Mauro Lepore

PhD candidate

Gehrmann Building, Level 8

School of Biological Sciences – UQ

St Lucia QLD 4072

Australia

T: +61 7 3365 9753

M:  +61 4 7809 6450

mauro.lepore@uqconnect.edu.au

CV

Research interests

I am interested in reconstructing the history of ecological and environmental change on coral reefs. I want to understand the cumulative impact of multiple interacting natural and human-induced stressors on coral reefs, which may impair the valuable ecosystem goods and services derived from them.

Current project

Long term dynamics of coral reefs in the inshore southern Great Barrier Reef (Research proposal).

General aim

Build a long term historical baseline of the dynamics of coral reefs.

Rationale and one specific aim

Changes in coral community structure that followed European Settlement were detected in Moreton Bay (Lybolt et al. 2011) and the Palm Islands (Roff 2010). Communities of Acropora that had dominated through hundreds or thousands of years recently shifted to become dominated by other coral taxa. The Keppel Islands are currently dominated by Acropora. So it is relevant to ask if Acropora was dominant all throughout the late Holocene and if there is any trend towards a similar shift in dominance to another coral taxa. I aim to Determine the history of coral community structure change following European settlement across millennial timescales. To do this, I will compare historical coral assemblages (obtained from cores through the reef matrix) with the modern coral assemblages.

Qualifications

Lic. (≈BSC+Hon) in Biology (Marine Biology) – University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Publications

  • Herrmann, M., Alfaya, J. E. F., Lepore, M. L., Laudien, J., Penchaszadeh, P. E., & Arntz, W. E. (2011). Population structure, growth and production of the yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) from a high-energy, temperate beach in northern Argentina Helgoland Marine Research, 65, 285-297.
  • Lepore, M. L., Penchaszadeh, P. E., Alfaya, J. E. F., & Herrmann, M. (2009). Application of calcein for estimating growth of the yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides Reeve, 1854. Revista De Biologia Marina Y Oceanografia, 44(3), 767-774. Doi: 10.4067/S0718-19572009000300022
  • Herrmann, M., Alfaya, J. E. F., Lepore, M. L., Penchaszadeh, P. E., & Laudien, J. (2009). Reproductive cycle and gonad development of the Northern Argentinean Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae). Helgoland Marine Research, 63(3), 207-218. doi: 10.1007/s10152-009-0150-2
  • Herrmann, M., Lepore, M. L., Laudien, J., Arntz, W. E., & Penchaszadeh, P. E. (2009). Growth estimations of the Argentinean wedge clam Donax hanleyanus: A comparison between length-frequency distribution and size-increment analysis. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 379(1-2), 8-15. doi: 10.1016/j.jembe.2009.07.031
  • Lepore, M. L. (2008). Estudio del crecimiento de la almeja amarilla argentina Mesodesma mactroides por marcaje fluorescente in situ y comparación con el método de análisis de distribuciones de frecuencias de tallas. Licenciatura, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (non ISI Thesis).
Conference presentations
  • Lepore, M. L. (2010). Application of calcein for estimating growth of the yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides. Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Rostock, Germany. (Talk as invited speaker)
  • Lepore, M. L., Penchaszadeh, P. E., Herrmann, M. (2008). Estudio del crecimiento de la almeja amarilla argentina Mesodesma mactroides por marcación fluorescente in situ y comparación con el método de distribución de frecuencia de tallas. VII Latin American Congress of Malacology – CLAMA 2008, The Faculty of Sciences of the Universidad Austral de Chile and Latin American Malacology Association, Valdivia, 03.-07.11.2008. (Talk)
  • Lepore, M. L., Herrmann, M., Penchaszadeh, P. E. (2007). Estimación del crecimiento de la almeja amarilla Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) por marcación fluorescente. XX Encontro Brasileiro de Malacologia (EBRAM), Rio de Janeiro, 05.-10.08.2007. (Poster)
  • Herrmann, M., Alfaya, J. E. F., Lepore, M. L. (2007). Dinámica de poblaciones de bivalvos en playas arenosas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Reunión Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad III (CTS III), 20.- 22.06. 2007, Montevideo, Uruguay. (Talk and video presentation)