Dr Iain Field

BSc (Hons), Grad Dip (Hons), PhD

• Research Interests
• Current Projects
• Publications
  • Papers
  • Theses
  • Books
  • Reports
  • Other

Research interests

Iain has a background in oceanography and ecology and has combined the two interests in marine ecology. Specifically in recent years Iain’s research has focused on marine vertebrates, specifically seal, seabird and shark species. Iain's work has covered life history, population dynamics, movement and foraging behaviour of marine vertebrates and is particularly interested in linking these to natural and anthropogenic environmental variation (e.g. climate change and fishing pressure).

After completing his PhD in August 2005, Iain has been working for the School for Environmental Research and the Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Tasmania.

Current projects

• Estimating fishing-related mortality and designing sustainable management protocols for shark fisheries in Northern Australia
• Distribution and abundance of Glyphis spp. in Northern Australia and their potential interactions with commercial fisheries
• Foraging ecology and behaviour of southern elephant seals from Macquarie Island and Weddell seals in the Ross Sea (in collaboration with the University of Tasmania)
• Winter foraging ecology of Weddell seals in relation to sea-ice variability (in collaboration with the University of Tasmania)

Publications

Peer-reviewed papers

Bradshaw, C.J.A., Field, I.C., Bowman, D.J.M.S., Haynes, C. and Brook, B.W. 2007. Current and future threats from non-indigenous animal species in northern Australia: a spotlight on World Heritage Area Kakadu National Park. Wildlife Research 34: 419-436. [view article]

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA , Burton HR, Hindell MA. (2007) Differential resource allocation strategies for juvenile elephant seals in the highly seasonal Southern Ocean. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 331: 281-290. DOI: 10.3354/meps331281

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA , Van den Hoff J, Burton HR, Hindell MA . (2007) Age-related shifts in the diet composition of southern elephant seals expand overall foraging niche. Mar. Biol. 150: 1441-1452. DOI: 10.1007/s00227-006-0417-y

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA (2005) Juvenile southern elephant seals exhibit seasonal differences in energetic requirements and use of lipids and protein stores. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 78(4):491-504. DOI: 10.1086/430227

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Sumner MD, Hindell MA (2005) Resource partitioning through oceanic segregation of foraging juvenile southern elephant seals. Oecologia 142:127-135. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-004-1704-2

van den Hoff J, Fraccaro R, Mitchell P, Field IC, McMahon CR, Burton HR, Blanchard W, Duignan P, Rogers T (2005) Estimating body mass and condition of leopard seals by allometrics. Journal of Wildlife Management 69(3):1015-1023. DOI: 10.2193/0022-541X(2005)069[1015:EBMACO]2.0.CO;2

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA (2004) Seasonal use of oceanographic and fisheries management zones by juvenile southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Macquarie Island. Polar Biology 27:432-440.

van den Hoff J, Sumner MD, Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, McMahon CR (2004) Temporal changes in the quality of hot-iron brands on elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) pups. Wildlife Research 31:619-629.

Field IC, McMahon CR, Bradshaw CJA, Harrington J, Burton HR (2002) Intravenous anaesthesia of elephant seals: effects of age, size, condition and function of haul-out. Veterinary. Record, 151(8): 235-240.

Field IC, Hindell MA, Slip DJ, Michael K (2001) Foraging strategies of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) in relation to frontal zones and water masses. Antarctic Science, 13(4): 371-379.

Engelhard GH, van den Hoff J, Broekman M, Baarspul ANJ, Field IC, Slip DJ, Burton HR, Reijnders PJH (2001) Elephant seal weaning mass in areas of low and high human presence. Polar Biology. 24 (4):244-251.

Linn, ML, Gardner J, Warilow D, Darnell GA, McMahon CR, Field I, Hyatt AD, Slade RW, Suhrbier A (2001) Arbovirus of marine mammals: a new alphavirus isolated from the elephant seal louse, Lepidophthirus macrorhini. Journal of Virology 75:4103-4109.

McMahon CR, Field IC, Dorr T, Hammond C, Washington D (2000) Hook and nose: An interaction between a male southern elephant seal and a long-line fishery. Polar Record 36:250-252.

Theses

PhD Thesis

Field, IC (2005) The role of juvenile foraging ecology and growth in the evolution of the life history strategies for southern elephant seals (PDF 8.7MB)

Honours Thesis

Field, IC (1996) Diving behaviour of the southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina from Macquarie Island in relation to water temperature (PDF 4MB)

Major reports, working papers

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, editors. 2006. Feral Animals in Kakadu National Park: A Management Strategy for the Future. Report submitted to the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage, School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Other

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, McMahon CR, van den Hoff J, Burton HR, Bester MN, Hindell MA 2006. The role of juvenile foraging ecology and growth in the evolution of life history strategies for southern elephant seals. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference, Hobart, Australia. July. 2006. [oral] (.pdf of the presentation, 1Mb)

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA 2004. Use of the Southern Ocean by juvenile southern elephant seals from Macquarie Island. Annual Conference of the Australian Marine Sciences Society, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Jul. 2004. [poster]

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA 2003. Resource partitioning through oceanic segregation of foraging juvenile southern elephant seals. Annual Conference of the Australian Marine Sciences Society, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Jul. 2004. [oral]

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA 2001. Intravenous anaesthesia of elephant seals: effects of age, size, condition and function of haul-out. Southern Hemisphere Marine Mammal Conference, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. June. 2001. [oral]

Field IC, Bradshaw CJA, Burton HR, Hindell MA 2001. Growth and survival of juvenile southern elephant seals. XXVII Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Biology symposium, Amsterdam, Netherlands. August. 2001. [poster]

Field IC, (2000) Elephant and leopard seal research at Macquarie Island. Aurora Magazine 20(2):8-10.