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Dr Laura Richardson

Research Fellow

l.richardson@bangor.ac.uk

0000-0002-1284-4011

Dr Laura Richardson

View Dr Laura Richardson’s profile on the Bangor Research Portal

Teaching and Supervision

MRes (primary supervisor):

  •  Thea Moule (2021-2023) - Thesis title: Variation in the body-size spectra of reef fish assemblages among distinct coral habitats, before and after a mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

MSc (co-supervisor):

  • Anicia Nalus (2020) - Thesis title: Climate Impacts and the Functional Diversity of Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Equatorial Pacific.
  • Jessica Harvey (2020) - Thesis title: Local human impacts disrupt benthic community zonation on Pacific Ocean coral reefs.
  • Paul Anstey (2020) - Thesis title: Comparing Reef Fish Distributions Across Depths, Among Five Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Research Interests

Broadly, I am interested in exploring how ecological communities are organised by anthropogenic and biophysical processes interacting across space and time. By understanding how the natural variability of ecosystems interacts with human activities to determine ecosystem state, we can better inform the local, context specific and spatially explicit application of ecosystem assessments for management, such as prioritising management interventions based on the recovery potential and degree of depletion from an unimpacted baseline state. To date my research has focussed on tropical coral reefs. These are unique, ecologically complex, high-diversity systems maintained by varied, but overlapping, functions carried out by species operating across spatial and temporal scales, and of critical importance to the food security of millions of people worldwide. During my H2020 EU funded research fellowships at Bangor University, I have worked with Dr Gareth Williams, Reader in Marine Biology and Director of Research Impact at SOS, and Dr Adel Heenan, previously a lecturer in Marine Biology at SOS with >10 years’ experience working for governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental agencies, who together combine exceptional track records in academic excellence, interdisciplinary research, and expertise in macroecology, oceanography, fisheries science, statistical modelling, and applied conservation. My EU H2020 funded MSCA research project (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213) involves a novel natural experiment of unprecedented scale, combining advanced Bayesian statistical modelling, a 'functional' ecological approach, and coupling of high-resolution biophysical data to reveal the relative influence of interacting ‘natural’ drivers and local human activities on the ecological structure of reef-fish assemblages across scales (from individual reefs across 35 central western Pacific islands, to regional patterns). Broadly, the research aims to advance our capacity to predict cross-scale spatial patterns of reef-fish communities, providing insight into relative ecosystem health and stability, and therefore advance the science underpinning ecosystem-based management of coral reefs. Specifically, the work assesses the forcing of biophysical mechanisms (such as local hydrodynamics and regional gradients in primary productivity) on the distribution of and cross-scale spatial variation in reef-fish assemblage structure (WP1-2). It also quanitifies how evidence of natural ecological organisation is distrupted by local human impacts (WP3; Richardson et al. 2023 Nat Ecol Evol). Finally, my research seeks to quantify revised 'contemporary' ecological baselines from remote reefs without local human impacts but exposed to anthropogenic climate change, as more pragmatic points of reference, to better predict the risk posed by local humans from which to base decisions of risk-control management, conservation, policy, and governance (WP4).

Publications

2024

  • PublishedDepth variation in benthic community response to repeated marine heatwaves on remote Central Indian Ocean reefs
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Roche, R., Richardson, L. & Turner, J., 27 Mar 2024, In: Royal Society Open Science. 11, 3, p. 231246
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedReorganisation following disturbance: multi trait-based methods in R
    Richardson, L., Magneville, C., Grange, L., Shepperson, J., Skov, M., Hoey, A. & Heenan, A., Jun 2024
    Research output: Other contribution › peer-review

2023

  • PublishedBranching coral growth and visual health during bleaching and recovery on the central Great Barrier Reef
    Anderson‑King, K., Wayman, C., Stephenson, S., Heron, S. F., Lough, J. M., McWilliam, M., Richardson, L., Scott, M. & Cantin, N. E., Oct 2023, In: Coral Reefs. 42, 5, p. 1113-1129 17 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedExamining current best-practices for the use of wild post-larvae capture, culture, and release for fisheries enhancement
    Richardson, L., Lenfant, P., Clarke, L., Fontcuberta, A., Gudefin, A., Lecaillon, G., Le Vay, L., Radford, A. & Simpson, S., 17 Jan 2023, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedImmersion Time Determines Performance of Artificial Habitats in Commercial Harbours by Changing Biodiversity of Colonising Invertebrate Assemblages
    Richardson, L., Varenne, A., Radford, A., Rossi, F., Lecaillon, G., Gudefin, A., Bérenger, L., Abadie, E., Boissery, P., Lenfant, P. & Simpson, S., 1 Apr 2023, In: Diversity. 15, 4
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedLocal human impacts disrupt depth-dependent zonation of tropical reef fish communities
    Richardson, L., Heenan, A., Delargy, A., Neubauer, P., Lecky, J., Gove, J. M., Green, M., Kindinger, T., Ingeman, K. & Williams, G. J., Nov 2023, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 11, p. 1844-1855 12 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

