- Heriot-Watt University, School of Life Sciences, Faculty Memberadd
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Assessing size at maturity for European lobster Homarus gammarus across the North East Atlantic remains a fundamental knowledge gap for this commercially valuable fishery. This study for the first time collates existing data on... more
Assessing size at maturity for European lobster Homarus gammarus across the North East Atlantic remains a fundamental knowledge gap for this commercially valuable fishery. This study for the first time collates existing data on physiological maturity of female European lobster H. gammarus across the North East Atlantic, including new data from Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Physiological estimates of size at maturity were undertaken using 1309 lobsters from 11 locations using a standardized methodology. Carapace length (CL) at which 50% of the sampled population had reached physiological maturity (CL50) varied between populations, ranging from 82 to 92.5 mm. CL50 estimates reported here are broadly similar for historic population samples in England, but estimates for Irish samples were lower than previous results. The development of a H. gammarus specific staging guide and methodology in this study enables the future comparison of potential fluctuations in female size at matu...
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One of the problems of working on lochs that are slightly saline is a group of tiny (1-4mm) molluscs called mudsnails (Hydrobiidae). The rarest of these, Hydrobia acuta neglecta, was first identified in the UK in the Uists. This project... more
One of the problems of working on lochs that are slightly saline is a group of tiny (1-4mm) molluscs called mudsnails (Hydrobiidae). The rarest of these, Hydrobia acuta neglecta, was first identified in the UK in the Uists. This project aimed to eliminate any doubt about the identity. Genetic analyses funded by SNH and conducted by scientists at the National Museum of Scotland and Heriot-Watt University confirmed that there were healthy populations of this snail in three lochs in North Uist.
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Kelp forests are extensive, widely distributed and highly productive. However, despite their importance, reliable estimates of net primary productivity (NPP) are currently unknown for most species and regions. In particular, how... more
Kelp forests are extensive, widely distributed and highly productive. However, despite their importance, reliable estimates of net primary productivity (NPP) are currently unknown for most species and regions. In particular, how performance and subsequent NPP change throughout a species range is lacking. Here, we attempted to resolve this by examining growth and performance of the boreal kelp, Laminaria digitata, from range centre and trailing edge regions in the United Kingdom. During the peak growth season (March/April), range-centre individuals were up to three times heavier and accumulated biomass twice as fast as their trailing-edge counterparts. This was not apparent during the reduced growth season (August/September), when populations within both regions had similar biomass profiles. In total, annual NPP estimates were considerably lower for trailing-edge (181 ± 34 g C m−2 year−1) compared to range-centre (344 ± 33 g C m−2 year−1) populations. Our first-order UK estimates of ...
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Research Interests: Polymorphism, Mass Spectrometry, Biology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, and 15 morePhylogeny, Case Study, Animals, Fasciola hepatica, Phylogenetic analysis, Goats, In vitro culture, Amino Acid Profile, Proteases, Fasciola, Fasciolosis, Gene expression profiling, Bile, Medical and Health Sciences, and cathepsin L
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The report presents a study which initiated site condition monitoring of the sea caves within the St Kilda and North Rona SACs. This was done to establish a baseline biological data set that would facilitate the assessment of the... more
The report presents a study which initiated site condition monitoring of the sea caves within the St Kilda and North Rona SACs. This was done to establish a baseline biological data set that would facilitate the assessment of the condition of the habitats in the future and to allow a judgement to be formed on the current condition of these habitats. A total of 85 potential cave sites have been identified within the SAC based on a combination of historical records and direct observation. All available information on caves has been collated into a cave inventory. Four caves were subject to SCM. One was fully intertidal, one was fully subtidal and the remaining two included both intertidal and subtidal components although monitoring effort was focussed on the subtidal in both cases.
