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Professor Sam Lake is a Professor of Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University.
For quite some time, Sam Lake has been carrying out research on the effects that natural disturbances such as floods and droughts have on the ecological structure and function of flowing waters. While the effects of floods on rivers and streams have been extensively studied, the effects of droughts on freshwater ecosystems (both standing and running waters) remain poorly studied and the findings, until now, have not been comprehensively reviewed. This is a major gap in current ecological research.
The patchy understanding of the ecological effects of drought became very evident at the Symposium Role of Drought in the Ecology of Aquatic Ecosystems at Albury in 2001 - papers from which were published in the journal Freshwater Biology in 2003.
Sam Lake believes he has a fairly good understanding of the ecological effects of drought in freshwater ecosystems. He has had research projects thwarted by drought (eg Campaspe Environmental Flow Study), and has been involved in a stream restoration project that has also been compromised by drought.
He has published papers dealing directly with the effects of drought, reviewed papers partly covering drought issues and has contributed to the recent book Climate Change: an Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts edited by B.Pittock
It is already clear that drought can cause major long-term changes to the structure and functioning of freshwater ecosystems. With further study the full nature of these changes may be described and explained.
'The coverage of ecosytems will range from flowing to standing waters and from intermittent to permanent' said Professor Lake.
'The ecological effects are closely integrated with the terrestrial, hydrological and physico-chemical effects of drought in the landscape-waterscape linked system and I hope to adopt this landscape ecology approach for the overall study.'
Human activities, both at catchment scale and within water bodies can greatly exacerbate the effects of drought and this problem requires careful examination. The timing of this study is very appropriate given the increasing public concern about droughts and their effects. There is also the increasing likelihood that global climate change will be marked by an increased frequency of events such as droughts and floods.
The awarding of the Land & Water Australia Senior Research Fellowship gives Professor Lake the opportunity to free himself of teaching and administration commitments and concentrate on reviewing and synthesizing the very scattered literature on the ecological effects of drought on freshwater ecosytems. Professor Lake expects to deliver a comprehensive review, preferably a book, and a separate bibliography on this important topic.