Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Research Group of Aquatic Microbiology (AMB)
Activities & News
July 2011
- Maayke Stomp, Jef Huisman and colleagues at Michigan State University have been the first to map phytoplankton biodiversity across the USA. Data from 540 lakes show a decrease of phytoplankton biodiversity with increasing latitude and altitude, thus confirming that aquatic microorganisms can show substantial geographical variation in biodiversity. The work is published in Ecology and highlighted as Editors’ Choice in Science.
January 2011
- Study of Mark Vermeij, Petra Visser and several students of the MSc program Limnology and Oceanography in PLoS ONE: Overlooked group of algae is stressing and killing Caribbean coral reefs. Read more: http://www.science.uva.nl/ibed/home.cfm/3FFE5437-A795-42B3-9290E4FAAF67013D; http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014312
December 2010
| - PhD thesis defence ceremony of Elisa Beninca: "Is there chaos out there? Analysis of complex dynamics in plankton communities" (Monday 6 December- Wageningen University) |
- Jef Huisman in Dutch newspapers: There is no evidence that the bacterium recently discovered by NASA truly incorporates arsenic instead of phosphorus in its DNA. The study published in the scientific journal Science that supports this claim is seriously flawed. read more: http://english.uva.nl/news/archive.cfm/7F957637-4E8B-406E-B9D45E534C2524BF
November 2010
| - PhD thesis defence ceremony of Eneas Aguirre von Wobeser: "Genome-Wide Expression Analysis of Environmental Stress in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803" (Tuesday 30 November 2010 at 14.30) |
- AMB contributes to the 'Bosatlas van Nederland Waterland" published in November 2010: The eight chapters of the atlas compile a plethora of information about the development and application of knowledge about water and water systems. The AMB's contribution to the atlas consisted amongst others of a description by Dr. Hans Matthijs of a successful new approach to combat algal blooms in swimming water.
- Opinion paper (published in ‘De Volkskrant') of Jef Huisman and Menno Schilthuizen: True Dutch nature does not exist (read more: http://www.science.uva.nl/ibed/home.cfm/B2654D44-61DD-4B25-A6D20C76349E0A60; http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/3184/opinie/index.dhtml
July 2010
- Jef Huisman questions quality of 'Science' study on plankton diversity: In the issue of Science, published on 30 July 2010, Jef Huisman criticises a recent study on marine biodiversity which appeared in the same journal. In the disputed study, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America introduced a computer model with which the diversity of plankton species in the world's oceans can be calculated. Jef Huisman shows how a minimal change in their model leads to completely different conclusions.
May 2010
- Baby corals dance their way home: Baby corals find their way home in their first days as free-swimming larvae by listening to the noise of animals on the reef and actively swimming towards it, an international team of researchers working in the Caribbean has discovered. The findings of the team led by Dr. Mark Vermeij (IBED - AMB) raise new concerns for the future of coral reefs as increasing human noise pollution in the world's oceans is masking reef sounds
February 2010
- Elisa Benincà wins NERN Best Paper Award: Elisa Benincà and Jef Huisman studied the complex ups and downs of plankton species in an aquatic food web isolated from the Baltic Sea. In their study published in Ecology Letters in December 2009 they presented the first experimental demonstration of coupled predator-prey oscillations in a chaotic food web. Their results shed new light on the intriguing complexity of species interactions in food webs. In recognition of the quality and significance of the article, in 2010 The Netherlands Ecological Research Network (NERN) awarded the annual Best Paper Award to Elisa Benincà
November - December 2009
- New study of Elisa Benincà and Jef Huisman published in Ecology Letters and highlighted in Nature and Science: Predator and prey species may display oscillations in population abundances. When predators increase, their prey populations go down. However, what happens if two predator-prey systems interact? In their new study published in the December issue of Ecology Letters and highlighted in the November issues of Nature and Science, Elisa Benincà and Jef Huisman of IBED show how the interplay between two predator-prey cycles produces chaos in an experimental food web.
July 2009
- AMB onderzoekers maken eind aan blauwalgplaag in Veendam: Hans Matthijs en Petra Visser hebben met een nieuwe methode blauwalgen in recreatieplas Borgerswold in de gemeente Veendam weten aan te pakken. Het onderzoek deden ze samen met Advies- en ingenieursorganisatie ARCADIS. Ongeveer 95 procent van het aantal blauwalgen is nu verdwenen (van 680.000 aantallen algen per ml naar 38.000 per ml). Hierdoor kan het zwemverbod voor de recreatieplas worden opgeheven.
