The Director - Dr Michael Dobson

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, the subject of a current PhD studentship with the University of Leeds. I am co-supervisor of a PhD stduent at Lancaster University aiming to develop a simple biotic index for rivers in Belize.

I am keen to encourage wide involvement in understanding and apprecaition of our freshwater environments. I am a member of the steering committee for the Riverfly Partnership and the FBA representative (and 2011 chair) of the Lake District Still Waters Partnership. I am currently working on the development of user-friendly identification keys for freshwater invertebrates, particularly Diptera.

I am a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a member of the BES, Eastern Africa Water Association (EAWA), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM), International Society of Limnology, The Society for Freshwater Sciences (SFS, formerly North American Benthological Society NABS) and, of course, the FBA.

Recent publications

2011

Everard M., Fletcher M.S., Powell A. & Dobson M (2011) The feasibility of developing multi-taxa indicators for landscape scale assessment of freshwater systems. Freshwater Reviews, 4, 1-19.

Hladyz S., Björnsson K.A., Chauvet E., Dobson M. & 20 others (2011) Stream ecosystem functioning in an agricultural landscape: the importance of terrestrial–aquatic linkages. Advances in Ecological Research, 44, 211-275.

2010

Brown L.E. & 30 others (2010) Priority water research questions as determined by UK practitioners and policy makers. Science of the Total Environment, 409, 256-266.

Riipinen M.P., Fleituch T., Hladyz S., Woodward G., Giller P. & Dobson M. (2010) Invertebrate community structure and ecosystem functioning in European conifer plantation streams. Freshwater Biology, 55, 346–359.

2009

Dobson M. & Frid C.L.J. (2009) Ecology of Aquatic Systems, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Dobson M., Naura M. & McElhone M. (2009) Welsh rivers under threat: physical factors. Pages 205-222 in Duigan C. & Williams D.D. (eds.) Rivers in Wales. Backhuys, Leiden.

Mathooko J.M., M'Erimba C.M., Kipkemboi J. & Dobson M. (2009) Conservation of highland streams in Kenya: the importance of the socio-economic dimension in effective management of resources. Freshwater Reviews, 2, 153-165.

Riipinen M.P., Davy-Bowker J. & Dobson M. (2009), Comparison of structural and functional stream assessment methods to detect changes in riparian vegetation and water pH. Freshwater Biology, 54, 2127–2138.

2008

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

Lancaster J., Dobson M., Magana A.M., Arnold A. & Mathooko J.M. (2008) An unusual terrestrial subsidy and potentially fragile species dominance in a tropical stream system. Ecology, 89, 2325-2334.Online: doi: 10.1890/07-1553.1

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

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 tropics? Freshwater Biology, 47, 909-919.

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