Dr Paul Humphries

Lecturer (ecology and statistics) and River and Fish Ecologist

School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, 
Albury, PO Box 789, NSW, 2640, Australia

Telephone: Int. + 61 2 60519920
Fax:  		Int. + 61 2 60519897
email: 	phumphries@csu.edu.au

Teaching

BIO263	Environmental data analysis
BIO401 River and floodplain ecology
BIO461 Applied ecological conservation
School Honours Coordinator

Teaching resource links

Photographs

Opinion

Fish out of water: management of rivers during drought. Paul Humphries, Ben Gawne (MDFRC) and Amina Price (MDFRC), November 2006

The drought we had to have. Paul Humphries, August 2008

Research interests

My research interests are broad, but mostly relate to rivers and their ecology.  
Whilst I have worked on fish-related topics mostly, I also have a keen interest in
macroinvertebrates and macrophytes.  Most of my work in the last ten years or so,
relates to the relationship between riverine biota and flow.  For about nine years,
I led, what became known as the Campaspe Flow Manipulation Project, 
with the CRC for Freshwater Ecology.  This project was a large-scale 
environmental flows experiment, but which started just as the protracted drought set in.  
It nevertheless allowed us to study how fish and bugs live, reproduce and recruit in Australian lowland rivers.  
Since moving to Charles Sturt University in late 2004, I have moved more into the recruitment side of things, running
an MDBC-funded project, looking at the timing of recruitment of fish in relation to timing
of spawning.  A fellowship at the National Library of Australia in 2005 and sabbatical in the US and Austria in 2008
has also allowed me to develop ideas relating to environmental change in the Murray-Darling Basin and how the fish
fauna was affected.  These ideas are now coming to fruition, with several palaeozoological projects being developed.

So, the broad areas of my interests are as follows:

The role of flow and floodplains in the life cycles of fishes
Freshwater fish recruitment 
Ecology of freshwater fish larvae
River rehabilitation through altered flow management practices
Dispersal and retention of early stages of fish
History of environmental change in the Murray-Darling Basin
Historical change, shifting baselines and river restoration
Archaezoology for reconstructing fish faunas

International Collaboration

Dr Hubert Keckeis and Mag. Elisabeth Schludermann, University of Vienna, Austria
Movement of fish larvae in the River Danube, Austria



Dr Kirk Winemiller, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Historical loss of species, shifting baselines and challenges for river restoration

Post-grad and Honours students

Current PhD students:

Nicole McCasker - Sources and severity or mortality in early life history of freshwater fish

Anna Burns - Diversity and dynamics of the arthropod assemblages of mistletoe in remnant woodlands
Nick Whiterod - Bioenergetics of Murray cod in relation to river regulation
Stacey Kopf - Fish assemblage and in-stream habitat in the Beavers Creek / Old Man Creek anabranch of the Murrumbidgee River, NSW

Current Honours students

Karen Scott - Forgaging efficiency of a pursuit and an ambush fish under varying light and turbidities

Past Honours students:

Tim Curmi 1996 - Habitat use and diet of river blackfish and two spined blackfish in Tallangatta Creek
Rick Stoffels 1998 - Habitat use of gudgeons in floodplain billabongs: the role of their interaction with perch and mosquitofish
Jarod Lyon 2000 - Fast-start perfomance in relation to temperature in Murray cod and brown trout
Zeb Tonkin 2002 - Studies of larval feeding in four Murray-Darling freshwater fish species
Matthew Vogel 2002/03 - The effect of varying temperature and feeding levels on somatic and otolith growth in Murray cod larvae

Simon Lukies 2003/04 - Diet and foraging interactions between the native crimson-spotted rainbowfish and the introduced mosquitofish in the Broken River of northeast Victoria
Simon Kaminskas 2005/06 - Diet and development of Murray cod larvae from an Australian lowland river
Christine Piko 2006 - Distribution and physico-chemical variables associated with Vallisneria americana in a lowland river

Past PhD students:

