understanding of the ecological components, functional relationships and threatening processes of Tasmanian coastal saltmarshes and di...
Body sizes (overall length) of 125 Australian and 230 North American freshwater crayfish were extracted from the literature in order to compare the two major radiations of freshwater crayfish. The size distribution of Australian species is strongly skewed to the right and contains at least 13 species that exceed the maximum size of North American c...
An on-going opportunistic tagging program marked almost 600 giant freshwater crayfish, Astacopsis gouldi, between 22-222 mm carapace length from 123 localities on 62 rivers in Tasmania since 1998. Eighty animals were recaptured once, 50 more than once, and the longest period between initial and latest capture was 8 years. These data were analysed t...
Rates of biodiversity loss are higher in freshwater ecosystems than in most terrestrial or marine ecosystems, making freshwater conservation a priority. However, prioritisation methods are impeded by insufficient knowledge on the distribution and conservation status of freshwater taxa, particularly invertebrates. We evaluated the extinction risk of...
The Science Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) provide a nationally agreed framework for bachelor level degrees in science. They are available in the Science Standards Statement (Jones, Yates and Kelder, 2011), but that is a formal document, and is not 'student-‐friendly'. Our students – potential and current – need to appreciate what they will ac...
Abstract:
Crayfish are the dominant decapods in many freshwater, and even terrestrial, habitats, playing important community roles through their large size, mobility, behaviour and omnivory. Both density and size affect their ecosystem impacts. Many crayfish require a heterogeneous habitat with refuges for survival of different life stages. Life h...
Integrating research into freshwater biodiversity and the role of keystone species, this fascinating book presents freshwater crayfish as representatives of human-exacerbated threats to biodiversity and conservation. It uses examples from these and other large decapod invertebrates to explore how communities function and are controlled, alongside t...
Integrating research into freshwater biodiversity and the role of keystone species, this fascinating book presents freshwater crayfish as representatives of human-exacerbated threats to biodiversity and conservation. It uses examples from these and other large decapod invertebrates to explore how communities function and are controlled, alongside t...
Populations of the world's largest freshwater invertebrate Astacopsis gouldi (tayatea, or giant Tasmanian freshwater crayfish) have declined because of land use changes and poaching. The species is endemic to northern Tasmania and is listed as "vulnerable" under the Commonwealth of Australia Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act...
Reservation of forest in riparian buffers is common practice in commercial forestry areas worldwide, potentially providing
valuable habitat for biodiversity dependent on mature forest. However, the habitat value of narrow reserve corridors can be
compromised by edge effects. We investigated the habitat value of streamside buffers in wet eucalypt fo...
Streamside reserves can provide important habitat reservation in forest landscapes subject to logging. Depending on the width of streamside reserves, edge effects have the potential to compromise their effectiveness for terrestrial conservation, yet edge effects into riparian environments have rarely been assessed. It would be unwise to assume that...
In Australia, tree hollows are a crucial resource for over 300 animal species. Recognizing the importance of maintaining tree hollows in the landscape, forest management agencies retain hollow-bearing trees for the conservation of hollow-dependent species. Most guidelines for the retention of hollow-bearing trees in production forests are based on...
Phylogenetic relationships and species boundaries of Australian burrowing freshwater crayfish belonging to the genera Engaeus, Engaewa, Geocharax, Gramastacus and Tenuibranchiurus are investigated using combined mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data and Bayesian and Maximum Parsimony methods. Phylogenies are statistically compared to previous...
Urban populations of several gull species worldwide are increasing dramatically and this is often assumed to be a result of greater access to anthropogenic food obtained in urbanized environments. This research investigated the potential effects of an anthropogenic diet on the mass and body condition of Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) by compa...
Historical sea levels have been influential in shaping the phylogeography of freshwater-limited taxa via palaeodrainage and palaeoshoreline connections. In this study, we demonstrate an approach to phylogeographic analysis incorporating historical sea-level information in a nested clade phylogeographic analysis (NCPA) framework, using burrowing fre...
Shorebirds feed primarily on tidal flats, and their distribution over these flats is influenced by their prey and abiotic factors. These factors act by influencing the distribution and abundance of the prey, or the shorebirds ability to exploit it. The aims of this study were to investigate the low tide foraging distribution of shorebirds at four s...
The range of an endangered burrowing crayfish, Engaeus granulatus, from north central Tasmania was mapped following an extensive field survey. The survey located 35 new populations of the species, extending its known fange from 343 to 515 km 2, but its likely area of occupancy remains below 1 km 2. Overall population estimates ranged from 392,200 t...
Historical sea levels have been influential in shaping the phylogeography of freshwater-limited taxa via palaeodrainage and palaeoshoreline connections. In this study, we demonstrate an approach to phylogeographic analysis incorporating historical sea-level information in a nested clade phylogeographic analysis (NCPA) framework, using burrowing fre...