Dr Judith Klein
I have left the University of Sydney and joined the ECOSYM team at Montpellier in France, to work on plankton dynamics. I am currently writing up my work from Sydney.
Qualifications and Employment History
Research Interest
Current Research
Future Projects
Research Output
Qualifications and Employment History
Educational Attainments
“Vordiplom” University of Göttingen 2000;
Education Abroad Programme; University of California Santa Cruz (USA) 2000-2001;
M.Sc. University of Aix-Marseille II (France) 2003;
Ph.D. University of Aix-Marseille II (France) 2007;
Employment History
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, University of Sydney 2008-2009
Research Interest
My research interests encompass various aspects of disturbances (natural and anthropogenic) in coastal benthic assemblages. I have been studying the impact of different anthropogenic disturbances, such as artificial structures, pollution and invasive species, on invertebrate and macroalgal assemblages.
In densely populated coastal areas, the various anthropogenic disturbances often occur together affecting biological assemblages concomitantly. In order to evaluate the role of a single source of disturbance, it is of utmost importance to carefully disentangle the various impacts.
In the frame of my Ph.D., I studied the invasion impact of an invasive species in the French Mediterranean Sea. The green alga Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea native to south-western Australia has been introduced into the Mediterranean Sea in the early 1990’s. Presently it occurs throughout the entire basin and has even reached the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. My research investigated the effect of the presence of Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea on different macroalgal assemblages. Furthermore an eradication experiment has been carried out to 1) experimentally test the invasion impact and 2) evaluate the possibility of manually controlling this invasive species. During my research; I discovered that Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea highly altered the structure of the different macroalgal assemblages: species numbers and abundance were greatly reduced and the seasonal dynamics of the assemblage were changed. In the French Mediterranean Sea, where pollution and coastal constructions have long been the principal source of anthropogenic disturbance in coastal assemblages, invasive species now seem to play an important role.
Current Research
My current research focuses on the study of the grazing behaviour of intertidal gastropods and their responses to increases in intra- and inter-specific densities, micro-algal food abundance and types of micro-habitat. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the impact of seawalls on ecological processes in Sydney Harbour, manipulative experiments are carried out to study the effects of seawalls on competitive interactions between limpets. The role of a habitat-forming organism, the Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata, on these interactions is investigated. This work is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Gee Chapman and Prof. Tony Underwood.
This research is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and partly by a Sydney Aquarium Conservation Foundation grant and the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities.
Future Projects
For my future research, I will be working together with Prof. Greg Skilleter at the University of Queensland.
Research Output
Klein, J. & M. Verlaque (2009). Macroalgal assemblages of disturbed coastal detritic bottoms subject to invasive species. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 82: 461-468.
Boudouresque, C.F., J. Klein, S. Ruitton & M. Verlaque (2008). Biological Invasions: The Thau Lagoon, a Japanese biological island in the Mediterranean Sea. Proceedings of the 13th France-Japan Oceanography Symposium, Marseille 8-10 September 2008.
Klein, J. & M. Verlaque (2008). The Caulerpa racemosa invasion: A critical review. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 56: 205-225.
Klein, J. (2007). [[i||Impact of Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Caulerpales, Chlorophyta) on macrophyte assemblages of the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Aix-Marseilles II, France.
Klein, J. & M. Verlaque (2007). Caulerpa racemosa effect on macrophyte assemblages of dead Posidonia beds. Proceedings of the 3rd Mediterranean Symposium on Marine Vegetation, 78-82. UNEP RAC-SPA.
Klein, J., S. Ruitton, M. Verlaque & C.F. Boudouresque (2005). Species introductions, diversity and disturbances in marine macrophyte assemblages of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 290: 79-88.
Klein, J. & M. Verlaque (2005). Laurencia caduciramulosa Masuda et Kawaguchi (Ceramiales, Rhodophyceae), first record on the Mediterranean coast of France. Cryptogamie Algologie, 26 (2: 209-216.