Rebecca McIntyre - PhD Student

School of Plant Biology (M090) 
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley WA 6009
AUSTRALIA

telephone:  +61 8 6488 7914
fax:           +61 8 6488 7925
email:         mcintr01@student.uwa.edu.au 

BSc (Hons 1, Medal for Biology), University of Sydney (2001)     

Background

I completed my undergraduate training at the University of Sydney in 2001, with a strong focus on plant ecology and ecophysiology and minors in zoology and geology. My BSc honours project: “Abiotic Seed Movement and Accumulation in an Arid Habitat, The Simpson Desert, Queensland”, considered the interaction between abiotic factors (wind and water), seed morphology and substrate characteristics on seed secondary dispersal. After 2 years traveling and working in Europe and North America, including a contract position in the Aleutian Islands for the US National Marine Fisheries Service, I commenced my PhD at the University of Western Australia in Perth in early 2004.

Research Interests

• Stream and Landscape Ecology
• Biogeochemical cycling in intermittent stream and riparian systems
• Microbial community dynamics
• Arid and semi-arid zone management

PhD Thesis -  Biogeochemical cycling in intermittent streams of the central Pilbara, WA

Supervisors: Dr Pauline Grierson (UWA), Professor Mark Adams  (UNSW)
Funding: Australian Research Council and Pilbara Iron Pty Ltd (ARC-LP0214150)
Commenced: January 2004

The Pilbara is a unique region that is poorly understood from an ecological perspective.  There is a pressing need for baseline studies in order to assess ecosystem responses to a range of land use including pastoralism, mining, tourism and conservation. Riparian areas are zones of critical importance in maintaining ecosystem functioning in semi-arid landscapes, and are often highly impacted.  Streams in the Pilbara are predominantly intermittent, with only a few having continual surface water that is maintained by groundwater.  We currently have only limited understanding of the processes that maintain dryland streams, particularly those of intermittent or spring-fed flow, and almost no information on biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients.

Floodplain with lateritic gravel on Hamersley Station
 

Dry creekbed at Barnett Creek, Hamersley Station
central Pilbara

Project objectives

• determine the spatial distribution and temporal change of soil N, P and C within intermittent stream landscapes of the Pilbara, encompassing drought-flood cycles, geomorphology, vegetation type, and hydrology

• assess carbon and nitrogen mineralisation, and microbial function, within different microhabitats of the stream landscapes, and spatio-temporal changes in activity due to drying and rewetting cycles

• examine nutrient limitations (N and P) and litter input relationships to autotrophs growth in streams with poor connectivity

• establish a foundation model of biogeochemical cycling processes for semi-arid intermittent creeks of the Pilbara region

Presentations

McIntyre, R.E.S., Adams, M.A., and Grierson, P.F. (2004). Mesoscale nutrient distributions in a semi-arid riparian system, Australian Society for Limnology annual congress 2004, Adelaide. Poster Presentation.

McIntyre, R.E.S., Adams, M.A., and Grierson, P.F. (2005). Belowground indicators of riparian ecosystem health in the Pilbara: Soil microbial processes. Tree Health in Arid Riparian Zones Workshop, University of Western Australia. Oral Presentation

McIntyre, R.E.S., Adams, M.A., and Grierson, P.F. (2005). Ancient soils in a sunburnt country: Nutrient and carbon distributions in an Australian dryland river system. North American Benthological Society annual meeting 2005, New Orleans. Poster Presentation.

Useful Links

Pilbara Iron Pty Ltd
Australian Society for Limnology
North American Benthological Society