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Generating electricity from marine energy is a globally important industry and forms a vital part of several nations' objectives to decarbonise energy production. In the UK, the resource-rich waters around Scotland have led to... more
Generating electricity from marine energy is a globally important industry and forms a vital part of several nations' objectives to decarbonise energy production. In the UK, the resource-rich waters around Scotland have led to world-leading developments of facilities and supporting infrastructure used in deploying and testing wave and tidal energy technologies. A major concern to industries working in the marine environment is biofouling on submerged structures, including energy converters and measurement instrumentation. In this study, marine energy devices, infrastructure, and instrumentation were surveyed to characterise biofouling organisms. Fouling communities varied between deployment habitats; key organisms were identified allowing recommendations for scheduling device maintenance and preventing spread of invasive species. A method to measure biofouling impact on hydrodynamic response is described and applied to data from a wave-monitoring buoy deployed at a test site in Scotland. Results are discussed in relation to measurement accuracy of resources for power generation. Further applications are suggested for future testing in other scenarios including habitats use for extracting tidal energy.
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Research Interests: Zoology, Oceanography, Biogeochemistry, Biology, Ecology, and 3 moreCalcite, Aragonite, and Temperate Climate
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Research Interests: Geography, Biology, Invasive Species, Norwegian, HArbour, and 3 moreFishery, Introduced species, and Bryozoa
Maerl beds are listed as a priority marine feature in Scotland. They are noted for creating suitable benthic habitat for diverse communities of fauna and flora and in supporting a wide array of ecosystem services. Within the context of... more
Maerl beds are listed as a priority marine feature in Scotland. They are noted for creating suitable benthic habitat for diverse communities of fauna and flora and in supporting a wide array of ecosystem services. Within the context of climate change, they are also recognised as a potential blue carbon habitat through sequestration of carbon in living biomass and underlying sediment. There are, however, significant data gaps on the potential of maerl carbon sequestration which impede inclusion in blue carbon policy frameworks. Key data gaps include sediment thickness, from which carbon content is extrapolated. There are additional logistical and financial barriers associated with quantification methods that aim to address these data gaps. This study investigates the use of subbottom profiling (SBP) to lessen financial and logistical constraints of maerl bed sediment thickness estimation and regional blue carbon quantification. SBP data were cross validated with cores, other SBP data on blue carbon sediments, and analysed with expert input. Combining SBP data with estimates of habitat health (as % cover) from drop-down video (DDV) data, and regional abiotic data, this study also elucidates links between abiotic and biotic factors in determining maerl habitat health and maerl sediment thickness through pathway analysis in structural equation modelling (SEM). SBP data were proved to be sufficiently robust for identification of maerl sediments when corroborated with core data. SBP and DDV data of maerl bed habitats in Orkney exhibited some positive correlations of sediment thickness with maerl % cover. The average maerl bed sediment thickness was 1.08 m across all ranges of habitat health. SEM analysis revealed maerl bed habitat health was strongly determined by abiotic factors. Maerl habitat health had a separate positive effect on maerl bed sediment thickness.
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Research Interests: Zoology, Geology, Oceanography, Plant Biology, Ecology, and 9 moreSvalbard, Arctic, Spitsbergen, Sedimentation, Fjord, Glacier, Size, Benthic Fauna, and Bay
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Presence of a steam pinnace at Lyness, Orkney Islands, was first documented in United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) records by letter from a local scallop diver. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) tasked ORCA and Sula Diving Ltd to... more
Presence of a steam pinnace at Lyness, Orkney Islands, was first documented in United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) records by letter from a local scallop diver. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) tasked ORCA and Sula Diving Ltd to document this wreck during the Scapa Flow 2013 Marine Archaeology Survey. Side scan sonar and oral history provided initial clues to the identity. Reference to archival data and the Pinnace 199 renovation project (Portsmouth Historic Shipyard) enabled confirmation of its identity and understanding of how the vessel came to lie on the seabed off Rinnigal Pier. Photogrammetry revealed preservation status and during biological surveys two species of national conservation importance were recorded.
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Animal mitogenomes are typically devoid of introns. Here, we report the largest number of mitochondrial introns ever recorded from bilaterian animals. Mitochondrial introns were identified for the first time from the phylum Bryozoa. They... more
Animal mitogenomes are typically devoid of introns. Here, we report the largest number of mitochondrial introns ever recorded from bilaterian animals. Mitochondrial introns were identified for the first time from the phylum Bryozoa. They were found in four species from three families (Order Cheilostomatida). A total of eight introns were found in the complete mitogenome of Exechonella vieirai, and five, 17 and 18 introns were found in the partial mitogenomes of Parantropora penelope, Discoporella cookae and Cupuladria biporosa, respectively. Intron-encoded protein domains reverse transcriptase and intron maturase (RVT-IM) were identified in all species. Introns in E. vieirai and P. penelope had conserved Group II intron ribozyme domains V and VI. Conserved domains were lacking from introns in D. cookae and C. biporosa, preventing their further categorization. Putative origins of metazoan introns were explored in a phylogenetic context, using an up-to-date alignment of mitochondrial ...
