Dr Alwyn Rees

BSc (Liverpool, 1974)
PhD (Wales, 1979)

Contact details
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 83603
Email: ta.rees@auckland.ac.nz

Seaweeds exhibit an extraordinary range of size, morphology, structural complexity, productivity and life histories. In addition, they are important primary producers in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. For example, annual production of dry matter per unit area by intertidal seaweeds on exposed shores can exceed that of tropical rain forests or grasslands. However, this productivity can only be sustained through the acquisition and utilization of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus.

My main concerns are to understand the relationship between size, morphology and metabolism together with the eco-physiological mechanisms involved in seaweed growth, in particular the role of nutrients.

• Interactions between ammonium assimilation and photosynthesis in seaweeds.
• Nitrate metabolism and oxygen evolution in seaweeds.
• Relationship between shoreline position and phosphorus metabolism in Hormosira banksii.
• Relationship between mass, surface area, volume, biochemical composition and metabolism in New Zealand seaweeds.
• Ammonium assimilation and growth rate in seaweeds.
   

• Plant, Cell and Environment (BIOSCI 205)
• Dynamics of Marine Systems (MARINE 302) (coordinator)
• Fisheries and Aquaculture (BIOSCI 328)
• Freshwater and Estuarine Ecology (BIOSCI 330)
• Marine Ecology (BIOSCI 333)
• Synthesis of Plant Products and Foods (BIOSCI 753)
• Selected Topics in Marine Science (MARINE 701)
   

• BEARDALL J., ALLEN, D., BRAGG, J., FINKEL, Z.V., FLYNN, K.J., QUIGG, A., REES, T.A.V., RICHARDSON, A. & RAVEN, J.A. (2009) Tansley Review. Allometry and stoichiometry of unicellular, colonial and multicellular phytoplankton organisms. New Phytologist 181, 295-309.
• REES, T.A.V. (2007) Metabolic and ecological constraints imposed by similar rates of ammonium and nitrate uptake per unit surface area at low substrate concentrations in marine phytoplankton and macroalgae. Journal of Phycology 43, 197-207.
• GEVAERT, F., BARR, N.G. & REES, T.A.V. (2007) Diurnal cycle and kinetics of ammonium assimilation in the green alga Ulva pertusa. Marine Biology 151, 1517-1524.
• REES, T.A.V., DOBSON, B.C., BIJL, M. & MORELISSEN, B. (2007) Kinetics of nitrate uptake by New Zealand seaweeds and evidence for two nitrate transporters in Ulva intestinalis L. Hydrobiologia 586, 135-141.
• TAYLOR, M.W., BARR, N.G., GRANT, C.M. & REES, T.A.V. (2006) Changes in amino acid composition of Ulva intestinalis (Chlorophyceae) following addition of ammonium or nitrate. Phycologia 45, 270- 276.
• BARR, N.G., TIJSEN, R.J. & REES, T.A.V. (2004) The contrasting effects of methionine sulfoximine on uptake and assimilation of ammonium in Ulva intestinalis. Journal of Phycology 40, 697-704.
• COOKE, R.R.M., HURD, C.L., LORD, J.M., PEAKE, B.M., RAVEN, J.A. & REES, T.A.V. (2004) Iron and zinc content of Hormosira banksii in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 38, 73-85.
• REES, T.A.V. (2003) Safety factors and nutrient uptake by seaweeds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 263, 29-42.
• BARR, N.G. & REES, T.A.V. (2003) Nitrogen status and metabolism in the green seaweed Enteromorpha intestinalis: an examination of three natural populations. Marine Ecology Progress Series 249, 133-144.