Alison King (Monash Uni) - Recruitment dynamics of fish in floodplain rivers
David Crook (CSU) - Habitat use and movement of common carp and golden perch in a lowland river
Stephen Balcombe (La Trobe) - Resource use by Hypseleotris in the littoral macrophytes of a floodplain billabong
Kylie Peterson (Uni. of Canberra) - Fish larvae in regulated and unregulated rivers
Amina Price (University of Canberra) - Habitat use and movement of the young stages of fish and shrimp in lowland rivers

Publications

Refereed journal articles and book chapters:

• Humphries, P. and Winemiller, K.O. Historical Impacts on River Fauna, Shifting Baselines and Challenges for Restoration (in press BioScience)

• Humphries, P. (in press). Wilhelm Blandowski’s contribution to ichthyology of the Murray-Darling Basin. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 121: 90-108.

• Humphries, P., Brown, P., Douglas, J., Pickworth, A., Strongman, R., Hall, K. and Serafini, L.G. (2008). Patterns in abundance and composition of the fish fauna of a degraded Australian lowland river. Freshwater Biology 53: 789-813.

• Humphries, P. (2007). Historical Indigenous use of aquatic resources in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin, and its implications for river management. Ecological Management and Restoration, 8: 106-113.

• Tonkin, Z.D., Humphries, P. and Pridmore, P.A. (2006). Ontogeny of feeding in two native and an alien fish species in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes 76: 303-315. PDF
  
• Humphries, P., Cook, R.A., Richardson, A.M. and Serafini, L.G. (2006). Creating a disturbance: manipulating slackwaters in a lowland river. River Research and Applications 22: 525-542. PDF
  
• Balcombe, S.R. and Humphries, P. (2006). Diets of gudgeons (Hypseleotris spp.) in an Australian billabong: the role of water level. Journal of Fish Biology 68: 1484-1493. PDF
  
• Humphries, P. (2005). Spawning time and early life history of Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii, in an Australian river. Environmental Biology of Fishes 72: 393-407. PDF
  
• King, A.J., Humphries, P. and Lake, P.S. (2003). Use of floodplain environments during high and low flow conditions by larval and juvenile fish. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 69: 773-786. PDF
  
• Humphries, P. and Baldwin, D.S. (2003). Drought and aquatic ecosystems: An introduction. Freshwater Biology 48: 1141-1146. PDF
  
• Stoffels, R. and Humphries, P. (2003). Ontogenetic variation in the diurnal food and habitat associations of an endemic and an exotic fish in floodplain ponds: consequences for niche partitioning. Environmental Biology of Fishes 66: 293-305 PDF
  
• Humphries, P., Serafini, L.G. and King, A.J. (2002). River regulation and fish larvae: changes in space and time. Freshwater Biology 47: 1307-1331 PDF
  
• Crook, D.A., Robertson, A.I., King, A.J. and Humphries, P. (2001). Scale-dependent habitat use by fish in lowland rivers. Oecologia 129: 525-533. PDF
  
• Humphries, P. and Lake, P.S. (2000). Fish larvae and the management of regulated rivers. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management, 16: 421-432. PDF
  
• Humphries, P., King, A.J. and Koehn, J.D. (1999) Fish, flows and floodplains: links between freshwater fish and their environment in the Murray-Darling Rive system, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 56: 129-151. PDF
  
• Humphries, P., Growns, J.E., Serafini, L.G., Hawking, J.H., Chick, A.J. and Lake, P.S. (1998). Macroinvertebrate sampling methods for lowland Australian rivers. Hydrobiologia 364: 209-218.
  
• Chilcott, S.J. and Humphries, P. (1996). Freshwater fish of north-east Tasmania with notes on the dwarf galaxias. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 103: 145-149.
  
• Humphries, P., Davies, P.E. and Mulcahy, M.E. (1996). Macroinvertebrate assemblages of littoral habitats in the Macquarie and Mersey Rivers, Tasmania: Implications for the management of regulated rivers. Regulated Rivers-Research and Management. 12: 99-122.
  
• Kuiter, R.D., Humphries, P. and Arthington, A.H. (1996). Pygmy perch. In: McDowall, R.M. (Ed.). Freshwater fishes of south-eastern Australia. pp. 168-175. Reed, Sydney.
  
