Mike Dunbar

Current work

Most of my work focuses on the linking of river biomonitoring data with data on environmental drivers, particularly river flow and morphology data, but increasingly climatological and temperature data as well. Much of the data I work with is actually collected by the Environment Agency and SEPA.

In practice this mainly means data on macroinvertebrates, but I am also interested in fish and macrophytes. Although the work is mainly empirical, the aim is to improve process understanding. There is a strong emphasis on spanning multiple spatial and temporal scales. For example, observations nested within sites nested within catchments: historical flow conditions are associated with individual observations, whereas River Habitat Surveys (RHS) link with the site level. I am developing a framework for analysing hierarchical data as part of a part-time PhD, registered at Reading University.

The work also produces guidance, procedures and models which underpin the decisions that river managers must make. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a key driver for our research, and I have worked on several WFD-related projects.

I am the CEH Objective Champion for Water Objective 1.2, which covers trends and variabilty in water quantity, quality and biota.

I also have a general interest in analysis of data from observational or experimental studies using mixed effects/multilevel statistical models.

In 2009 I became involved in the freshwater components of Countryside Survey. I led the analysis for the Headwater Streams Report for 2007.

Selected publications

Dunbar, M.J., Warren, M. Extence, C., Baker, L. Cadman, D., Mould, D.J., Hall, J., Chadd, R. 2010. Interaction between macroinvertebrates, discharge and physical habitat in upland rivers. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. doi: 10.1002/aqc.1089

Dunbar, M.J., Lauge Pedersen, M., Cadman, D., Extence, C., Waddingham, J., Chadd, R. and Larsen, S.E. (2009). River discharge and local scale habitat influence macroinvertebrate LIFE scores. Freshwater Biology. doi: 10.111/j/1365-2427.2009.02306.x

Acreman, M.C., Dunbar, M.J., Hannaford, J., Mountford, O., Wood, P., Holmes, H.T.H., Cowx, I., Noble, R., Extence, C., Aldrick, J., King, J., Black, A., Crookall, D. Developing environmental standards for abstractions from UK rivers to implement the EU Water Framework Directive. Hydrological Sciences Journal. 53(6) 1105-1120

Acreman, M., Aldrick, J.,  Binnie, C, Black, A., Cowx, I., Dawson, H., Dunbar, M.,  Extence, C., Hannaford, J., Harby, A., Holmes, N., Jarrett, N., Old, G., Peirson, G. and Webb, J. 2009. Environmental flows from dams: the water framework directive. Engineering Sustainability 162 (ES1) 13

Franklin, P., Dunbar, M.J. and Whitehead, P. (2008). Flow controls on lowland river macrophytes: A review. Science of the Total Environment. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.06.018

Neale, M., Dunbar, M.J., Jones, J.I. and Ibbotson, A.T. (2008). Spatial patterns of macro-invertebrate drift in an English Chalk stream. Freshwater Biology  53, 1513–1523. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.01981.x

Booker, D.J. and Dunbar, M.J. (2008). Predicting river width, depth and velocity at ungauged sites in England and Wales using multilevel models. Hydrological Processes. doi: 10.1002/hyp.7007

Fisher, J. and Dunbar, M. (2007). Towards a representative periphytic diatom sample. Hydrology and Earth System Science 11(1) 399-407.

Acreman, M.C. and Dunbar, M.J. (2004). Defining environmental river flow requirements – a review. Hydrology and Earth System Science. 8(5): 861-876

Booker, D.J., Dunbar, M.J. and Ibbotson, A.T. (2004). Predicting juvenile salmonid drift-feeding habitat quality using a three-dimensional hydraulic-bioenergetic model. Ecological Modelling 177, 157-177.

Booker, D.J. and Dunbar, M.J. 2004. Application of physical habitat modelling to modified urban river channels. River Research and Application 20, 167-183

Dunbar, M.J., Acreman, M.C. and Kirk, S. 2004. Environmental flow setting in England and Wales – Strategies for managing abstraction in catchments. CIWEM  journal 18(1) 5-10.

My Researcher ID is C-5212-2009

See also the NERC Open Research Archive

A fuller list of publications, including contract reports, is available here.