Dr Jason Everett

BEnvSc(Hons) PhD UNSW

School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science
University of New South Wales
Sydney NSW 2052
AUSTRALIA

Phone: +612 9385 2073
Fax: +612 9385 1558

Email: Jason.Everett at unsw.edu.au

Research Interests

1. The role of salps in marine ecosystem function
2. Ecological community dynamics of the East Australian Current
3. The size spectra of oceanic and estuarine plankton communities and its role as an indicator of trophic dynamics
4. Ecological modelling of estuarine systems using biomechanical and scaling approaches

Current Projects

In my current position as a postdoctoral researcher in the FAMER laboratory, I am investigating the role of salps in marine ecosystem function and climate change. Salps are the fastest growing metazoan (multi-celled) organism on the planet with growth rates approaching that of bacteria. They bloom in spring, dominating the planktonic biomass by many orders of magnitude. On recent research cruises aboard the RV Southern Surveyor off southeastern Australia (Sept 2006 and Oct 2008), salps were the dominant plankton collected in all nets. However, very little is known about their distribution, or how these blooms impact the marine ecosystem. Compared with other zooplankton such as krill and copepods, salps are relatively less nutritous. This could negatively impact growth rates and survival of species which feed on zooplankton, such as fish. There is growing evidence that the abundance of 'gelatinous' zooplankton is increasing. The cause and ecological impact of these increases are still relatively uncertain.

To read more about salps, click here to go to our salps page.

Previously I worked for the Water and Coastal Science Section at the NSW Department of Climate Change (NSW DECC), helping to develop the Coastal Eutrophication Risk Assessment Tool (CERAT). The aim of CERAT is to permit comparative assessments of the risk of NSW estuaries to eutrophication and to assist in decisions on broad scale management actions.