Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand
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Dr Ceridwen Fraser |
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Email ceridwen.fraser@otago.ac.nz Office: Zoology-Marples Building Room 205 Postal address: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand Publications:Dr Fraser's publications are available here Research Interests:
Current Projects:Understanding the rate, severity and evolutionary impacts of past climate change is fundamental to predicting the biological effects of future climate change. Studies that compare patterns of genetic diversity across broad geographic gradients (e.g., latitudes) can give signficant insights into the evolutionary impacts of historic climate change. Our recent phylogeographic research on a widespread Southern Hemisphere kelp species (bull kelp: Durvillaea antarctica) has indicated that the extent of Antarctic sea ice at the Last Glacial Maximum may have been underestimated by previous studies (Fraser et al. 2009). My current research aims to use phylogeographic analysis of a wide range of macroalgal species (both ice-sensitive and ice-resilient intertidal taxa) throughout the Southern Ocean to assess 1) whether sea ice indeed extended further north than previously believed, and 2) the ecological and evolutionary impacts of historic ice scour on Southern Ocean islands. This research is funded by the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, and is connected to a Marsden-funded project: Rafting communities in the West Wind Drift: the importance of buoyant kelp, with Associate Professor Jonathan Waters and Professor Hamish Spencer.
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