Drs. Vania Freitas
Post-Doctoral researcher Marine Ecology		Coastal and estuarine ecology Climate change Dynamic Energy Budgets Predator-prey interactions Epibenthos, Flatfish
vania.freitas@nioz.nl +31(0)222-369561 +31(0)222-319674
Visiting address:	Postal address:	CV Research Interests Projects Links Downloads Selected Publications
Landsdiep 4 NL-1797 SZ 't Horntje (Texel) The Netherlands   Tel. (+31) (0)222-369300 Fax: (+31) (0)222-319674	P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg The Netherlands

 

CV	Top ^
Personal
Family name     First name(s) Nationality	Freitas Vania Portuguese
Education
2011       2003	Ph.D. Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/handle/1871/18988   Licentiate degree in Biology (specialization Applied Animal Biology), Faculty of Sciences University of Porto, Portugal
Prizes and grants
2012       2010-2011     2005   Post-Doc Fellowship (3 years) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portuguese Science Foundation)   Research grant (14 months) from CIIMAR (funded by EEA and Norway Financial Mechanisms)   Ph.D. grant (4 years) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portuguese Science Foundation)
Employment record
2012       June-Dec 2011       Jan 2010- Apr 2011       2005 – 2010               2004-2007       2003-2004	Postdoctoral researcher “Spatial and temporal variability in carrying capacity of estuarine nursery areas at the community level”    Post-doc researcher at the NIOZ: “ Temporal changes in habitat suitability of the western Wadden Sea for juvenile flatfish”   Research assistant at NIOZ in the project “Managing effects of global Climate on Estuarine Biodiversity and Productivity”, funded by EEA financial mechanism   PhD student at NIOZ/CIIMAR with the project “Temperature dependence of epibenthic predation as regulating mechanism on estuarine bivalves and its effect of the fuelling function of estuaries for migratory birds”; Supervision: Henk W. van der Veer (NIOZ); Bas Kooijman (VU); funded by FCT - Portugal; cooperation with CIIMAR - Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Portugal   Research assistant at CIIMAR in the project “Latitudinal variation on the biology of estuarine key-species as a tool to predict climate change effects”; funded by FCT - Portugal   Trainee at CIIMAR - Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Porto, Portugal. Subject(s): Estuarine icthyoplankton and juvenile fish dynamics; Growth of shore crab Carcinus maenas in relation to temperature

 

