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Research Interests

Population and community ecology of benthic invertebrates, insects, and plants in coastal terrestrial, marine, and estuarine habitats (rocky reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, marshes, beaches, dunes, etc.)

Importance of dispersal, habitat selection, and colonisation (i.e., recruitment) to the structure and dynamics of populations and communities

Influence of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on recruitment, population dynamics, and species diversity

Predicting how humans will destroy the planet and developing conservation strategies to avoid this

Representative Publications

Minchinton, T.E. and M.D. Bertness (2003) Disturbance-mediated competition and the spread of Phragmites australis in a coastal marsh. Ecological Applications 13:1400–1416.

Raimondi, P.T., C.M Wilson, R.F. Ambrose, J.M. Engle and T.E. Minchinton (2002) Continued declines of black abalone along the coast of California: are mass mortalities related to El Niño events. Marine Ecology Progress Series 242:143–152.

Minchinton, T.E. (2002) Precipitation during El Niño correlates with increasing spread of Phragmites australis in New England, USA, coastal marshes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 242:305–309.

Minchinton, T.E. (2001) Canopy and substratum heterogeneity influence recruitment of the mangrove Avicennia marina. Journal of Ecology 89:888–902.

Minchinton, T.E. and M. Dalby-Ball (2001) Frugivory by insects on mangrove propagules: effects on the early life history of Avicennia marina. Oecologia 129:243–252.

Minchinton, T.E. (1997) Life on the edge: conspecific attraction and recruitment of populations to disturbed habitats. Oecologia 11:45–52.

Searchable Publication List

Current Students

PhD

Justin Lathlean, Project title: Factors influencing range limits of Marine invertebrates. (Co-supervised with Prof David Ayre).

Tyge Hermansen, Project title: Ecological and genetic tests of the status of the Sea Anemones at the species borders. (Co-supervised with Prof David Ayre).

Suggested Topics for Future Students

I am open to all projects, so students should contact me to discuss their ideas.

Processes controlling local and regional species diversity

Importance of recruitment for population dynamics and species diversity

Importance of species diversity to the invasibility, stability, and productivity of ecosystems

Invasive species in coastal salt marshes

Seed dispersal and recruitment

See Also the Honours Topics Page

Abbreviated CV

Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2005– present

Lecturer, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2003 – 2004

Lecturer, University of Adelaide, Australia, 2001 – 2003

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California at Santa Cruz, USA, 1999 – 2001

Postdoctoral Scholar, Brown University, USA, 1996 – 1998

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Wollongong, Australia, 1995 – 1996

PhD, Marine Ecology, University of Sydney, Australia, 1996

MSc, Biological Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Canada, 1990