Dr. Hamish Greig
Address: Department of Forest Sciences, 3041 – 2424 Main Mall
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4
Email: Hamish
Phone: (604) 822-8927
Position: Post-doctoral Fellow
PhD (2008) – University of Canterbury, New Zealand
My research uses freshwater communities as model systems to empirically investigate general ecological questions. Specific research interests include:
• The interactive effects of disturbance and species interactions on community structure
• Spatiotemporal variation in predator-prey interactions in heterogeneous landscapes
• What enables the broad distribution of habitat generalists across environmental gradients
• How biogeographic-scale processes influence community structure at local and regional scales
My postdoctoral research at UBC is investigating the influence of biogeographic processes on the assembly and resilience of pond communities. I am using a global scale meta-analysis to investigate the effect of environmental variability on the structure of pond communities at local and regional scales and the prevalence of habitat generalists in regional species pools. I am also conducting experiments to test whether communities dominated by habitat generalists are more resilient to novel stress than those dominated by habitat specialists. By combining the results of these research objectives, I hope to develop a framework for using biogeographic-scale processes to predict the resilience of freshwater communities to novel stress associated with climate change. My work is funded by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
Other projects I have been involved in My PhD research investigated the role of predation and drying in structuring communities across gradients of pond permanence in New Zealand and Colorado. My research involved collaboration with Angus McIntosh at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Scott Wissinger at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Colorado. My BSc Honours research with Angus McIntosh at the University of Canterbury, investigated the indirect effects of predatory trout on detritus breakdown in headwater streams though predation on a large detritivorous caddisfly. I also worked with Angus McIntosh and Scott Wissinger on the effects of trout on benthic communities in inland Canterbury lakes (summary), and with Jon Harding on the effects of acid mine drainage on stream communities in Westland, New Zealand.
Publications
Journal articles: Greig, H. S. and Wissinger, S. A. In press. Reinforcing biotic and abiotic time constraints facilitate the broad distribution of a generalist with fixed traits. Ecology. Wissinger, S. A., H. S. Greig, and A. R. McIntosh. 2009. Absence of species replacements between permanent and temporary lentic habitats in New Zealand. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28: 12-23. Greig, H. S., and A. R. McIntosh. 2008. Density reductions by predatory trout increase adult size and fecundity of surviving caddisfly larvae in a detritus-based stream food web. Freshwater Biology 53: 1579-1591. Wissinger, S. A., A. R. McIntosh, and H. S. Greig. 2006. Impacts of introduced brown and rainbow trout on benthic invertebrate communities in shallow New Zealand lakes. Freshwater Biology 51:2009-2028. Greig, H. S., and A. R. McIntosh. 2006. Indirect effects of predatory trout on organic matter processing in detritus-based stream food webs. Oikos 112:31-40. Wardhaugh, C. W., T. J. Blakely, H. Greig, P. D. Morris, A. Barnden, S. Rickard, B. Atkinson, L. L. Fagan, R. M. Ewers, and R. K. Didham. 2006. Vertical stratification in the spatial distribution of the beech scale insect (Ultracoelostoma assimile) in Nothofagus tree canopies in New Zealand. Ecological Entomology 31:185-195. McIntosh, A. R., H. S. Greig, S. A. McMurtrie, P. Nystrom, and M. J. Winterbourn. 2005. Top-down and bottom-up influences on populations of a stream detritivore. Freshwater Biology 50:1206-1218. Books: Harding, J. S., J. F. Clapcott, J. M. Quinn, J. W. Hayes, M. K. Joy, R. G. Storey, H. S. Greig, T. James, M. Beech, R. Ozane, J. Hay, A. Meredith, and I. K. G. Boothroyd. 2009. Stream habitat assessment protocols for wadeable rivers and streams of New Zealand. University of Canterbury Press. ISBN 978-0-473-15151-5.