Welcome to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Dr Ian J Winfield

Current work

My work focuses on the ecology and management of freshwater fish and benefits from a broad, integrative approach facilitated by being undertaken within a Lake Ecosystem Group. Although such work is conducted throughout the UK and overseas, a large component of it involves the continuation of long-term netting and trapping studies of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and pike (Esox lucius) in Windermere, which began during the 1940s and now constitute time series of unparalleled duration, detail and quality. This work is augmented by the use of state-of-the-art hydroacoustics to investigate fish abundance, distribution and size structure, together with aspects of their biotic and abiotic environments. I frequently undertake commissioned research for a wide range of regional, national and international customers. I also sit on regional, national and international advisory bodies, I have frequent contacts with local and national media, and I am currently the President of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles (FSBI).

Research interests

• Population dynamics and community ecology of freshwater fish
• Roles of fish in lake ecosystems
• Effects of climate change on freshwater fish populations and communities
• Development of hydroacoustics for studies of freshwater fish and their habitats
• Conservation of rare fish species
• Freshwater fisheries management
• Lake management

Brief CV

• 2003 to date: Lake Ecologist at CEH's Lancaster site
• 1990-2003: Fish Ecologist at CEH Windermere (formerly the Institute of Freshwater Ecology)
• 1985-1990: Lecturer in Fish Biology at the University of Ulster
• 1984: Research Fellow in Freshwater Fish Ecology at the University of Lund, Sweden

Recent publications

See also the NERC Open Research Archive.

Tsouvalis, J., Waterton, C. & Winfield, I. J.  (2012).  Intra-actions in Loweswater, Cumbria: New Collectives, Blue-Green Algae, and the Visualisation of Invisible Presences Through Sound and Science.  In:  Rose, G. & Tolia-Kelly, D. P. (editors)  Visuality/Materiality:  Images, Objects and Practices.  Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, U.K.  pp. 109-132.

Winfield, I. J., Adams, C. E., Bean, C. W., Durie, N. C. Fletcher, J. M., Gowans, A. R., Harrod, C., James, J. B., Lyle, A. A., Maitland, P. S., Thompson, C. & Verspoor, E.  (2012).  Conservation of the vendace (Coregonus albula), the U.K.'s rarest freshwater fish.  Advances in Limnology 63, 547-559.

Winfield, I. J., Emmrich, M., Guillard, J., Mehner, T. & Rustadbakken, A.  (2012).  Guidelines for standardisation of hydroacoustic methods.  In:  Schmidt-Kloiber, A, Hartmann, A., Strackblein, J., Feld, C. K. & Hering, D. (editors)  Current Questions in Water Management:  Book of Abstracts to the WISER Final Conference, Tallinn, Estonia, 25-26 January 2012.  pp. 186-188.

Etheridge, E. C., Adams, C. E., Bean, C. W., Durie, N. C., Gowans, A. R. D., Harrod, C., Lyle, A. A., Maitland, P. S. & Winfield, I. J.  (2012).  Are phenotypic traits useful for differentiating among a priori Coregonus taxa?  Journal of Fish Biology 80, 387-407.

Winfield, I. J., Fletcher, J. M. & James, J. B.  (2012).  Long-term changes in the diet of pike (Esox lucius), the top aquatic predator in a changing Windermere.  Freshwater Biology 57, 373-383.

Winfield, I. J., Adams, C. E., Armstrong, J. D., Gardiner, R., Kirika, A., Montgomery, J., Spears, B. M., Stewart, D. C., Thorpe, J. E. & Wilson, W.  (2012).  Changes in the fish community of Loch Leven:  untangling anthropogenic pressures.  Hydrobiologia 681, 73-84.

Ohlberger, J. Langangen, Ø., Edeline, E., Claessen, D. Winfield, I. J., Stenseth, N. Chr. & Vøllestad, L. A.  (2011).  Stage-specific biomass overcompensation by juveniles in response to increased adult mortality in a wild fish population.  Ecology 92, 2175-2182.

Corrigan, L. J., Lucas, M. C., Winfield, I. J., & Hoelzel, R. A.  (2011).  Environmental factors associated with genetic and phenotypic divergence among sympatric populations of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus).  Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24, 1906-1917.

Winfield, I. J.  (2011).  Case Study 4.8  Lake fish populations.  In:  Wheater, C. P., Bell, J. R. & Cook, P. A. (editors)  Practical Field Ecology: A Project Guide.  Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.  pp. 182-183.

Langangen, O., Edeline, E., Ohlberger, J., Winfield, I. J., Fletcher, J. M., James, J. B., Stenseth, N. Chr. & Vøllestad, L. A.  (2011).  Six decades of pike and perch population dynamics in Windermere.  Fisheries Research 109, 131-139.

Corrigan, L. J., Winfield, I. J, Hoelzel, R. A. & Lucas, M. C.  (2011).  Dietary plasticity in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in response to long-term environmental change.  Ecology of Freshwater Fish 20, 5-13.

Winfield, I. J., Fletcher, J. M. & James, J. B.  (2011).  Invasive fish species in the largest lakes of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England:  the collective U.K. experience.  Hydrobiologia 660, 93-103.