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Mark Breckels
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Essex
Colchester
CO43SQ U.K.
room: 3.18
email: mbreck (at) essex.ac.uk
tel: + 44 (0) 120687 3370
Research interests:
- Chemical Ecology
- Biogeochemistry
- Plankton Interactions
- Ocean Acidification &
Climate Change
- Behavioural Ecology
- Ecological Modelling
Current Research
Project:
As
part of the interdisciplinary
'Algae
and Grazers Research Group' at
Essex I am working on a three year NERC
funded postdoc project with the aim of determining how
a phytoplankton derived gas (DMS)
influences marine food web
interactions.
In
recent years the production and flux of DMS
(dimethyl sulfide)
into the atmosphere has attracted heightened
research attention due to its importance in
sulphur biogeochemical cycling, its
influence on atmospheric acidity and its role in climate regulation through
the production of cloud condensation nuclei.
Grazing by microzooplankton
on phytoplankton dramatically increases the
production of DMS. Research now shows that
DMS stimulates foraging responses in a range
of marine organisms from bacteria to seals
and seabirds.
Using laboratory and field experiments we
study DMS production, feeding rates and
plankton behaviour. This data is incorporate
into mathematical models to investigating
the influence of DMS in structuring these
ecologically and economically important
plankton interactions that form the basis of
our fisheries industry.
For
more information on this research please
click
here
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Biography |
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| 2010
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Postdoctoral Researcher
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University of Essex &
Plymouth Marine Laboratory |
| 2006-2010
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Ph.D.
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University of Essex & Plymouth
Marine Laboratory |
| 2004-2005
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MRes
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University of
Plymouth & Marine
Biological Association
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| 2001-2004
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BSc (Hons)
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University of Plymouth |
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Publications |
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Lewis, N.D., Breckels, M.N.,
Steinke, M., Codling, E. (2012) Role of Infochemical
mediated zooplankton grazing in a phytoplankton
competition model. Ecological Complexity. (available
online)
Lewis, N.D., Breckels, M.N., Archer
S.D., Morozov, A., Pitchford, J.W., Steinke, M.,
Codling, E. (2012) Grazing-induced production of
DMS can stabilize food-web dynamics and promote the
formation of phytoplankton blooms in a multitrophic
plankton model. Biogeochemistry., 110,
303-312. (DMSP Special Issue).
Montagnes, D. J. S., Lowe, D. D., Roberts, E. C.
Breckels, M. N., et al., (2011) An introduction to the special issue: Oxyrrhis marina, the “pink rat”, a model organism? J. Plank.Res.,
33, 549-554.
Breckels, M.N., Archer S.D., Malin G.,
Steinke, M. (2011). The role of dissolved infochemicals in mediating predator-prey
interactions in the heterotrophic dinoflagellate
Oxyrrhis marina. J. Plank. Res.,
33, 629–639.
Breckels, M.N.
Boakes, D.E. Codling, E.A. Malin, G. Archer, S.D. Steinke, M. (2010). Modelling the concentration of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in the boundary layer surrounding phytoplankton cells. J. Plank. Res., 32,
253-257.
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Conferences & Outreach
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Breckels, M.N.,
Lewis, N.D., Archer, S.D.,
Codling, E., and Steinke, M.
'Plankton to Plates: The smell of the sea influences
food webs and climate' SET for Britain,
House of Commons, London, March 2012. Our
participation at the event was featured in a brief
article in the Local Gazette 'Research into
Ocean Food Chain' 15th March 2012.
Breckels, M.N.,
Codling, E., Archer, S.D., Malin,
G. and Steinke, M.
'The chemical ecology of DMSP and related
compounds: microscale mediation of plankton
interactions' Microenvironments Modulating
Biological Interactions in the Ocean, Aspen Centre
for Physics, Aspen, Colorado, January 2011.
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Breckels, M.N., Archer, S.D., Malin,
G. and Steinke, M.
'The role of DMSP/ DMS in
microzooplankton grazing deterrence: Is the
paradigm shifting?'.
5th
International Symposium on Biological and
Environmental Chemistry of DMS(P) and Related
Compounds, National Institute for Oceanography, Goa,
India, October, 2010. |
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Breckels, M.N., Archer, S.D., Malin, G. and
Steinke, M. 2010. 'The
ecological and biogeochemical importance of DMSP-mediated
grazing interactions' . 14th Biennial
Challenger Conference for Marine Science,
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton,
September, 2010. |
Breckels, M.N., Archer, S.D., Malin,
G. and Steinke, M. ‘The chemical ecology
of DMSP and related compounds in trophic
interactions’ at ASLO Aquatic Sciences
meeting, Nice, France, January, 2009.
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Steinke, M.,
Breckels, M.N., Buskey,
E.J., Strickler, J.R. and Malin, G.
‘Tritrophic interactions are mediated by dimethyl
sulphide (DMS) release from microzooplankton’
Poster presentation at ASLO Aquatic Sciences
meeting, Nice, France, January, 2009. |
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Archer, S.D. and
Breckels, M.N. ‘Are
Phytoplankton fighting climate change?’
NERC Planet Earth Online, Environmental Research
News podcast, November, 2008 (http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/multimedia/story.aspx?id=17).
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Breckels, M.N., Archer, S.D., Malin,
G. and Steinke, M. ‘The infochemical role of DMSP
and related compounds in trophic interactions’
at the 13th Biennial Challenger Conference for
Marine Science, Bangor, Wales, September, 2008.
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Breckels, M.N. ‘Challenger
Society Travel Award: The Influence of DMS on
Copepod Behaviour’. Challenger Wave, Newsletter
of the Challenger Society for Marine Science, April,
2008. |
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Breckels, M.N., Archer, S.D., Malin,
G. and Steinke, M. ‘The
infochemical role of DMSP and related compounds in
trophic interactions’ at British Society
for Protist Biology meeting, Gregynog, Wales, April,
2008. |
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Steinke, M., Breckels, M., Stefels, J.
and Stamhuis, E. 'Marine biogenic trace gases
and their role in pelagic interspecific
interactions'. EUROMECH Colloquium 488,
Liverpool, United Kingdom, June 2007.
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