  • PublishedAtoll-dependent variation in depth zonation of benthic communities on remote reefs
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L., Turner, J. & Roche, R., 1 Jan 2022, In: Marine Environmental Research. 173, 105520.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2021

  • PublishedSpatial and temporal scales of coral reef fish ecological research and management: a systematic map protocol
    Lawrence, A., Heenan, A., Levine, A., Haddaway, N., Powell, F., Wedding, L., Roche, R., Lawrence, P., Szostek, C., Ford, H., Southworth, L., Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L. & Williams, G. J., 25 Jan 2021, In: Environmental Evidence. 10, 3.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

  • PublishedCoral species composition drives key ecosystem function on coral reefs
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. A. J. & Hoey, A., 26 Feb 2020, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287, 1921, 20192214.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

  • PublishedCross-Shelf Differences in the Response of Herbivorous Fish Assemblages to Severe Environmental Disturbances
    McClure, E., Richardson, L., Graba-Landry, A., Loffler, Z., Russ, G. & Hoey, A., 13 Feb 2019, In: Diversity. 11, 2, 13 p., 23.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

  • PublishedMass coral bleaching causes biotic homogenization of reef fish assemblages
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M., Eurich, J. & Hoey, A., 31 Jul 2018, In: Global Change Biology. 24, 7, p. 3117-3129
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

  • PublishedCross-scale habitat structure driven by coral species composition on tropical reefs
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. & Hoey, A., 8 Aug 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 7557.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedStructural complexity mediates functional structure of reef fish assemblages among coral habitats
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M. & Hoey, A., Mar 2017, In: Environmental Biology of Fishes. 100, 3, p. 193-207
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Activities

2023

  • Coral Reefs (Journal)

    Invited Guest Editor, special issue: The ecology of remote oceanic coral reef ecosystems.

    1 Sep 2023 – 1 Apr 2024

    Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)

2022

  • Depth-dependent vulnerability to catastrophic thermal disturbance at a highly productive, uninhabited coral reef ecosystem

    Authors: Richardson LE1, Heenan A1, Neubauer P3, Lecky J4, Gove JM4, Green JAM1, Kindinger TL4, Ingeman KE4, Williams GJ1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA

    3 Dec 2022

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
  • Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies: Invited Workshop

    Invited working group, led by Professor Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, JCU). Workshop participants included Professor Geoffrey Jones (JCU), Dr Maya Srinivasan (JCU), Dr Gemma Galbraith (JCU), Professor Andrew Hoey (JCU), Dr Mike Emslie (AIMS), Cassy Thompson (JCU), Professor Michael Berumen (KAUST), Dr Laura Richardson (Bangor University), Professor Shaun Wilson (Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, DBCA), Dr Claire Ross (DBCA), Dr Jordan Goetze (DBCA), Dr Alice Rogers (Victoria University of Wellington), Professor Nick Graham (Lancaster University), Peter Doll (JCU).

    1 Sep 2022 – 6 Sep 2022

    Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Speaker)
  • Depth zonation in reef fish traits and their biophysical drivers

    Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Adam J. Delargy1,2, Philip Neubauer3, Joey Lecky4,5, Jamison M. Gove4, J. A. Mattias Green1, Tye L. Kindinger4, Kurt E. Ingeman4,6, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA

    5 IBSS Corporation, Silver Spring, MD, USA

    6 Department of Environmental Studies, Linfield University, McMinnville, OR, USA

    4 Jul 2022 – 9 Jul 2022

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

2019

  • Quantifying cross-scale drivers ofcoral reef fish assemblage structure for ecosystem-based management

    Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Ivor D. Williams2, J.A. Mattias Green1, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 Bangor University, Bangor, UK

    2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hawaii, USA

    14 Dec 2019

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

Projects

  • GWMF - Capacity building & collaboration development with Univ. of Montpellier: Trait-based approaches for improving ecosystem-based mngmt

    01/10/2020 – 30/06/2024 (Finished)

Personal

I received a joint BSc Hons in Social Anthropology with Development Studies from the University of Sussex and an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection from Bangor University. I then worked for the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University as Project Support Officer on DEFRA funded Darwin Initiative projects in the Cayman Islands for 3.5 years. These projects combined applied, interdisciplinary approaches to the design, development, and integration of coral reef ecosystem assessments for marine spatial planning. I went on to do a PhD at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, in Australia, researching how coral reef fish assemblage structure, function, and resilience are influenced by the taxonomic composition of habitat-building corals. Returning to the UK, I did a 12-month postdoc with the University of Exeter and University of Bristol, before returning to Bangor University as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie research fellow. My research at Bangor is funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Sêr Cymru II COFUND Fellowship and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Fellowship (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213).

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