Marine Ecologist 
Phone: +27 (0)21 650 4011 
Email: william.froneman@uct.ac.za

 

 


Research interests

Professor William Froneman is a marine ecologist with a special interest in understanding the impact of global change on marine and estuarine ecosystem functioning. Employing a combination of field and laboratory studies, William’s research encompasses five main fields of study:

  • Bottom up (resource availability) and top down (biological processes) control of plankton food webs with particular emphasis on the role of predation
  • The ecological impacts of microplastics on marine and estuarine food webs
  • The ecology of cetaceans
  • The ecological role of parasitic euendoliths on South African mussel beds
  • Terrestrial subsidies in marine and estuarine ecosystems
     

Selected recent publications (last 2 years)

Firth LB, Bone J, Bartholomew A, Bishop MJ, Bugnot A, Bulleri F, Chee SY, Claassens L, Dafforn KA, Fairchild TP, Hall AE, Hanley ME, Komyakova V, Lemasson AJ, Loke LHL, Mayer-Pinto M, Larissa Naylor RML, Perkins MJ, Pioch S, Porri F, O'Shaughnessy KA, Schaefer N, Strain EA, Nathan Waltham TJD, Aguilera M, Airoldi L, Bauer F, Brooks P, Burt J, Clubley C, Cordell JR, Espinosa F, Evans AJ, Farrugia-Drakard V, Froneman PW, Griffin J, Hawkins SJ, Heery E, Herbert RJH, Jones E, Leung KMY, Moore P, Sempere-Valverde J, Sengupta D, Sheaves M, Swearer S, Thompson RC, Todd P, Knights AM. (2024). Coastal greening of grey infrastructure: an update on the state-of-the-art. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Maritime Engineering https://doi.org/10.1680/jmaen.2023.003.

Froneman PW (2025). Invasive aquatic weeds supress predator-prey cascades: evidence from a mesocosm study. Diversity 17, 178

Zardi, GI, Ma CK, Froneman PW, Nicastro KR. (2025). First record of pyroplastic and partially burnt plastic litter along South African shores. Marine Pollution Bulletin 214-117817

Dievart AM, McQuaid CD, Zardi GI, Nicastro KR, Froneman PW (2025). Biogeography, not intraspecific trait variation determines macrofaunal communities associated with mussel beds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 756, 1-17.

Seath JL, Firth LB, Froneman PW, Claassens L. (2025).The use of gabions as an eco-engineering approach to enhance estuarine fish habitats in urbanised waterways. Ecological Engineering 210, 107431.

Yekani C, Froneman PW (2025). Sand prawns mitigate the impact of prolonged drought on the biology of a temporarily open/closed estuary. Diversity 17, 223.

Leighton RM, Brooke AR, Froneman PW, Serieys LEK, Bishop JM (2025). The cats whiskers: stable isotopes reveal individual specialisation of adaptable caracals (Caracal caracal) foraging in an urbanised landscape. Ecology and Evolution 15:e71154

Ma KCK, Reddy S, Froneman PW, Porri F, McQuaid CD (2025). Locality-based community science facilitates early detection and monitoring: the case of an extralimital population of brachyuran crab. Management of Biological Invasions 16, 531

Fabian RS, Froneman PW (2025). Unravelling the role of predator diversity in shaping plankton dynamics: evidence from a mesocosm study. Diversity, 17, 591.

Roussouw N, Froneman PW, Weltz K, Venter K, Conry D, Smale MJ, Plön S. (2025). Feeding down the food web?! Trophic cascading reflected in the long-term dietary trends of endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins Sousa plumbea from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ecological Indicators, 181,
114442.

Leighton, GRM, Froneman W, Serieys LEK, Bishop JM (2024) Sustained use of marine subsidies promotes niche expansion in a wild felid. Science of the Total Environment 169912.

Leighton GRM, Froneman W, Serieys LEK, Bishop JM (2023). Trophic downgrading of an adaptable carnivore in an urbanising landscape. Scientific Reports 13, 21582 . 

Nicastro K, Seuront L, Cozzolino L, Froneman PW, Zardi G (2023). The neglected role of intraspecific variation in plastic pollution research. Anthropocene Science  2, 141-147.

Cozzolino L, Nicastro KR, Lefevre S, Corona L, Froneman PW, McQuaid CD, Zardi, GI. (2023). The effects of interspecific and intraspecific diversity on microplastic ingestion in two occurring mussel species in South Africa. Marine Pollution Bulletin 196, 115649.

Froneman PW. (2023). The effects of salinity on the egg production rate of the sac-spawning calanoid copepod, Pseudodiaptomus hessei, in a temporarily open/closed southern African estuary. Diversity 15, 263.

Froneman PW (2022). Predator diversity does not contribute to increased prey risk: evidence from a mesocosm study. Diversity. 14, 584. 

Dievart AM, McQuaid CD, Zardi GI, Nicastro KR, Froneman PW (2022) Photoautotrophic Euendoliths and Their Complex Ecological Effects in Marine Bioengineered Ecosystems. Diversity 14, 737. 

Caputo  M,  Bouveroux T, van der Bank M,  Cliff G, Kizka JJ, Froneman PW, Plon S. (2022)  Inter and intra-specific trophic interactions of coastal delphinids off the eastern coast of South Africa inferred from stable isotope analysis. Marine Environmental Research 182: 105784.