Theunis Piersma

Prof. Dr. Theunis Piersma


(1) Senior Research Scientist and Wadden Sea team leader, (2) Professor of Animal Ecology, Head of the Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), Marine Ecology		Animal Ecology Intertidal Ecology Ecophysiology Integrative Biology

Theunis.Piersma@nioz.nl +31(0)222-369485 +31(0)222-319674


Visiting address: (1)	Postal address: (1)	CV Research Interests Download 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
	Postal address: (2)
	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 14, NL-9750 AA Haren

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Personal
Family name First name(s) Date of birth Place of birth	Piersma Theunis 15-6-1958 Hemelumer Oldeferd

Education
1980 1984 1994	BSc in Biology-B5 (palaeontology as additional specialization), University of Groningen, MSc in degree Biology, University of Groningen, (*cum laude) PhD in degree Biology, University of Groningen, (cum laude*)

Scientific career Building on a life-long fascination with the natural world, especially the world of the sea, I naturally studied biology at the University of Groningen (choosing it for its tight links with the marine biologists at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research). Because I was also interested in ‘deep time’, I chose to specialize in palaeontology (B5a). I was seriously interested not only in marine biomes, but also in the phenomenon of bird migration, and therefore was attracted to the Wadden Sea. I became involved in shorebird counting and catching, and this lead to a series of expeditions to explore unknown intertidal ecosystems along the West African coast, connected with the Wadden Sea and the Arctic by shorebird migrations. Leading my first research expedition (to Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, in 1980) at age 21, I became hooked, and this strenuous but highly successful expedition was followed by further 2-month expeditions to Mauritania and Morocco in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988. The expeditions were all carried out on ‘spare’ time, but they gave me (1) the extensive field experience and perspective that has remained important to this very day, and (2) the experience to develop research plans and carry them out in teams, i.e., I gradually developed academic leadership. I tried to use my official study time at the university to become an expert on advanced topics such as whole-animal energetics in the lab and the field, organ-specific body composition analyses, and advanced ethology. Graduating in 1984 cum laude (with distinction), I had made up my mind to do a PhD in what is now known as migration ecology. However, it was not until 1988 that I was given the chance to develop this idea. In the meantime I participated in expeditions, worked on limnological projects, and achieved considerable experience in the writing and publication of research papers. My PhD work on the energetic repercussions of shorebird migration became a joint venture of the two institutes that still support my work (NIOZ & RUG), and during this time I used all my previous experience to build a research team (then consisting of undergraduates) combining a variety of expertise in field and lab work. I count it as my greatest luck that soon after my PhD graduation (1994, cum laude) I was given a research position at NIOZ and thereafter awarded a PIONIER grant from NWO, the first such prestigious grant awarded to an ecologist. The latter allowed me to hire the best of previous team members (as research technicians and PhD students) and together we have established a solid portfolio in intertidal and shorebird behavioural and evolutionary ecology: (1) establishing the routines to measure the intertidal resource landscapes on worldwide scales, using both optimized field surveying and satellite imaging; (2) developing, building and using an experimental, intertidal, climatized indoor arena to test field-generated hypotheses on form and function, the NIOZ Experimental Shorebird Facility; (3) achieving a solid understanding of the evolutionary trade-offs explaining predation and anti-predation behaviour at different levels in the food-web, i.e. (a) benthic invertebrate prey, (b) shorebird predators, and (c) raptorial top-predators; (4) establishing a quantitative interpretive frame-work to predict phenotype and behaviour of red knots on the basis of climatic, food-based and disease-related factors; (5) establishing the worldwide Global Flyway Network of long-term ongoing demographic studies on 20 populations of shorebirds to evaluate natural selection pressures (death and recruitment) in real time; and (6) making serious inroads in describing the genetic backgrounds of the migration phenomena, especially with respect to phylogeography and disease resistance. Major scientific achievements over the last decade The work by my team was the first to establish the great importance of intra-individual phenotypic flexibility in ecology and evolution (and the topic of our book *The Flexible Phenotype, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2010). The flexibility of individual bodies became critical to explain the distribution and behaviour of both molluscs and birds. The insights were achieved because we developed the field tools for non-invasive measurement of big organs (using ultrasound) and because we were able to experimentally test ideas from the field in our indoor intertidal facility. We have shown the importance not only of food quantity, but also of quality (especially the shell burden) to molluscivore shorebirds, and were able to establish a unique integrative picture of the inter-relationships between food, bodies, behaviour and survival. We also advanced our understanding of the dynamics of bivalve anti-predation behaviour and life-history trade-offs. A unique feature of this knowledge-driven work in intertidal areas became the role it played in a hot societal issue, i.e. the problems of overexploitation of marine areas. The work on the demography of various shorebirds, both in marine (red knots, bar-tailed godwits) and terrestrial contexts (black-tailed godwits, ruffs), is also yielding phenomenal insights in the drivers of their distribution and abundance. Again, though motivated from science, these insights have major societal bearing. Finally, we have made spectacular progress in deciphering the recent phylogeography of several species, including the detection of population bottlenecks and genetic sweeps (the latter could be due to infectious diseases sweeping through populations). We are on the verge of major breakthroughs in eco-immunology and in deciphering the structure and variability of MHC, the major histocompatibility complex*.
Managerial and societal responsibilies · Head of department of over 50 people (Animal Ecology Group, University of Groningen: staff of 5 scientists and 7 technicians, and ca. 7 postdocs, more than 20 PhD students, and over 10 MSc students) · Scientific leader of the Wadden Sea research team at NIOZ, Texel, managing more than 20 people including 2 research scientists, 5 technicians, 2 postdocs, 9 PhD students, and several MSc students · Founder and co-leader of a worldwide consortium of shorebird scientists, the Global Flyway Network, that is financially supported by BirdLife International · Member of the board of the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), an institute within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Groningen · Scientific coordinator/PI/co-PI of 16 current national and international research projects · Regular advisor of national and international governmental and non-governmental agencies on issues of conservation and management of nature and natural resources, especially in relation to marine wetlands and cultural landscapes Professional productivity · (Co-)authorship of >240 ISI-recognized publications (with >5,000 citations) since 1984, of which 10 have been cited 100 times or more; current H(irsch)-index is 38 · (Co-)author of 12 books, and >400 contributions to the popular press, working papers, reports and other non-peer-reviewed publications · (Co-)advisor of 20 completed PhD theses, and 18 in progress · >85 invited and plenary lectures in the last decade

