CEES progress report 2008 Colofon Coordinator: Joke Nunnink Cover design: Dick Visser Graphics: Dick Visser (in part) Lay-out: Dick Bekker, Detail Printed by: Scholma Druk Bedum b.v., Bedum Published by: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES) University of Groningen Contents Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES): board and members CEES Highlights in 2008 5 Dissertations granted by CEES in 2008 12 CEES PhD students in 2008 13 PhD projects – theses in preparation 22 Animal Ecology Composition of the group 25 Introduction 27 Overview of academic results 28 Publications 2008 68 Community and Conservation Ecology Composition of the group 75 Introduction / Overview of academic results 77 Publications 2008 86 Ecophysiology of Plants Composition of the group 93 Overview of academic results 94 Publications 2008 101 Evolutionary Genetics Composition of the group 103 Overview of academic results 104 Publications 2008 116 Marine Benthic Ecology and Evolution Composition of the group 117 Overview of academic results 118 Publications 2008 128 Microbial Ecology Composition of the group 131 Overview of academic results 132 Publications 2008 143 Ocean Ecosystems Composition of the group 145 Overview of academic results 146 Publications 2008 164 Theoretical Biology Composition of the group 169 Introducing the group 170 Overview of academic results 172 Publications 2008 194 Highlights Big grant for Wadden Sea science Principal Scientist and Coordinator, Britas Klemens Eriksson (MarBEE), together with principal scientists Han Olff (COCON), Theunis Piersma (Animal Ecology), Johan van de Koppel (NIOO-CEME) and HenkW. van der Veer (NIOZ) were awarded a 1.1 Million Euro grant in the first round of the NWO National Programme Sea and Coast Research (ZKO). The project, “A human-driven regime shift through the loss of ecosys- tem engineers: consequences for trophic structure and recovery potential of the Wadden Sea Ecosystem” was ranked first in the competition, and will initially run for four years involving two PhDs and one post-doc in addition to the principal investigators. MarBEE successes Jeanine Olsen (MarBEE) is coordinating a consortium of 14 labs involved in the genome sequencing of the seagrass Zostera marina. The 310 Mb genome was accepted by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in Walnut Creek, CA, USA. It is one of the first non-model monocots to be sequenced. PhD student, Jos Mieog (MarBEE) received the award for Best Paper - on his work on coral bleaching and shuffling of algal symbionts - at the International Coral Reef Congress in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in August. This was a follow-up to his award for Best Paper 2007 in the journal Coral Reefs which detailed the quantitative assessment of multiple symbionts per coral using a newly developed real time PCR assay. His work was also featured in NRC Handelsblad (12-13 April). Jim Coyer (MarBEE) was listed in the Faculty of 1000 recommended papers in December 2008 with his documentation of reduced effective population size in the rock- weed Fucus serratus in southern Norway. Although the species is abundant in the area, risk of local extinction is relatively high. See Coyer et al. 2008, Annals of Botany. Rick Zechman (California State University-Fresno) joined MarBEE for a 3-month sab- batical, where he worked on a long-term project involving the phylogeography of the fucoid, Ascophyllum nodosum. Desert birds as a frontier of ecological research In the new edition of the popular textbook on physiological ecology (Animal Physio - logy, 2nd edition, 2008, by Hill, Wyse and Anderson, Sinauer Associates; it is used wit- hin CEES during the bachelor Ecological Interactions course), the work by B. Irene Tieleman and coworkers is featured onder the heading “desert birds are again a new frontier for research”. This work is depicted by the following figure: 7 CEES Progress Report 2008 Dissertations granted by CEES in 2008 J. Bakker Genetic diversity in experimental metapopulations T.W. Berngruber How to be good at being a virus; biochemical constraints of viral life history evolution D.M. Buehler Bottlenecks, budget and immunity T.J. Compton Bivalve traits and distributions to explore species diversity at tro- pical and temperate tidal flats G. Eichhorn Travels in a changing world: flexibility and constraints in migra- tion and breeding of the Barnacle Goose. C. Eikenaar Should I stay of should I go? Natal dispersal in the Seychelles warbler M. Engelmoer Breeding origins of water populations utilizing the Dutch Wadden Sea as deduced from body dimensions, body mass and primary moult H.J.T. Hoving Reproductive biology of oceanic decapodiform cephalopod A.D. Koralewska Whole plant regulation of sulfate uptake and distribution in cab- bage M. Kozielska