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This study collated existing data on lobster moult increment from studies across the range of Homarus gammarus, together with new tagging data from Orkney, United Kingdom. Generalized additive models were used to investigate geographical... more
This study collated existing data on lobster moult increment from studies across the range of Homarus gammarus, together with new tagging data from Orkney, United Kingdom. Generalized additive models were used to investigate geographical differences in absolute moult increment and moult probability. Absolute moult increment was seen to differ significantly between regions and between sexes and showed a non-linear relationship with pre-moult size. Smaller absolute moult increments were observed at southern and northern latitudes with larger increments observed in the centre of the species range. Temperature was identified as a significant factor explaining differences in absolute moult increment between regions, consistent with there being a thermal optimum for growth for in H. gammarus. Moult and double moult probabilities decline with pre-moult size, with greatest probability of moulting occurring around day 250. Probability of double moulting increased with mean annual sea surface...
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This article examines two important components of measurement of fecundity in the European lobster Homarus gammarus: (i) comparing the traditional gravimetric dry weight fecundity method against two non-invasive depth gauge methods... more
This article examines two important components of measurement of fecundity in the European lobster Homarus gammarus: (i) comparing the traditional gravimetric dry weight fecundity method against two non-invasive depth gauge methods initially developed for Homarus americanus and (ii) utilizing the depth gauge method to determine egg loss during the brooding period and its impacts on effective fecundity estimates. No significant difference was observed between fecundity estimates derived using either the traditional or depth gauge methods. Derived fecundity estimates from the two depth gauge methods differed by −0.31% (±2.7 s.e.) for cylinder and −1.1% (±2.4 s.e.) for ellipsoid fecundity estimates compared with the traditional method. This highlights the utility of the depth gauge method for providing fast, reliable and low-cost estimates without sacrificing lobsters or their egg masses. Egg loss is estimated to be as high as 44% from initial extrusion to hatching. The application of ...
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Phylogenetic relationships and the timing of evolutionary events are essential for understanding evolution on longer time scales. Cheilostome bryozoans are a group of ubiquitous, species-rich, marine colonial organisms with an excellent... more
Phylogenetic relationships and the timing of evolutionary events are essential for understanding evolution on longer time scales. Cheilostome bryozoans are a group of ubiquitous, species-rich, marine colonial organisms with an excellent fossil record but lack phylogenetic relationships inferred from molecular data. We present genome-skimmed data for 395 cheilostomes and combine these with 315 published sequences to infer relationships and the timing of key events among c. 500 cheilostome species. We find that named cheilostome genera and species are phylogenetically coherent, rendering fossil or contemporary specimens readily delimited using only skeletal morphology. Our phylogeny shows that parental care in the form of brooding evolved several times independently but was never lost in cheilostomes. Our fossil calibration, robust to varied assumptions, indicates that the cheilostome lineage and parental care therein could have Paleozoic origins, much older than the first known fossi...
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Marine renewable energy holds strategic potential in Indonesia, not only to meet the target of renewable energy share in the national energy mix but also to provide equal access to clean energy throughout the archipelago. Marine energy in... more
Marine renewable energy holds strategic potential in Indonesia, not only to meet the target of renewable energy share in the national energy mix but also to provide equal access to clean energy throughout the archipelago. Marine energy in Indonesia is still in the early phase of development, which mainly focusses on resources assessment and power generation through technology prototype testing. Based on a review of available literature, it is found that specific research on the effects of biofouling on material durability of marine energy infrastructure in Indonesia has yet to be addressed. In this study, a matrix that identifies and predicts key fouling organisms and their possible risks on marine renewable energy infrastructure in tropical waters of Indonesia is developed by analysing previous findings in temperate and subtropical waters. Based on the matrix developed, calcareous polychaetes (Serpulidae), barnacles (Amphibalanus spp.), and bivalves (Perna viridis) are among possib...
