Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Aims:- Increase visibility research activities- Promote collaboration

Participating departments

Microbiology Prof dr MSM Jetten, Dr H op den Camp, et al.

Animal Physiology Prof dr G Flik, Dr PHM Klaren, et al.

Animal Ecology & Ecophysiology Prof dr S Wendelaar Bonga, Prof dr G van der Velde, Dr. I Nagelkerken, et al.

Aquatic ecology and Environmental Biology Prof dr JGM Roelofs, Dr LPM Lamers, Dr A Smolders, et al.

Environmental Science Prof dr AJ Hendriks, Prof dr PMJ Herman, Dr MM van Katwijk, et al.

Spatial Ecology NIOO/CEMEProf dr PMJ Herman, Dr TJ Bouma, Dr J van de Koppel et al.

45 projects30 PhD’s18 postdocs

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Mission March 2008The CCES promotes collaboration between Departments of Microbiology, Animal Physiology, Ecophysiology, Ecology and Environmental Science of the Radboud University Nijmegen (RU), and Spatial Ecology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO), which carry out research on coastal and estuarine systems. CCES aims to increase the visibility of this research for students and third parties. Coastal regions have the highest population densities, and consequently experience high environmental pressure. At the same time, they contain the world’s most productive and diverse ecosystems. The Institute for Water and Wetland Research (IWWR) of the RU is the host of CCES and focuses its research in an integrative approach addressing microbiology, botany and zoology, from molecular biology to ecosystem and landscape level.

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Department of Microbiology Microbial ecology of marine ecosystems

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Biogeochemical cycles

Carbon cycle• Methane• Carbon dioxide

Nitrogen cycle• Ammonium• Nitrate• Nitrite• Stikstofgas• NOx

Sulfur cycle• Sulfate• Sulfide• VOSC Redox reactions carried out by

bacteria are the driving force in all ecosystems !!

Dep. MicrobiologyCCES

Identify important ecosystems

Survey of selected ecosystems

Identify microbial ‘key players’

Enrichment & isolation

Physiology, genome & proteome

Back to the ecosystem

Application

Understanding the role of microbes in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle

Dep. MicrobiologyCCES

Role of microbes in the marine nitrogen cycle Who are the dominant ammonia-oxidizing

microbes in the ocean?

Darwin projects NIOO, NIOZ & RU

Marine Anammox bacteria in the lab

Marine Anammox bacteria in the ocean

Nitrosopumilus crenarchaea (Könneke et al. Nature 2005)

Nitrosomonas bacteria

- O2

+ O2

Dep. MicrobiologyCCES

Are microbes the only playersin the marine nitrogen cycle?

Darwin project UU & RU

Sedimentation of dead foraminifera

NO3-

N2

V

T

NO3-

M

NO3-

N2

V

T

NO3-

M

Sorting living foraminifera

White cliffs of Dover

Eukaryotes produce N2

Dep. MicrobiologyCCES

Department of Animal Physiology

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

CRHCRH

ACTHACTH

CRHCRH

Zebrafish leptinZebrafish leptin

Fish Adaptation Physiology Stress Physiology, Thyroidology &

Immunology Calcium Physiology & Osmoregulation

Regulation of Food Intake Bone Physiology & Drug Development

Fish Aquaculture & WelfareCollaborations: IMARES, WUR, SMARTMIX and many others….

Dep. Animal PhysiologyCCES

Department of Animal Ecology and

Ecophysiology

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Coastal researchBio-invasions

Ecology of tropical coastal systems

Focus is on fishes & invertebrates in fresh, brackish and salt water, in the Netherlands, Europe and the tropics

Dep. Animal Ecology and EcophysiologyCCES

Rotterdam Port:• Biodiversity: challenges and possibilities• Succession and biofouling

Sardinia:• Faunal colonisation hypertrophic lagoons• Food of Sea urchins• Seagrass beds (nursery & zoobenthos)

Dep. Animal Ecology and EcophysiologyCCES

Ecology of tropical coastal systems Curaçao, Aruba, Tanzania

• Migration coral reef fish

• Mangroves + seagrass beds: nursery for reef fish?

Dep. Animal Ecology and EcophysiologyCCES

Department of Environmental Science

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Toxicant accumulation in estuarine & marine food chains

Collaborations with Deltares, IVM, RIVM, Statoil, UA

Top predators threatened by toxicants

• Temperate and arctic food chains

• Accumulation and population development

• Organochlorines, -bromines, -fluorides, …

5-30

2-3

1-2

Department of Environmental ScienceCCES

Department of Environmental Science

&Department of

Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Seagrass restoration and mitigation

Ecosystem engineeringSeagrass

mussel lugworm

saltmarsh

Environment

Flume NIOO Yerseke Lab RU Nijmegen

Dep. Environmental Science& Dep. Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology

CCES

Wadden Sea

Oosterschelde

•Nutrient dynamics•Hydrodynamics•Turtle grazing

Tropical seagrass Indonesia

Dep. Environmental Science& Dep. Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology

CCES

Department of Spatial Ecology

Centre for Estuarine and Marine EcologyNetherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO)

Yerseke

Spatial ecology

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Study spatial features in estuariese.g. SW Netherlands, Wadden Sea, Spain, Indonesia, China

Diatom biofilms on tidal flats

Mussel beds in the Wadden Sea Creek evolution

in tidal marshes

• Biophysical interactions • Ecosystem engineering & feedback loops• Spatial explicit modeling

Dep. Spatial Ecology NIOOCCES

Spatial ecology

Research across scales Spatial ecology

Field & flume experiments

Large - scalecharacteristics

(dynamics/patterns)

Small - scale processes (mechanisms)

interaction between physical and biological constraints

Dep. Spatial Ecology NIOOCCES

How do bio-physical interactions affect:Spatial ecology

Mussel distribution

Saltmarsh evolution: vegetation growth and decline

Dep. Spatial Ecology NIOOCCES

• organism functioning• spatial organization• landscape evolution

local positive feedback

long distance negative feedback

Education• Master’s Biology

• Master’s Environmental Sciences

Centre for Coastal and Estuarine ScienceCCES

Master Biology120 european credits (EC) = 2 yr

45 EC Research traineeshipPractical 36 ECTheoretical 3 ECThesis 6 EC

9 EC Bio-scientific master programme 3 EC Philosophy course6 EC Optional courses

57 EC depending on variantVariants: E=Education, C=Communication, MT=Management and Application or R=Research, or C/E-combination.

Master structureCCES

Master EnvironmentalSciences120 european credits (EC) = 2 yr

30 EC Research Internships or Master Thesis18 EC Mandatory science courses + philosophy 6 EC Optional courses6 EC Elective courses or research internships

60 EC depending on variantVariants: C=Communication, E=Education M=Management, R=Research, TWM=Transnational Water Management, HERA=Human Ecological Risk Assessment

Master structureCCES