March 2009
- WIF Best Publication Prize voor Elisa Benincà: Elisa Benincà has been chosen as winner of the WiF Best Publication Prize 2008 for her paper in Nature, Feb 14, 2008: "Chaos in a long-term experiment with a plankton community" (Elisa Benincà, Jef Huisman1, Reinhard Heerkloss, Klaus D. Jöhnk, Pedro Branco, Egbert H. Van Nes, Marten Scheffer & Stephen P. Ellner.)
October 2008
- Jef Huisman and Jolanda Verspagen featured on Dutch national television in a program discussing algal blooms in lake Volkerak. They gave their expert opinion on the causes and possible solution of recurring blooms of cyanobacteria in the Dutch lake Volkerak. Lake Volkerak is a former estuary in the southwest of the Netherlands, between the provinces of Brabant and Zeeland. As one of the last projects in the Dutch Deltaworks, it was closed off from the Eastern Scheldt by the Philipsdam in 1987. Thereby, this former estuary became the third largest freshwater system in the Netherlands. However, from the early 1990s onwards, only a few years after closure of the Philipsdam, the phytoplankton of the lake became completely dominated by the harmful cyanobacterium Microcystis, which forms dense surface blooms every summer. This has led to mass mortalities of birds, swimming is not allowed in the lake during summer, and water from the lake can no longer be used for agricultural purposes. The program called "Nederland onder Water" aired on Tuesday 28 October 2008 at 19:55 hours on Nederland 2.
- PhD thesis defence ceremony of Thomas Haverkamp ( October 14 2008 at 14:00 in the Agnietenkapel)
- Doubts about the Delta Committee report. On Wednesday September 3, the Delta Committee chaired by Prof. Veerman, former Dutch minister of agriculture, presented its report on the long-term protection of the Netherlands against sea level rise. In the Monday 8 September issue of the Dutch newspaper 'NRC Handelsblad", Prof. Huisman, Chair of the Aquatic Microbiology research group of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), explained why he has serious doubts about some of the scientific conclusions of the committee
June 2008
- Elisa Benincà Wins ASLO Presentation Award . In St. Johns, Canada, she has won the Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the annual summer meeting of the American Society for Limnology & Oceanography (ASLO). ASLO is America's leading scientific society in aquatic ecology and oceanography, and usually attracts 2000-3000 participants to its annual meetings. The prize is awarded for Elisa's presentation 'Chaos in a long-term experiment with a plankton community', and was praised by the international jury as one of the highlights of the ASLO congress.
Attachments
elisa benincà wins aslo presentation award- Hans Matthijs wins Science Park Amsterdam new ideas competition. The Science Park Amsterdam new ideas competion is an annual event with a goal of stimulating scientists to valorize their scientific results by transforming them into business ideas. During the finals that were held on 12 june 2008, Dr. Hans Matthijs of the IBED research group of Aquatic Microbiology won the first prize with his idea for an intellingent lamp for continuous biological photosynthesis. As he explained, photosynthesis is a very inefficient process with a fast adsorption of light alternated by a slow transformation phase during which the plant does not need light. Using LED lamps and an intelligent way of switching them on and off very rapidly one can provide light exclusively during the phase where the plant actually uses it. This way, he calculated that one can save up to 70% in energy, while still yielding the same plant growth.
May 2008
- Masterclass 'Marine Biodiversity: extent, analysis and function' : On Friday 30 May 2008, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) will host this Masterclass for PhD students and PostDocs, organized by Prof. dr. Lucas Stal, Special Chair of Marine Microbiology at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED). The Masterclass is specifically targeted at PhD students and PostDocs in the fields of microbiology, microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, microbial and evolution, who have a particular interest in the marine environment. It is an official educational activity of the International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM) and follows the Academy Colloquium 'Assessing marine microbial diversity: problems and solutions' of which 6 internationally renown speakers have agreed to share their views on the extent, analysis and function of marine microbial diversity and discuss these in an interactive way with the audience.
- Science publication: Harmful cyanobacteria benefit from global warming. "Blooms like it hot', argue Jef Huisman (IBED) and Hans Paerl (University of North Carolina, USA) in Science. Global warming creates favorable conditions for harmful cyanobacteria, because they respond more strongly to rising temperatures than most other algal species. This is likely to affect the water quality of many aquatic ecosystems worldwide, especially during summer heatwaves.
- Maayke Stomp wins first WiF Best Publication Prize: As one of several initiatives to promote women and increase their academic recognition, the Women in the FNWI (WiF) Network has inaugurated an annual prize for the best scientific publication. A jury of six external experts, covering all scientific fields of the FNWI, has awarded the first Best Publication Prize to Maayke Stomp.
