University of Tasmania, Australia

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Peter Davies

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Professor Peter Davies AM

Adjunct Professor

BSc.Hons , PhD (UTAS)

Prof Peter Davies

Contact Details

Contact Campus Sandy Bay Campus
Building Life Sciences Building
Room Reference Rm 128
Telephone +61 3 6226 7856
Fax +61 3 6226 2745
Email P.E.Davies@utas.edu.au

Publications

  • Davies PE, Stewardson M, Hillman T, Roberts J and Thoms M, 2012. Sustainable Rivers Audit 2: The ecological health of rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin at the end of the Millennium Drought (2008-2010) Murray-Darling Basin Authority 2012, pp 1-278
  • Magierowski R, Davies PE, Read S and Horrigan, N. 2012, Impacts of land use on the structure of rivermacroinvertebrate communities across Tasmania, Australia: spatial scales and thresholds, Marine and Freshwater Research, 63, 762-776
  • JD Allan, LL Yuan, T Black, Stockton, PE Davies, RH Magierowski and SM Read, 2011, 'Investigating the relationships between environmental stressors and stream condition using Bayesian Belief Networks. ', Freshwater Biology
  • Robinson WA, Davies PE, Nicholls SJ, Norris RH, 2011, 'Protocols for large scale bioassessment of rivers using macroinvertebrates in Australia. ', North American Benthological Society Conference:, Responding to the Global Water Crisis, 2011 Annual Meeting, Rhode Island, USA, May 22-26, 2011
  • Lockwood, M and Kirkpatrick, JB and Watson, AA and Richardson, AMM and Wilcox, C and Woehler, E and Williams, J and Whinam, J and Davies, PE and Nevill, J, 2010, 'Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2010-2020: Scientists' letter of concern.', Ecological Management and Restoration, 10 (2), pgs. 78-83. ISSN 1442-700
  • Davies, PE and Harris, J and Hillman, T and Walker, K, 2010, 'The Sustainable Rivers Audit: assessing river ecosystem health in the Murray]Darling Basin, Australia., Marine and Freshwater Research, 61, pgs. 764-777
  • Likens, GE, Walker, KF, Davies, PE, Brookes, J, Olley, J, Young, W, Thoms, M, Lake, PS, Gawne, B, Davis, J, Arthington, A, Thompson, R, Oliver, RL, 2009, 'Ecosystem science: toward a new paradigm for managing Australia's aquatic ecosystems. ', Marine and Freshwater Research, 60, pgs 271-279
  • Smith, BJ, Davies, PE and Munks, SA,, 2009, 'Changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities in upper catchment streams in Tasmania across a gradient of catchment forest operation history. ', Forest Ecology and Management., 257 (10) , pgs. 2166-2174
  • Davies, PE and Harris, J and Hillman, T and Walker, K, 2008, 'Murray Darling Basin Rivers : Ecosystem Health Check, 2004 - 2007. Report to the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council prepared by the Independent Sustainable Rivers Audit Group. , ', Technical Report. Murray Darling Basin Commission, Canberra, Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA) Report 1 May 2008 River Health Check.

Achievements

Recent Highlights
  • 2012 - Appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 'For service to conservation and the environment as a contributor to national water policy development and through research of Australia's rivers and waterways'.
  • 2012 - Reviewer, Joint Research Project (JRP) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for the Scientific Programme Indonesia-Netherlands (SPIN).
  • 2010/11 - Advisor to Murray Darling Basin Authority's Basin Plan Monitoring and Evaluation framework.
  • 2010 - Keynote Speaker at the 2nd Freshwater Biology Association Summit: Achieving ecological outcomes: aquatic ecological responses to catchment management April 2010, Windermere, UK)
  • 2009 - Australian representative to the Water Framework Directive River Basin Planning Workshop, Brussels, Belgium.
  • 2008 - National Land and Water Australia Senior Research Fellow to explore future scenarios for the Murray Darling Basin river ecosystems under climate change and water and land use scenarios.
  • 2008 - Australian advisor to the US EPA in the development of nutrient criteria for water quality standards, Washington DC, USA Colloquium.
  • 2008 - Independent assessor of the aquatic bioassessment program to Koniambo (world's largest nickel mine), New Caledonia
Chair
  • Environmental Water Scientific Advisory Panel, Environmental Water Office, ACT
  • National ISRAG Audit Committee, Murray Darling Basin Commission, ACT, Sustainable Rivers Audit
  • Threatened Galaxiidae Recovery Committee, Tasmania
Deputy Chair
  • Forest Practices Authority, Tas
Board Memberships
  • Aquatic Ecosystems Scientific Advisor Committee, National Water Commission, ACT
  • Living Murray Scientific Advisory Committee, ACT
  • Environmental Flows Technical Steering Committee, ACT
  • Threatened Species Scientific Advisory Committee,Tas
  • Forest Practices Authority Board (Board member for nature conservation), Tas
  • Conservation Science and Planning Council, Tasmanian Land Conservancy, Tas
  • Forest Practices Authority Code Review, Tas
  • Snowy River Technical Steering Committee, NSW
  • University of Tasmania Foundation, Vice-Chancellor's Circle

Freshwater Systems is an aquatic consulting service specialising in environmental issues in rivers, lakes and estuaries. Freshwater Systems commenced a collaborative relationship in research and education with the School of Zoology, University of Tasmania in 1993.

Research Interests

My research interests include the conservation of freshwater ecosystems, long term variability in stream biotic assemblages, structure of aquatic food webs, effects of forestry on stream ecology, impacts of exotic fish, restoration of native fish passage, the downstream influences of hydroelectric power stations and dams, environmental flows, the impact of mining on stream fauna, and the interactions between nutrient, sediment and light on stream processes.

I am the principal scientific advisor for the development of the Tasmanian framework for the Conservation of Freshwater-dependent Ecosystem Values (CFEV). I am chair of ISRAG, a group of four scientists auditing the ecological condition of the rivers of the Murray Darling Basin. I have been the national coordinator for the National River Health Program for over 10 years, and have been instrumental in the development of national stream bioassessment systems. I am a project manager for the Tasmanian catchment project of the Landscape Logic CERF Hub (Centre for Environment, UTas).

Research Areas

Research Project/s