Environmental Research Institute

• Ecology and Ecosystems

• Determining the functional importance of peatland and lowland ecosystems.
• Investigating the ecological impact of renewable energy devices in the marine and terrestrial environment.
• Determining the functional role of parasitic and symbiotic associations in ecological systems.
• Understanding the ecological impact of disturbed environments.

• Upland geo-ecology: Understanding the relationship between the geomorphology and ecology of terrestrial and freshwater upland landscapes
• Marine ecology: The functional ecology of polar, temperate and tropical marine waters.
• Microbial ecology: Interactions between microbial communities in aquatic and terrestrial environments
• Ecosystem health: Determining the impact of man on ecosystem function at the individual, population and community level.

• Prof. Stuart Gibb
• Dr Elizabeth Masden
• Dr Franįois L. L. Muller
• Dr Kathleen McDougall
• Prof. Barbara Brown
• Dr Angus Jackson
• Dr Andrew Guerin
• Dr Neil James
• Mrs Barbara Bremner

Current Students

• Ms Marcella Branagan
• Ms Danishta Dumur
• Ms Emma Goodyer
• Mr Gongda Yang
• Ms Astrid Harendza
• Ms Helen Wade
• Mr Andrew French

Publications:

• M.C. Easton, A. Harendza, D.K. Woolf, A.C. Jackson (2011), Characterisation of a Tidal Energy Site: Hydrodynamics and Seabed Structure. 9th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, Southampton, UK
• A. Harendza, A. Jackson, M. Shields, J. Side (2011), Habitat Mapping of a Key Tidal Energy Development Site using Underwater Acoustics and Remote Sampling. Proceedings of UAM 2011, 4th International Conference in Underwater Acoustic Measurements: Technology and Results.
• M.C. Easton, A. Harendza, D.K. Woolf, A.C. Jackson (2011), Characterisation of a Tidal Energy Site: Hydrodynamics and Seabed Structure. 9th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, Southampton, UK
• Shields, M.A., D.K. Woolf, E.P.M. Grist, S.A. Kerr, A.C. Jackson R.E. Harris, M.C Bell, R. Beharie, A. Want, E. Osalusi, S.W. Gibb and J. Side. (2011) Marine renewable energy: The ecological implications of altering the hydrodynamics of the marine environment, Ocean & Coastal Management 54, 2-9. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2010.10.036
• Shields, M.A., D.K. Woolf, E.P.M. Grist, S.A. Kerr, A.C. Jackson R.E. Harris, M.C Bell, R. Beharie, A. Want, E. Osalusi, S.W. Gibb and J. Side. (2011) Marine renewable energy: The ecological implications of altering the hydrodynamics of the marine environment, Ocean & Coastal Management 54, 2-9. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2010.10.036
• A. Harendza, A. Jackson, M. Shields, J. Side (2011), Habitat Mapping of a Key Tidal Energy Development Site using Underwater Acoustics and Remote Sampling. Proceedings of UAM 2011, 4th International Conference in Underwater Acoustic Measurements: Technology and Results.
• Naidoo, V., Venter, L., Wolter, K., Taggart, M.A., Cuthbert, R., 2010. The toxicokinetics of ketoprofen in Gyps coprotheres: Toxicity due to zero-order metabolism. Archives of Toxicology 84, 761-766
• Jackson, A.C., 2010. Effects of topography on the environment. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. (UK) 90, 169-192.
• Muthanna, C., Stansberg, C.T., Baarholm, R.J., Harendza, A., Priscic, M. (2009), Experimental study of the local wave velocity field during a wave impact occurence. Proceedings of OMAE 2009, 28th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
• Murphy R.J., Underwood A.J., Jackson A.C. (2009) Field-based remote sensing of intertidal epilithic chlorophyll: techniques using specialized and conventional digital cameras. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 380, 68-76.
• Jackson A.C. (2009) Biogenic habitat on artificial structures: Consequences for an intertidal predator. Marine and Freshwater Research, 60, 519-528.
• Jackson, A.C., Murphy, R.J. & Underwood, A.J. (2009) Patiriella exigua: a surprisingly important grazing starfish. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 376, 153-63
• Jackson A.C. (2009) Life on the rocky shore: How’s the Craic? Global Marine Environment Magazine, 10, 2-3.
• Bell, M.B.V., Radford, A.N., Rose, R., Wade, H.M., Ridley, A.R., 2009. The value of constant surveillance in a risky environment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276, 2997-3005
• Jackson, A.C., Chapman, M.G. & Underwood, A.J. (2008).  Ecological interactions in the provision of habitat by urban development: whelks and engineering by oysters on artificial seawalls.  Austral Ecology, 33, 307-316.
• Jackson, A.C. & Rundle, S.D.  (2008).  Diet shifts in an estuarine goby, Pomatoschistus microps, in the face of variable prey availability.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 361, 1-7.
• Crowe, S. K and Warburton, J. (2007). The role of large peat blocks on channel sedimentation and the stream organic budget. Mires and Peat Journal, 2: 1-15 accessed online at http://www.mires-and-peat.net/map02/map_02_04.pdf
• Jackson, A.C. and Underwood, A.J. (2007) Application of new techniques for the accurate analysis of choice of prey. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 341, 1-9.
• K. L. Evans, N. A. James & K. J. Gaston (2006). Abundance, species richness and energy availability in the North American avifauna. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15 (4) 372-385
• Jackson, A.C., Rundle, S.D., Attrill, M.J. & Cotton, P.A.  2004.  Ontogenetic changes in metabolism may determine diet shifts for a sit-and-wait predator.  Journal of Animal Ecology, 73, 536-545.
• Brown BE, Downs CA, Dunne RP, Gibb SW (2002) Exploring the basis of thermotolernace in the reef coral Goniastrea aspera. Marine Ecology Progress Series 242:119-129
• Jackson, A.C., Rundle, S.D. and Attrill, M.J. (2002) Fitness consequences of prey depletion for the common goby, Pomatoschistus microps. Marine Ecology Progress Series 242, 229-235.
• Brown, BE, Dunne, RP, Warner, ME, Ambarsari, I, Fitt, WK, Gibb, SW, Cummings, DG. Damage and recovery of Photosystem II during a manipulative field experiment on solar bleaching in the coral Goniastrea aspera. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 195, 117-124, 2000.
• Anning T, MacIntyre HL, Pratt SM, Sammes PJ, Gibb S, Geider RJ. Photoacclimation in the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum. Limnology and Oceanography 45 (8), 1807-1817, 2000
• Gibb, S.W., R.G. Barlow, D.G. Cummings, N.W. Rees, C.C. Trees, P. Holligan, D. Suggett. Surface phytoplankton pigment distributions in the Atlantic Ocean: An assessment of basin scale variability between 50°N and 50°S. Progress in Oceanography, 45 (3-4), 339-368, 2000 
• Colomban de Vargas, Richard Norris, Louisette Zaninetti, Stuart W. Gibb Jan Pawlowski. Molecular Evidence of Cryptic Speciation in Planktonic Foraminifers and their Relation to oceanic Provinces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96 (6), 2864-2868, 1999
• Brown BE, Ambarsari I, Warner ME, Fitt WK, Dunne RP, Gibb SW and Cummings DG. Diurnal changes in photochemical efficiency and xanthophyll concentrations in shallow water reef corals: evidence for photoinhibition and photoprotection. Coral Reefs, 18,99-105, 1999
• Murphy, R.J., Underwood, A.J. & Jackson, A.C. (in review) Quantitative imaging of intertidal chlorophyll using colour infra-red and conventional digital cameras. Biofouling.