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Research Interests: Geology and Oceanography
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Research Interests: Law, Climate Change, Species Distribution Models, Gene Flow, Political Science, and 15 morePolicy, Restoration, Biodiversity, Environmental Resource Management, Species Distribution Modelling, Sample Size, Ocean, Marine spatial planning, Marine Policy, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Protected Area, Challenges, Impacts, Distributions, and ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT
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Offshore platforms, subsea pipelines, wells and related fixed structures supporting the oil and gas (O&G) industry are prevalent in oceans across the globe, with many approaching the end of their operational life and requiring... more
Offshore platforms, subsea pipelines, wells and related fixed structures supporting the oil and gas (O&G) industry are prevalent in oceans across the globe, with many approaching the end of their operational life and requiring decommissioning. Although structures can possess high ecological diversity and productivity, information on how they interact with broader ecological processes remains unclear. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the role of O&G infrastructure in maintaining, altering or enhancing ecological connectivity with natural marine habitats. There is a paucity of studies on the subject with only 33 papers specifically targeting connectivity and O&G structures, although other studies provide important related information. Evidence for O&G structures facilitating vertical and horizontal seascape connectivity exists for larvae and mobile adult invertebrates, fish and megafauna; including threatened and commercially important species. The degree to which these structures represent a beneficial or detrimental net impact remains unclear, is complex and ultimately needs more research to determine the extent to which natural connectivity networks are conserved, enhanced or disrupted. We discuss the potential impacts of different decommissioning approaches on seascape connectivity and identify, through expert elicitation, critical knowledge gaps that, if addressed, may further inform decision making for the life cycle of O&G infrastructure, with relevance for other industries (e.g. renewables). The most highly ranked critical knowledge gap was a need to understand how O&G structures modify and influence the movement patterns of mobile species and dispersal stages of sessile marine species. Understanding how different decommissioning options affect species survival and movement was also highly ranked, as was understanding the extent to which O&G structures contribute to extending species distributions by providing rest stops, foraging habitat, and stepping stones. These questions could be addressed with further dedicated studies of animal movement in relation to structures using telemetry, molecular techniques and movement models. Our review and these priority questions provide a roadmap for advancing research needed to support evidence-based decision making for decommissioning O&G infrastructure.
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FIGURE 6. Zooid measurements (length and width) for five species of Schizoporella. Error bars are 95% confidence limits of the mean, labels identify particular specimens (refer to Appendix A); n = 20 in most cases. Only one specimen of S.... more
FIGURE 6. Zooid measurements (length and width) for five species of Schizoporella. Error bars are 95% confidence limits of the mean, labels identify particular specimens (refer to Appendix A); n = 20 in most cases. Only one specimen of S. pseudoerrata was available and this species, though shown in the graph, has been excluded from the analyses. The New England material of "S. errata" is regarded as a different species, S. variabilis, by Winston & Hayward (2012).
Genus <i>Schizoporella</i> Hincks, 1877 <b>Type species.</b> <i>Lepralia unicornis</i> Johnston in Wood, 1844. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Colony encrusting, unilaminar to multilaminar, sheet-like or... more
Genus <i>Schizoporella</i> Hincks, 1877 <b>Type species.</b> <i>Lepralia unicornis</i> Johnston in Wood, 1844. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Colony encrusting, unilaminar to multilaminar, sheet-like or mammillate, or developing partially erect plates and mounds. Autozooids with an evenly perforated cryptocystidean frontal shield. Orifice with clearly differentiated anter and poster, the latter more or less narrowed to form a sinus; condyles well defined. Avicularia adventitious, occasionally dimorphic, typically adjacent to the autozooid orifice. Oral spines impermanent or absent. Ovicell recumbent on distally succeeding autozooid, prominent, spherical or subglobular, perforate, ribbed or umbonate. Vertical walls with uniporous or multiporous septula (Hayward & Ryland 1999). <b>Remarks.</b> The species of <i>Schizoporella</i> fall into two fairly distinct groups, based on the shape of the sinus. In the first, the sinus is b...