Brendan Mckie

I began my research career working on the ecology of tropical and temperate streams in Australia, and subsequently on European temperate, boreal and arctic systems.  At the start of this journey I was very much a community ecologist primarily focussed on benthic macroinvertebrates in stream ecosystems.  Over time, driven by a growing interest in the functioning of food webs, I expanded my research to encompass a broader range of organism groups (fish, freshwater vascular plants, algae and fungi, and riparian consumers), habitat types (lakes, wetlands, riparian habitats) and ecosystem processes (leaf decomposition, algal productivity, ecosystem respiration).  Today, I work at the interface between community and ecosystem ecology, with a strong focus on how biotic (e.g. functional traits of species, keystone species) and abiotic (e.g. nutrients, temperature) environmental factors affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.  

In addition to my roles in research, I am vice-coordinator for the environmental analysis program "Lakes and Waterways" and sit on the board of the research school "Ecology: Basics and Applications".  I previously served as a faculty Vice-Dean.  I obtained my PhD from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and undergraduate degree from the Australian National University, Canberra.  I am currently an Associate Editor for the journal Freshwater Ecology.  

Streams, lakes and their associated riparian habitats support unique biodiversity and underpin landscape integrity, transporting nutrients and materials, and supporting life by supplying and purifying fresh water. However, these habitats are among the World's most degraded, impacted by stressors associated with the full range of human activities in our landscapes, invasive species, and climate change.  Accordingly, there is an urgent need for research not only quantifying these impacts in freshwater and riparian habitats, but also the efficacy of different restoration and mitigation management actions for improving ecological quality and stability.  

I address these challenges through research conducted in both the field and laboratory, and by exploiting existing datasets from routine biomonitoring.  

Key areas of interest include:

• The natural and anthropogenic factors regulating biodiversity and community composition of fresh-water biota, especially macroinvertebrates, and macrophytes, diatoms, fish and fungi.
• How ecosystem functioning, which reflects the capacity of ecosystems to process nutrients and energy, produce habitats and biomass, and support ecosystem services, is regulated by abiotic, biotic and spatial factors, including species interactions and biodiversity.
• The role of ecological connectivity, especially between freshwater and terrestrial food webs, in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning from local to landscape scales.
• The potential for different mitigation and restoration measures to restore or enhance biodiversity, ecological connectivity, and ecosystem functioning in streams, lakes and wetlands.
• The use of biodiversity metrics and measures of ecosystem functioning for assessing human impacts on freshwater communities and ecosystems, including disentangling multiple stressor interactions, and the success of restoration and mitigation measures

Graduate students completed: 

11 total as main or co-supervisor.  Those listed here are as main supervisor:

• Dr. Ze Hui Kong: Microplastics in freshwater food webs: Effects and drivers (PhD September 2024)
• Sophia Renes: Resilience in microbial communities (PhD March 2021)
• Dr. Amélie Truchy: Ecosystem functioning in streams under pressure: Understanding the roles of biotic, abiotic and spatial drivers (PhD February 2018).
• Dr. Kristina Tattersdill: Exotic invaders in boreal lakes: Assessing impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. (PhD January 2018).
• Dr. André Frainer, Umeå University: Ecosystem functioning in streams: Disentangling the roles of biodiversity, stoichiometry, and anthropogenic drivers (PhD, December 2013)

Graduate students ongoing

Six total as main or cosupervisor.  Those listed here are as main supervisor:

• Joel Segersten: Quantifying impacts of hydropower on riverine ecosystems and assessing efficacy of mitigation measures

Post-Docs

• Dr. Amélie Truchy (2018-20): Analysis of multiple stressors in existing data
• Dr. Francis Burdon (2017-21): Connectivity in stream-riparian networks
• Dr Emma Göthe (2015-17): Disentangling multiple stressors in stream ecosystems
• Dr. André Frainer (2014-15): Species traits and ecosystem functioning
• Dr. Ryan Burrows, SLU Umeå (2013-15): Forest management and stream functioning

Masters and Bachelor thesis students 

Fourteen total as main or co-supervisor.  Theses listed here are as main supervisor:

• Sophia Bergström: Buffering in the Riparian Zone: Which attributes of forest buffers contribute to improving health of agricultural streams? (Bachelors, 2024)
• Yasmin Screech: How does the presence of microplastics affect feeding choices and resource consumption of detritivores (Masters, 2023)
• Ossian Nordell: Restaureringsarbetets utbredning i Sverige: En utvärdering av databasen Åtgärder i Vatten (Bachelors, 2021, translation: Restoration in Sweden: an evaluation of the database management measures in water)
• Martina Strangl: Evaluating impacts of pollution from surgical masks on ecosystem functioning: an in situ test (Masters, 2021)
• Sabrina Zabalgiotta: Systematic review of the sorption potential of microplastics (Masters, 2020)
• Ellinor Ramberg: Effects of riparian buffer strips on connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial foodwebs using polyunsaturated fatty acids as biomarkers (Masters, 2018-19)
• Asa White: Beaver activity in boreal streams: does colonisation history affect downstream resources and ecosystem functioning? (Masters, 2014-15)
• Maisam Ali: Assessment of changes in algal biomass accrual and leaf decomposition along a gradient of increasing agricultural disturbance (Masters, 2013-14)
• Mohab Dawoud: Multiple pesticide stressors and ecosystem functioning in stream detrital food webs (Masters,2011)

CROSSLINK: Understanding cross-habitat linkages between blue and green infrastructure to optimize management of biodiversity, ecosystem services and multiple human uses 

• See CROSSLINK project website with publications, protocols and more: www.riparianbuffers.com
• YouTube Video about CROSSLINK (Swedish with English subtitles)

Microplastics in Freshwater Foodwebs

• The final, peer reviewed, report is available here

AquaBioEx How to protect what we do not know we have: Identifying, understanding and managing aquatic biodiversity in intensively managed forests and under an increasingly extreme climate. Project leader: Lenka Kuglerova

PuddleJump - Promoting Upstream-Downstream Directed Linkages in the Environment: “Joined-Up” Management Perspectives.  Project Leader Martyn Futter.  

DESTRESS: Disentangling multiple stressors in stream ecosystems

EXTREAM: Exotic invaders in Swedish streams: evaluation of their ecological and economic effects

Within WATERS: Effects of forestry, agriculture and hydropower on ecosystem structure and function in freshwaters

VRL RESTORE: Restoration of channel complexity and coarse woody debris in Swedish streams: Assessment based on a novel set of biological indicators

Also:

REFORM REstoring rivers FOR effective catchment Management

EKOLIV Optimising remediation measures for the impacts of hydropower

The Västmanland forest fire

RIVFUNCTION

BioCycle

Google Scholar