• Humphries, P. (1996). Aquatic macrophytes, macroinvertebrate associations and water level in a lowland Tasmanian river. Hydrobiologia 321: 219-233.
  
• Humphries, P. (1995). Life history, diet and habitat of southern pygmy perch, Nannoperca australis, in the Macquarie River, Tasmania. Marine and Freshwater Research, 46:1159-1169.
  
• Gill, H.S. and Humphries, P. (1995) An experimental evaluation of habitat choice in three species of goby. Records of the West Australian Museum.
  
• Pen, L.J., Gill, H.S., Humphries, P. and Potter, I.C. (1993). Growth, age composition, reproductive biology and diet of the black-stripe minnow Galaxiella nigrostriata (Shipway), including comparisons with the other two Galaxiella species. Journal of Fish Biology 43 : 847-863.
  
• Humphries, P. and Potter, I.C. (1993). Relationship between the habitat and diet of three species of atherinids and three species of gobies in a temperate Australian estuary. Marine Biology. 116 : 193-204.
  
• Humphries, P. (1993). A comparison of the mouth morphology of three co-occurring species of atherinid. Journal of Fish Biology. 42 : 585-593.
  
• Humphries, P., Hyndes, G.A. and Potter, I.C. (1992). Comparisons of the diets of distant taxa (teleost and cormorant) in an Australian estuary. Estuaries. 15 : 327-334.
  
• Humphries, P., Potter, I.C. and Loneragan, N.R. (1992). The fish community in the shallows of a temperate Australian estuary: relationships with the aquatic macrophyte Ruppia megacarpa and environmental variables. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 34 : 325-346.
  
• Kirkman, H., Humphries, P. and Manning, R. (1990). The epibenthic fauna of seagrass beds and bare sand in Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound, Albany, south-western Australia. In : Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., Lethbridge, R. and Kirkman, H. (eds.). Flora and fauna of Albany Harbour. Western Australian Museum, Perth.
  
• Humphries, P. (1990). Morphological variation in diadromous and landlocked populations of the spotted galaxias, Galaxias truttaceus Valenciennes, in Tasmania, south-eastern Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 27 : 97-105.
  
• Humphries, P. (1989). Variation in the life history of the spotted galaxias, Galaxias truttaceus Valenciennes, in Tasmania. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 40: 501-518.
  
• Humphries, P. and White, R.W.G. (1988). Freshwater fish fauna of the Tasman Peninsula. In: Smith, S.J. Tasman Peninsula: Is history enough? Royal Society of Tasmania, Hobart. pp. 51-58.
  
• Humphries, P. (1987). External sexing of galaxiid fish. Victorian Naturalist. 104: 185-186.
  
• Humphries, P. (1986). Observations on the ecology of the dwarf galaxiid, Galaxiella pusilla (Mack) (Salmoniformes : Galaxiidae), in Diamond Creek, Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 98 : 133-179.

History of science papers:

• Humphries, P. (2007). Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and a theory of everything. Endeavour 31: 134-139.
• Humphries, P. (2003). Blandowski misses out: ichthyological etiquette in 19th century Australia. Endeavour. December 2003. PDF
  
• Humphries, P. (2003). From Van Diemen’s Land to Paris: the scientific discovery of a Tasmanian fish. Forty Degrees South.
  
• Humphries, P. (2002). You’ve heard of Joseph Banks, but why haven’t you heard of Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George? Australian Society for Fish Biology Newsletter.

Book Reviews:

• Humphries, P. (2007). An ocean of beauty, a sea of troubles. Review of Koslow's "The Silent Deep" Australian Book Review, 295: 53
• Humphries, P. (2005). Fishes of northeastern Australia. River Research and Applications.
  
• Humphries, P. (2004). The best laid plans…..Book review in Endeavour. 28: 140.

Keys:

• Serafini, L.G. and Humphries, P. (2004). A preliminary guide to the identification of the larvae of species of freshwater fish from the Murray-Darling Basin. February 2004

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