Coastal Ecosystem Ecology Lab - Flinders University

29/05/2026

New publication alert!
Macroinvertebrates and small-bodied fish are vital prey in temperate estuaries and lagoons, supporting significant populations of predators such as larger fish and birds. Through our latest research, led by Josh, we found that extreme climate events and resulting floods can cause big changes in these prey resources, affecting energy provisioning for predators. 💦🪱🦀🐟🦤
Find out more here:

13/11/2025

New publication drop!
We know that invertebrates and small fish are important prey for larger estuarine predators, but in food web assessments we often get caught up on quantity and don't consider the quality of these food items. We analysed the nutritional quality of prey in the Coorong in terms of energy, lipid, and protein content. We looked at how nutritional quality varies between different prey groups, seasons, regions, and size classes, and found that not all prey are equal... 🪱🦀🐟🧂🍽

Predator populations and food web dynamics are influenced by the nutritional quality of prey, not just prey availability. Temperate estuaries and lagoons are productive, dynamic environments, and evaluating prey nutritional quality is vital to understanding food webs in these ecosystems. This study....

07/08/2025

Noah recently completed his Honours and he presented his research on 'fish communities of southern Australian micro-estuaries' at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) conference in Melbourne. Using multiple methods including multibeam imaging sonar, Noah found that micro-estuaries are important habitats for fish communities in Gulf St Vincent and are used as nurseries by a variety of species. Well done Noah! 🐟

07/07/2025

This Thursday (10th July), professor Sabine Dittmann and PhD students Josh Nitschke and Laura Schroder will be talking at the Royal Society of South Australia about what "worms" can tell us about the state of the Coorong 🪱🪱🪱. Come down for a nibble and a drink while you hear about worms, or enjoy a private nibble while you watch the live stream (don't fill up on cheese, save some room for tasty science). Details and registration here:

RSSA July Meeting and Scientific Presentation

14/04/2025

Polychaetes are a highly diverse group of marine worms 🪱 that serve a variety of vital functions in marine and estuarine sediments 🏖, including bioturbation, nutrient cycling, and the provision of food for predators like fish and birds 🐟🦆. One of our students was lucky enough to attend a recent workshop on identifying these wriggly wonders at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), run by experts from the Australian Museum 🔎

02/10/2024

Strong representation of the CEEL at the recent AMSA-NZMSS conference in Hobart, which was the biggest ever! 💪 We had Laura presenting a beautiful poster on her PhD research on polychaete reefs in the Coorong 🪱; Josh giving a talk on his latest PhD research on prey energy content 🐟🍽️; and Sabine giving a talk on the resilience of estuaries to flood events 🌊

29/08/2024

RIVER (2021) World Rivers Day Film Screening

When: Wednesday 25th September
Where: Wallis Cinema Mitcham
Tickets 🎟️ $5

See you there 😊

RIVER (2021) 'WORLD RIVERS DAY' FILM SCREENING

Join us this World Rivers Day for a celebration of our precious waterways.

When: Wednesday, 25th September, 6:00 pm
Where: Wallis Cinema Mitcham
Tickets only $5...grab yours via the link in bio 🔗

The film will be accompanied by a short acoustic set from contemporary folk musician and passionate
environmentalist, Naomi Keyte, as well as a cameo from Filipino & Aboriginal artist DOBBY, who recently released his debut album Warrangu; River Story.

Be inspired to champion our rivers and our precious water sources with a short conversation by Craig Wilkins (National Director of the Murray Darling Conservation Alliance) & Char Nitschke (Campaign Coordinator at Conservation SA).

Your support at these events is crucial for ensuring we can secure enough water for our rivers to survive the next drought.

We can't wait to see you there!

09/08/2024

New publication alert! 📊📝
Who needs coral when you have worms!? 🪱Find out more from our recent research on the classification, density and spatial distribution of polychaete reefs in the Coorong 🗺📈🌊

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771424002932/

17/07/2024

**LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR AN UPCOMING FIELD TRIP**

Volunteers needed for an Honours project fieldtrip to undertake fyke net and multi beam imaging sonar surveys in micro-estuaries on the Samphire Coast. This research is to investigate the fish community composition and movement in micro-estuaries with southern temperate salt marshes.

The field trip dates are August 1st and 2nd, and from the Aug 5th to 9th. Please comment or DM us, or contact Noah at [email protected] if you can do any or multiple of these dates, or if you have any questions at all 😊

🐠🐟🐠🐟

28/06/2024

In between worms, one of our PhD students, Josh Nitschke, has been doing a bit of work with Invertebrates Australia, a charity all about conservation, scientific understanding, and appreciation of Australian invertebrates. Check them out! https://invertebratesaustralia.org/ 🦋🐌🕷