Evolutionary dynamics of sex determination: mechanistic theory and empirical investigations H. Schekkerman Precocial problems. Shorebird chick performance in relation to weather, farming and predation R.D. Trifonova Microbial enrichment of torrefied grass fibers - a novel ingre- dient of potting soil T. Veen Mating decisions in a hybrid zone 12 Highlights CEES PhD Students in 2008 Y. Afeworki WOTRO - Marine Biology (Ocean Ecosystems) Seasonal dynamics in the trophic ecology and energetics of an important grazer (the parrot fish Scarus ferrugineus) on the coral reefs of Eritrea in the Southern Red Sea J. Arisz Animal Ecology Breeding ecology of Montagu's Harrier in agricultural areas in NW-Europe M. te Beest NWO-/Pionier-Community and Conservation Ecology The invasion of Chromolaena odorata in South African savannas N. Bhola RUG Bursary - Community and Conservation Ecology Characterization of the scale of spatial heterogeneity in savanna systems as novel approach to improving conservation planning F.G.H. Boersma Microbial Ecology The role of plasmid with high mobilizing and retromobilizing capacity on the ecological behaviour of plant-associated bacteria B.M. Bontes Ocean Ecosystems Southern Ocean primary productivity in a high CO2 world C. Burger Animal Ecology Latitudinal dispersal as solution to insufficient adaptation to climate change M. de Cássia Pereira e Silva Microbial Ecology Assessment of the baseline of soil microbial functioning across a range of soils V. Cordlandwehr NWO-ALW/Community and Conservation Ecology Plant functional traits and assembly of plant metacommunities in fragmented landscapes D. de Corte Ocean Ecosystems/NIOZ Influence of deep oceanviruses on prokaryotes 13 CEES Progress Report 2008 J. van de Crommenacker NWO-WOTRO-Animal Ecology Stress and fitness in small bottlenecked populations of the tropi- cal Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) X. Du Bursary Chinese Government/COCON A synthetic theory of biodiversity A.L.F. Duarte RUG Bursary -Theoretical Biology Division of labor in insect societies - integrating self-organization and evolutionary theory K. Elschot COCON Unravelling interacting feedback loops that control non-linear salt-marsh dynamics: combining experiments and modeling F.A. Encinas Viso COCON Effect of mutualistic interactions in plant-animal community assembly B.V. Feldmeyer Robert Bosch Stiftung Bursary-Theoretical Biology/Evolutionary Genetics Temperature-dependent sex determination S. Ferber Marine Biology (MarBEE) Mechanisms underlying the genetic structure of seagrass meadows: historical stochastic events versus adaptation E.O. Folmer Animal Ecology/Community and Conservation Ecology Patchiness of food and the structure of shorebird communities B.P. Freymann Robert Bosch Stiftung Bursary/Community and Conservation Ecology Interactions between invertebrates and vertebrates in savanna ecosystems: consequences of elevated temperature C. Fritz RUG Bursary - Ecophysiology of Plants Limits of Sphagnum bog growth: how can cushion plants out- compete Sphagnum species in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina C.X. Garzon López Ubbo Emmius Bursary/Community and Conservation Ecology Determinants and consequences of the spatial arrangement of trees in the tropical rainforest of Barro Colorado, Panama 14 Highlights M. van der Geest WOTRO-NIOZ/Animal Ecology NIOZ Fragile biodiversity linkages: production and consumption in a nutrient-poor seagrass-dominated intertidal ecosystem M.C.W.G. Giesbers Evolutionary Genetics Genetics of adaptation: mating behaviour and reproductive straties in Nasonia wasps C.G. Graf-Gosling NWO-ALW Pionier bursary Biotic determinants of functional heterogeneity in a tropical savanna B. Grillenberger Evolutionary Genetics Population genetics and biogeography of Nasonia M. Hammers Animal Ecology Individual model based analysis of the causes of senescence in a wild living cooperative breeding vertrebrate species P.R. Hardoim Microbial Ecology Metagenomics of food crop endophytes A. Hegemann Animal Ecology Adaptations to a changing environment: in search of bottlenecks in the annual cycle of Skylarks S.M.A.C. van Heuven EU Carbo Ocean – Ocean Ecosystems Meridional carbon transport in the North Atlantic Ocean M. Hinsch ALW VICI/Theoretical Biology/Animal Ecology Evolution of sex-specific reproductive tactics under density- dependent selection Y. Hongyan Animal Ecology Red Knots (Calidris canutus) in Northern Bohai Bay, China, Yellow Sea during northward migration E.F. Hoogwout Microbial Ecology Microbial diversity in potato 15 CEES Progress Report 2008 J.G.C. Hopcraft NWO Pionier Bursary/Community and Conservation Ecology Animal movement, resource protection and the maintenance of biodiversity: ideas for further research N.P.C. Horrocks ALW VENI/FWN-Animal Ecology