Robin Churchill, MSc, defends thesis at Western University

Robin Churchill successfully defended his Masters thesis entitled “Seasonal and long-term (1995-2009) changes in distribution and abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation and Dreissenid mussels in Inner Long Point Bay, Lake Erie.”

Invasion by Dreissenid (zebra) mussels can cause rapid increases in the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) by increasing water clarity and altering nutrient cycling, but rapid expansion of the mussel population is often followed by a decline until a new regional carrying capacity is reached. I sampled Long Point Bay (LPB), Lake Erie, in 2009 to quantify changes in SAV communities and densities of zebra mussels since the peak of the latter in the early 1990s, and modeled influences of year, water depth, and substrate type on the probability of SAV detection. Robin detected that carrying capacity of LPB for waterfowl and other fish and wildlife that use and eat SAV and mussels increased during the mid-1990s, but has since decreased.

Robin is employed as a Biologist at Predator Bird Services where he clears wildlife dangers at airports and landfills using trained birds of prey.