Research of Marine Animal Ecology

Marine Animal Ecology investigates how animals adapt to their (changing) environment. The projects comprise all levels of biological integration, from cell to ecosystem.

Research themes

Research themes

Our approaches

Our approaches

Ecophysiology

Coral reefs are facing multiple threats, from global warming to ocean acidification to impaired water quality. Marine Animal Ecology studies ecophysiological responses of organisms using state-of-the-art experimental set ups.

Marine aquaculture

One of the goals of Marine Animal Ecology is understanding how coral reefs respond to human-induced stressors. We culture corals and sponges to facilitate the research. Culture happens both in the lab and in the field.

Scientific diving

One way to perform field monitoring and sampling is through scientific diving. Students and professionals can follow theoretical and practical courses in scientific diving at the WUR.

Field research

If we want to quantify changes in the marine environment, we need to set ecological and biological baselines and monitor their progress over time. This is exactly what Marine Animal Ecology does in a variety of systems in the Netherlands, the Indo-Pacific, Kenya, the Arctic, and the Dutch Caribbean.

Field research entails both the monitoring of water quality parameters such as water temperature, salinity, pH and potential pollutants, and the monitoring of biological communities, benthic or pelagic. Biological communities can be monitored through visual (video) surveys, placing transect lines along the bottom and taking pictures to later be analysed in various softwares and/or using eDNA to assess presence of species. Multivariate statistics can then link environmental parameters to the presence and/or abundance of biological communities to better predict change.

In order to examine causal effects beyond correlations experiments need to be performed. Marine Animal Ecology performs experiments in the field, in mesocosms and in the lab.

Molecular marine ecology

DNA-based methods are increasingly used to monitor biodiversity, study population structure and differentiation and look at patterns of disease. At MAE, we develop and apply cutting-edge molecular tools to study marine biodiversity—both at the species and population levels—through DNA and RNA analysis. A central focus is environmental DNA (eDNA), which can be collected non-invasively from water and used to identify all species present in a sampled environment.

With molecular tools becoming increasingly advanced and affordable, eDNA metabarcoding is now a mainstream approach. At MAE, we use Nanopore-based sequencing, which provides a flexible workflow and enables rapid sample processing and analysis when required. Because eDNA can persist in the environment for several days after an organism has left, we also employ environmental RNA (eRNA). As RNA degrades more quickly, eRNA offers a near real-time snapshot of the ecosystem at the exact time of sampling.

Beyond eDNA and eRNA metabarcoding, we are further developing metagenomic approaches, where all DNA or RNA in a sample is sequenced rather than only targeted fragments. This approach requires comprehensive reference databases of full genomes, which we actively help expand. When combined with Nanopore sequencing, metagenomics also enables the measurement of DNA and RNA methylation—an epigenetic signal with potential to reveal traits such as age and sex that are not directly encoded in DNA sequences.

Modelling and data science

Marine Animal Ecology studies food webs, soundscapes and population-level responses to stressors via state-of-the-art modelling. Multidimensional data such as food webs, soundscapes and population-level responses to stressors are complicated. Hence, state-of-the-art modelling is necessary to better understand patterns in marine biology. At MAE we employ a combination of statistical and mechanistic models to predict ecological interactions and animal responses to environmental change. We model processes such as individual growth and fitness using bioenergetic and individual-based models, recruitment and other population demographic processes through population dynamics and dispersal models, or ecosystem shifts through food web network models, spatial occupancy models and machine learning algorithms for image and sound detection and classification.

Scientific diving

Scientific diving is a crucial tool for scientists to study the biodiversity and functioning of aquatic environments. However, having the underwater environment as a workplace also poses challenges.

Scientific diving

Scientific diving

The Dutch Scientific Diving Platform has taken the lead in creating a protocol that bridges the gap between recreational diving and commercial diving. Now, a national protocol is available specifically focusing on the safety and effectiveness of scientific diving. With it, the Netherlands is now a candidate member of the European Scientific Diving Panel. We hope that with the national implementation of this protocol in the law, diving for research will become safer for the whole of the Netherlands. 

To provide knowledge on scientific diving, we provide theoretical courses for students, PhDs and professionals, and offer a practical course to gain in-water experience.