Prizes and awards

· 1989: Winner of the Herman Klomp Prize for Dutch Ornithology, awarded jointly by Netherlands Ornithologists’ Union, SOVON-Bird Monitoring Netherlands and Vogelbescherming-BirdLife Netherlands (1.5 k€)

· 1994: Winner of the Dutch National Zoology Prize, awarded by the Netherlands Zoological Society (NDV) (3 k€)

· 1996: Recipient of the prestigious 5-year PIONIER-award of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (0.9 M€)

· 1998: Elected Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union

· 2000: Research award from the Committee for Research and Exploration of National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., for work on shorebirds in Northwest Australia (an 8-page feature called ‘Tale of the Hot Knot’ featured the Feb. 2003 issue of National Geographic Magazine) (50 kUSD)

· 2001: Elected as Member of the Fryske Akademy (Frisian Academy of Arts & Sciences), Ljouwert

· 2001: A new subspecies of Red Knot from the New Siberian Islands was named Calidris canutus piersmai (by P.S. Tomkovich in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 121: 257-263)

· 2002: Named as one of the six most promising Dutch scientists (‘Toppers met stip’) in Elsevier Magazine (16 March 2002), on the basis of citation-scores (CWTS, Leiden)

· 2004: Recipient of the biannual national Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Prijs voor Natuurbehoud (Dutch Nature Conservation Award from the Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund) (50 k€)

· 2004: Winner of the Ornithologenpreis of the German Ornithological Society (5k€)

· 2004: Recipient of the first Luc Hoffmann Medal for Excellence in Science and Conservation, awarded by Wetlands International

· 2007: Elected Corresponding Member of the German Ornithological Society

· 2007: Subject of a Dutch National TV documentary based on a prize-winning script by Helmie Stil, called De Wereld is Plat: door de vogelkijker van Theunis Piersma (subtitled in English: The World is Flat, through the telescope of Theunis Piersma), produced by Selfmade Films, Utrecht

· 2009: Elected Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam

Former appointments

· Consultant (Wader & Benthos specialist) with DHV, NEDECO in South Korea, 1984

· Research biologist at the Rijksdienst voor de IJsselmeerpolders, Lelystad, 1985-1987

· PhD position in Behavioural Biology, University of Groningen, 1988-1992

· Temporary contracts as Editor, and Research Biologist at NIOZ, 1993-1996

· Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Marine Ecology of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) (0.9 fte), 1996-2003

· Assistant professor at the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen (0.2 fte), 1996-2003

· From 2003 in dual role as Chair of Animal Ecology at University of Groningen (successor to Prof. Rudi H. Drent), and as senior research scientist at NIOZ

Functions

· Vice-chairperson of the International Wader Study Group (1993-2008)

· Vice-chairman of the Conseil Scientifique du Banc d’Arguin (Mauritania, 2007-present)

· Founding member of WIWO (Working group for international wader and waterfowl research)

· Scientific chair of the Third European Ornithological Congress, Groningen, 2001

· Member of the Int. Ornithological Committee and Scientific Programme Committee 2002 & 2006

· Chairman of the Biological Working Association of the Fryske Akademy (2003-2008)

· Board member of It Fryske Gea (2004-present)

· Member of the Science Advisory Board of Natuurmonumenten (2006-present)

· Member of the RUBICON committee of NWO (2007-present)

· Founding member and chairperson of Global Flyway Network, the shorebird ecological demographics and conservation initiative (2006-present)

Research Interests

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Habitat selection and distributional ecology; organismal design; marine biology; physiological, behavioural, population and community ecology; evolutionary and molecular ecology; animal migration; evolution. I am a firm adherent of an integrative biology in which the organism in its natural world takes centre stage in the search for evolution-based explanations.

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This essay is based on the text of the author’s Inaugural Lecture as Professor in Animal Ecology presented at the University of Groningen on 21 February 2005

Selected Publications	Top ^

Books Piersma, T. & van Gils, J.A. (2010). The flexible phenotype. Towards a body-centred integration of physiology, ecology and behaviour. Oxford University Press, Oxford. van de Kam, J., