Dr Shaun Wilson

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr Shaun Wilson

Shaun's CV

Research Interests

My primary interest involves the impact of habitat loss on coral reef fish communities. In collaboration with colleagues at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Newcastle university, UK, and JCU, we have demonstrated that although initial loss of coral effects a relatively small component of the fish community, the subsequent loss of reef structure and complexity can have severe consequences for the entire fish community. We are currently investigating how the interaction between loss of structural complexity and fishing; another widely recognised anthropogenic form of disturbance on coral reefs.  My other major interest is coral reef trophodynamics, in particular the flux of detritus based resources. Biochemical work in this area has demonstrated that detritus is of much higher nutritional value than we previously believed and that many of the fish often classified as herbivores actually feed directly on detritus. The work emphasises the importance of detritivorous fish and detritus in reef food webs, challenging traditional ideas of trophodynamics.

Selected Publications