Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Life Sciences

Department of Environmental Management & Ecology

	Ms Janice Williams
	PhD candidate
	PO Box 821, Wodonga VIC 3689
	Tel: (02) 6024 9879
	Fax: (02) 6024 9888
	Email: janice.williams@latrobe.edu.au

Ms Janice Williams

Janice commenced in the Department of Environmental Management & Ecology as a teaching fellow in January 2006. She plays a large role in the practical components of the 1st year undergraduate biology and chemistry subjects.

Janice is undertaking her PhD on the role of fungi in the carbon cycle of floodplain wetlands:

The carbon cycle of aquatic systems incorporates biological, chemical and geological sinks and fluxes that provide profound insights into the characteristics of these ecosystems. Recent research has illucidated many aspects of carbon movement through streams and wetlands but the contribution of fungi to these systems has not yet been investigated.
Given the intrinsic economic, environmental and social values of the wetlands of the Murray River (particularly the Barmah-Millewa Forest), a complete understanding of the carbon cycle of these ecosystems is important. This is because knowledge of carbon dynamics in floodplain wetlands allows more reliable prediction of (1) the impacts of various flooding regimes on ecosystem function, (2) the onset of "blackwater" events, and (3) the impact of slugs of nutrients of pollutants. The activities of fungi may attenuate or exaggerate these effects, and are also of significance to invertebrate food chains and nutrient cycling.

The aims of this project are:

1. To investigate the role of fungi in the decomposition of floodplain leaf litter and woody debris in wetlands associated with the Murray river (Using Barmah-Millewa Forest as a case study).
2. To compare fungal communities in terrestrial, aquatic/aerobic and aquatic/anaerobic environments.
3. To determine how wetland wet/dry regimes affect rates of fungal degradation of floodplain litter.
4. To determine which chemical substrates (carbon sources) are being degraded by different fungal groups under the three above conditions and what the products of the degradation process are.
5. To determine the impacts of fungal activity on carbon availability to other aquatic organisms.