Current:

• Upland geo-ecology: - The geo-ecological recovery and historic development of degraded UK peatlands (Dr Sarah Crowe with funding by British Ecological Society)
• Marine Ecology: -
  • Modelling the consequences of intersexuality in Echinogammarus marinus (Dr Alex Ford with funding British Council).
  • The ecology of intersex cave shrimps (Dr Alex Ford with funding from British Ecological Society and the Carnegie Trust for Scottish Universities)
  • Determine sex specific genes in normal and intersex crustaceans (Dr Alex Ford with funding from NERC 454 Genomics Grant)
  • The ecological impact of marine renewable devices in the Pentland Firth [in collaboration with Heriot-Watt] (Drs Mark Shields & Alex Ford - workpackage in joint Heriot Watt (Jon Side) - UHI (Stuart Gibb) - EMEC programme ADVANCING MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH CAPACITY IN SCOTLAND with funding from Scottish Funding Council, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise)
• Microbial Ecology: -
  • Microbial Responses to Erosion and Recent Vegetation Recovery of Blanket Peatlands in the UK (Marcella Branagan with funding from ARC)
  • Using phytoplankton and bacterioplankton to assess the ecological status of freshwaters in Scotland. (Danishta Dumur, Stuart Gibb, Martina Burtscher, Angela Squier, Kenny Boyd and Alan Youngson with funding from ARC)
• Ecosystem Health: -
  • Dragonfly distributions in an afforested, post-felled and pristine blanket bog gradient. Mike Tyrell & Sarah Crowe with funding from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise CASE.
  • Seabird ecology (fulmar diet studies) in collaboration with the Cromarty Lighthouse Group (Dr Kathleen McDougall, Kenneth Boyd, Stuart Gibb) with funding from University of Aberdeen.
• Interests:
  Upland geo-ecology: -
  • Palaeoecological evidence of fire and recovery trajectories in North Scotland bogs (Dr Sarah Crowe with Richard Lindsay, UEL)
  • The Cross-Lochs project: recovery of carbon fluxes in post-felled peatland (Dr Sarah Crowe with CEH, Edinburgh)
• Interests:
  Marine Ecology: -
  • Ecoepidemiology of coral diseases: links between environmental contamination, bacterial loads, and coral health" (Craig Downs, Martina Burstcher).
  • Gradients in benthic community structure and bioturbation potential in the deep Nordic Seas (Mark Shields with David Hughes and Kenny Black, Scottish Association for Marine Science)
  • Coral Zooxanthella Systematics: classification by molecular genetic, photosynthetic pigment, metabolite, and electron microscopic methods  (Drs Boyd, McDougall, Gibb and Burstcher)
  • Pigment polymorphisms in intertidal amphipods (Xiaoyan Su, Alex Ford & Angela Squier)
• Interests:
  Ecosystem Health: -
  • Biomarkers of environmental stress in warm water corals in collaboration with University of Newcastle and Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, USA. (Dr Kathleen McDougall)
  • Restoring areas of forestry to open peatland: effects on aluminium remobilization and export from blanket bog habitats (François Muller, with cooperation from RSPB Forsinard)

• Monitoring/Sampling Projects: Loch Rannoch freshwater ecology field programme in collaboration with FRS Danishta et al + Alan Youingson and Eric Verspoor at FRS