Meet the Director

The Director

Dr Michael Dobson

Introduction

Text from "Review of Activities 2007"

Recent publications

Introduction

I joined the FBA in April 2007, after 15 years teaching and carrying out research at Manchester Metropolitan University. Before taking up my position here, I was familiar with the workings of scientific organisations, through six years' involvement with the British Ecological Society (BES), and had been a member of FBA Council immediately prior to my appointment.

My main research interests relate to the ecology and management of upland streams, involving work in the United Kingdom (particularly the uplands of northern England), southern France, the highlands of Kenya and the Western Ghats in India. I am also interested in the invertebrate ecology of reed beds, although I have so far failed to publish much on this subject.

I am a member of the BES, Eastern Africa Water Association (EAWA), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM), North American Benthological Society (NABS) and, of course, the FBA.

Director's text from "Review of Activities 2007"

The future of the FBA needs to be built on the recognition that we are strongly placed as a provider of information, through our publications, meetings, online resources, library and archived collections. Associated with information is education; our aim is to foster an understanding and appreciation of fresh waters and the FBA has the capacity to assist in education at many levels.

Of course, good information and good education depend upon good research, so the FBA will continue to play an important role in ensuring that high quality research is carried out. We will strive to ensure that the library and its associated information services provide the key to our support of evidence-based decision making. Through our unique research facilities – particularly those at East Stoke in Dorset – the FBA is bringing together researchers from a variety of sources, with the aim of enhancing dialogue, interaction and the development of integrated research addressing some of the key questions relevant to fresh waters. At a time when funding for high quality research is becoming more difficult to access, the FBA will endeavour to provide a regular flow of grants for studentships and research projects, targeted at fields for which funding is otherwise difficult to obtain, such as fundamental ecology and taxonomy.

Our credentials as a supporter of research are enhanced by our active programme of collaborative meetings with other organisations and stakeholders – again, part of our role as an information provider. The success of this approach has been demonstrated by SEFS meetings which, through an active collaboration with other organisations dedicated to freshwater biology, have brought scientists together from across Europe and beyond; in the future this success will be built upon by expanding further afield. At the same time, a new series of FBA Conferences in Aquatic Biology will set the agenda for future research. Our role in knowledge transfer will be enhanced by publications such as Freshwater Reviews and by expansion of facilities offered by FreshwaterLife, two resources whose success will ultimately be determined by the enthusiasm of contributors.

The FBA has historically had a strong connection with East Africa; we are reviving this with an active programme of knowledge transfer and capacity building throughout Africa. As this develops, it will be expanded to the rest of the developing world, for the benefit of both science and freshwater sustainability.

Many of these initiatives are targeted at professional scientists, but we will ensure that the FBA remains relevant to the large numbers of people who are involved in fresh waters at an amateur level, from biological recorders to anglers. As the FBA settles into its role as a facilitator of research and a provider of information, we will not lose sight of the fact that we are first and foremost a membership organisation. Our strength is in our members, and the more our members feel a part of the FBA, the stronger and more influential we will become. Therefore, a range of initiatives is to be launched in the coming years to allow members – both individual and corporate – greater involvement in the running of the Association and greater say in its future direction.

Recent publications

In press
Dobson M., Naura M. & McElhone M. (in press) Welsh rivers under threat: physical factors. In Duigan C. & Williams D.D. (eds.) Rivers in Wales. Backhuys, Leiden.

Lancaster J., Dobson M., Magana A.M., Arnold A. & Mathooko J.M. (in press) An unusual terrestrial subsidy and potentially fragile species dominance in a tropical stream system. Ecology.

2008
Riipinen M., Davy-Bowker J, & Dobson M (2008) Comparison of structural and functional stream assessment methods to detect changes in riparian vegetation and water pH. Freshwater Biology. Online: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.01964.x

Boulton, A.J, Boyero L., Covich A.P., Dobson M., Lake S. & Pearson R. (2008) Are tropical streams ecologically different from temperate streamsω Pages 257-284 in Dudgeon D. & Cressa C. (eds) Tropical Stream Ecology. Academic Press, San Diego. Pages 257-284.

2007
Dobson M., Magana A.M, Mathooko J.M. & Ndegwa F.K. (2007) Distribution and abundance of freshwater crabs (Potamonautes spp.) in rivers draining Mt Kenya, East Africa. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, 168. 271-279.

Dobson M., Magana A.M., Lancaster J. & Mathooko J.M. (2007) Aseasonality in the abundance and life history of an ecologically dominant freshwater crab in the Rift Valley, Kenya. Freshwater Biology, 52, 215-225.

Lecerf A., Patfield D., Boiché A., Riipinen M.P., Chauvet E. & Dobson M. (2007) Stream ecosystems respond to riparian invasion by Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 64, 1273-1283.

2005
Dobson M. (2005) Manipulation of stream retentiveness. Pages 17-22 in Graça M.A.S, Bärlocher F. & Gessner M.O. (eds.) Methods to Study Litter Decomposition: a Practical Guide. Kluwer, Dordrecht.

Lecerf A., Dobson M., Dang C.K. & Chauvet E. (2005) Riparian plant species loss alters trophic dynamics in detritus-based stream ecosystems. Oecologia, 146, 432-442.

Pretty J.L., Giberson D.J. & Dobson M. (2005) Resource dynamics and detritivore production in an acid stream. Freshwater Biology, 50, 578-591.

2004
Dobson M. (2004) Replacement of native freshwater snails by the exotic Physa acuta (Gastropoda, Physidae) in southern Mozambique; a possible control mechanism for schistosomiasis. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, 98, 543-548.

Dobson M. (2004) Freshwater crabs in Africa. Freshwater Forum, 21, 3-26.

Dobson M., Mathooko J.M., Ndegwa F.K. & M'Erimba C. (2004) Leaf litter processing rates in a Kenyan highland stream, the Njoro River. Hydrobiologia, 519, 207 210.

Pretty J.L. & Dobson M. (2004) Leaf transport and retention in a high gradient stream. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8, 560-566.

Pretty J.L. & Dobson M. (2004) The response of macroinvertebrates to artificially enhanced detritus levels in plantation streams. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8, 550-559.

2002
Laitung, B., Pretty, J.L., Chauvet, E. and Dobson, M. (2002) Response of aquatic hyphomycete communities to enhanced stream retention in areas impacted by commercial forestry. Freshwater Biology, 47, 313-323.

Dobson, M., Mathooko, J.M., Magana, A. and Ndegwa, F.K. (2002) Macroinvertebrate assemblages and detritus processing in Kenyan highland streams: more evidence for the paucity of shredders in the tropicsω Freshwater Biology, 47, 909-919.

Frid C.L.J. & Dobson M. (2002) Ecology of Aquatic Management. Pearson Education, Harlow.