Research Interests	Top ^
Since I’ve graduated I’ve been mainly working in estuarine ecology, Starting from a brief, first incursion in the world of fish larvae I’ve shifted to the use of estuaries as nursery grounds for juvenile fish and crustaceans. Keeping in mind potential impacts of climate change on estuarine communities, my focus has been on how temperature changes can affect the interactive relationships between species. During my PhD project, the main topic of my research was on the potential regulating effect of predation by epibenthic fish and crustaceans on shallow water systems, and whether temperature affects this regulatory capacity. A few key species dominate epibenthic assemblages in estuaries and other shallow coastal areas and occur over a large geographical range. This provides the basis for analyzing latitudinal trends in growth of the various predator species (fish, crustaceans) and on their (bivalve) prey at different scenarios of temperature and food conditions. This project involved field work in Norway, in Portugal and in the Netherlands, in combination with a modeling (DEB models) component.  Currently I am involved in exploring changes in quality and quantity of the western Wadden Sea as an important nursery area for juvenile flatfish. Taking advantage of available data from demersal fauna surveys carried out since the 1960´s, I am looking at temporal trends in distribution and growth in relation to changes in habitat suitability (food availability and/or environmental factors). In parallel, I am also involved in characterizing the trophic relationships among fish fauna and its contribution to the overall food web using stable isotope analyses.
Selected Publications	Top ^
Hunsicker, M.E., Ciannelli, L., Bailey, K.M., Buckel, J.A., White, J.W., Link, J.S., Essington, T.E., Anderson, T., Brodeur, R., Chan, K-S, Chen, K. Englund, G., Frank, K.A., Freitas, V., Gaichas, S, Hixon, M.A., Hurst, T., Johnson, D., Kitchell, J.F., Reese, D., Rose, G.A., Sjodin, H., Sydeman, W.J., van der Veer, H., Vollset, K., & Zador, S. (In press). Functional responses and scaling in predator-prey interactions of marine fishes: contemporary issues and emerging concepts. Ecology Letters Freitas V., Lika K., Witte J.IJ., Van der Veer H.W. (In press). Food conditions of the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus in shallow waters: an analysis in the context of Dynamic Energy Budget theory. J. Sea Res. Lika K., Kearney M.R., Freitas V., Van der Veer H.W., Van der Meer J., Wijsman J.W.M., Pecquerie L., Kooijman S.A.L.M. (In press). The “covariation method” for estimating the parameters of the Dynamic Energy Budget theory I: Philosophy and approach J. Sea Res. Van der Veer  H.W., Koot J., Aarts G., Dekker R., Diderich W., Freitas V., Witte J.IJ., 2011. Long-term trends in juvenile flatfish indicate a dramatic reduction in nursery function of the Balgzand intertidal, Dutch Wadden Sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 434, 143–154 Freitas V., Cardoso J.F.M.F., Lika K., Campos J., Peck M., Kooijman S.A.L.M., Van der Veer H.W., 2010. Temperature tolerance and energetics: a dynamic energy budget-based comparison of North Atlantic marine species. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 365, 3553–3565 Troost T.A., Wisjman J.W.M., Saraiva S., Freitas V., 2010. Modeling shellfish growth with Dynamic Energy budget (DEB) models: an application for cockles and mussels in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands). Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 365, 3567–3577 Van der Veer H.W., Freitas V., Koot J., Witte J.IJ., Zuur A.F., 2010. Food limitation in epibenthic species in temperate intertidal systems in summer: analysis of 0-group plaice Pleuronectes platessa. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 416, 215–227 Freitas V., Campos J., Skreslet S., Van der Veer H.W., 2010. Habitat quality of a sub-arctic nursery ground for 0-group plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.). J. Sea Res. 64, 26–33 Dolbeth M., Martinho F., Freitas V., Costa-Dias S., Campos J., Pardal M.A., 2010. Recruitment, growth and production of the dominant benthic and demersal fish of Minho and Mondego estuaries (Iberian Peninsula). Mar. Fresh. Res. 61, 1399–1415 Costa-Dias S., Sousa R., Freitas V., Antunes C., 2010. Factors influencing epibenthic assemblages in the Minho estuary (NW Iberian Peninsula). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 61, 240–246 Freitas, V., Cardoso, J.F.M.F., Santos, S., Campos, J., Drent, J., Saraiva, S., Witte, J.IJ., Kooijman, S.A.L.M., Van der Veer, H.W., 2009. Reconstruction of food conditions for Northeast Atlantic bivalve species based on Dynamic Energy Budgets. Journal of Sea Research 62: 75-82 Campos, J., Van der Veer, H.W., Freitas, V., Kooijman, S.A.L.M. 2009. Contribution of different generations of the brown shrimp Crangon crangon (L.) in the Dutch Wadden Sea to commercial fisheries: A dynamic energy budget approach. Journal of Sea Research 62: 106-113 Campos, J., Freitas, V., Pedrosa, C., Guillot, R., van der Veer, H.W. 2009. Latitudinal variation in growth of Crangon crangon (L.): Does counter-gradient growth compensation occur? Journal of Sea Research 62: 229-237 Freitas, V., Costa-Dias, S., Campos, J., Bio, A., Santos, P., Antunes, C. 2009. Patterns in abundance and distribution of juvenile flounder, Platichthys flesus, in Minho Estuary (NW Iberian Peninsula). Aquatic Ecology 43: 1143-1153 Freitas V., Bailey K., Van der Veer, H.W. 2008. Population regulation of epibenthic species in coastal ecosystems, with implications for latitudinal patterns. Journal of Sea Research 60: 105-116 Sousa R., Dias S., Freitas V., Antunes C. 2008. Subtidal macrozoobenthic assemblages along the River Minho estuarine gradient (north-west Iberian Peninsula). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 18: 1063-1077 Freitas V., Campos J., Fonds M., Van der Veer H.W. 2007. Potential impact of temperature change on epibenthic predator–bivalve prey interactions in temperate estuaries. Journal of Thermal Biology 32: 328–340 Cabral H.N., Vasconcelos R., Vinagre C., França S., Fonseca V., Maia A., Reis-Santos P., Lopes M., Ruano M., Campos J., Freitas V., Santos P.T., Costa M.J. 2007. Relative importance of estuarine flatfish nurseries along the Portuguese coast. Journal of Sea Research 57: 209-217