water ecosystems@leeds
Water ecosystems research
Water is essential for almost all life hence it is necessary to understand the interaction of water with organisms, from plants and animals to fungi and bacteria. The theme expands on water as a habitat and explores the physiological functions of water in biological systems, operating from the macroscopic scale of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through to the microscopic world of cells and molecules in living organisms.
Encompassing expertise in ecology, zoology, botany, physiology, biochemistry and medicine, our research evaluates the health of the biotic complexes of ecosystems and links to quality and processes in determining the influence of abiotic factors. From membrane biology and toxicology to entomology, evolutionary ecology and population dynamics, water@leeds seeks to understand the feedback mechanisms that exist within and between organisms and the environment in which they live.
The water ecosystems group has a wide range of tools, methods and approaches at its disposal for application to wide-ranging interests, including:
- Understanding and controlling blooms of cyanobacteria
- Ecology and behaviour of arthropods including insects and crustaceans
- Aquatic ecology and food webs
- Parasitism
- Palaeobotany as a tool for climate interpretation
- Sustainable agriculture
- Adadptive learning and co-evolution
- Game theory
- Biodegradation of xenobiotic pollutants and the effects of microbes on water quality
- Animal behaviour, particularly shoaling in fish
- Spatial aspects of populations and community ecology
- Conservation biology
- Cell membrane biology
- Pharmacology and drug delivery
- Nanotoxicology and risk assessment
- Virulence control
- Signal sensing mechanisms and regulation of gene expression
For further information about any of these areas, please contact water@leeds or visit the membership list to search for our experts in the areas of water biology and ecology.