Februari 2008
- Nature publication: Experimental proof of chaos in food webs: New research conducted by Elisa Benincà and Jef Huisman of the University of Amsterdam (NL), together with colleagues from other universities in the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. The traditional idea of the balance of nature has taken quite a beating in a study that is published in the 14 February issue of Nature. Using a long-term laboratory experiment, the study demonstrated that species in a marine food web continued to fluctuate in a chaotic fashion even under constant conditions. This makes long-term prediction of species abundances impossible.
December 2007
- Dutch Coral Research Symposium: Monday, 17 December 2007. The "Dutch Coral Research Symposium" will be held 17th December 2007 at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The symposium provides an opportunity for scientists involved in coral research through Dutch institutions to come together and share their most recent discoveries. Furthermore, several prominent researchers from international institutions have been invited to give a talk and share their thoughts on the current status of coral reefs.
October 2007
- CLIMAQS “Effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems: a stoichiometric perspective”
On October 30 - November 1, 2007, the IBED and NIOO organise with financial support from the Dutch Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences a colloquium and masterclass on: ‘Effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems: a stoichiometric perspective’ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In this colloquium and masterclass, we aim at bringing together scientists working on ecological stoichiometry to discuss the impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems. For further information please check the CLIMAQS website.
September 2007
- PhD thesis defence ceremony of Linda Tonk : "Impact of environmental factors on toxic and bioactive peptide production by harmful cyanobacteria".
On Friday 28 September 2007 at 12:00
- PhD thesis defence ceremony of Edwin Kardinaal: "Who's bad? Molecular identification reveals seasonal dynamics of toxic and non-toxic freshwater cyanobacteria".
On Friday 21 September 2007 at 14.00
March 2007
- IBED Biologists reveal colourful coexistence of plankton in waters: Three years ago, Maayke Stomp and Jef Huisman of IBED published the results of intriguing laboratory experiments, demonstrating that red and green plankton species can coexist by partitioning of a white light spectrum. In the years thereafter, they traveled around the world to sample lakes and seas. Their samples now confirm the laboratory findings. The new findings were recently published in the leading journal Ecology Letters, and have been selected as Editor's Choice in Science
September 2006
- Promotion of Jolanda Verspagen on Tuesday 26 September, at 10.30 uur at the University of Utrecht
location: "Senaatszaal""Academiegebouw, Domplein 29.
Promotors: Prof. dr. H.J. Laanbroek en Prof.dr. J. Huisman
Copromotor: Dr. P.M. Visser
- Symposium on 'benthic-pelagic coupling'
on September 25 at the NIOO in Nieuwersluis
2005
- Two covers for Natasha Yeremenko
The IBED PhD Natasha Yeremenko had two covers of well-known international journals in 2005 with her study on iron limitation in cyanobacteria
Attachments
September 2005
- The 6th European Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria, in Gdan'sk (Poland) . From Sunday Sept. 25 till Wednesday Sept. 28. 2005
Organizers: Hans Matthijs (program chair)
Local committee: Krzysztof Waleron, Malgorzata Waleron, with Joanna Gowacka, Magdalena Szefel and Jacek Piosik
There will be five scientific sessions: I) Biotechnology, II) Cyanotoxins, III) Metabolism and Stress, IV) Ecological competition, V) Molecular Systematics and Evolution
May 2005
- Molecular Bioenergetics of Cyanobacteria: EuroConference on Genomics, Proteomics and Structure for Functional Understanding
Sant Feliu de Guixols (Costa Brava, Spain) May 21-26 2005
Chair: Hans C.P. Matthijs (University of Amsterdam, NL); Vice Chair: Eva-Mari Aro (University of Turku, Finland)
April 2005
- Advice for Lake Volkerak
Lake Volkerak is a former estuary in the Dutch Delta that has been turned into a large freshwater lake. It is plagued by massive blooms of harmful cyanobacteria. By order of Rijkswaterstaat, IBED-Aquatic Microbiology investigated the population dynamics of these harmful cyanobacteria. Our research points at two feasible solutions:
(1) flushing the lake with freshwater
(2) inlet of saline water
- New book
Jef Huisman, Hans Matthijs, en Petra Visser published a new book 'Harmful Cyanobacteria'
- Photosynthesis research on cover of Biochemistry:
Huge chlorophyll-protein complexes induced by iron limitation, discovered by Nataliya Yeremenko and Hans Matthijs, feature on the cover of the prestigious journal Biochemistry.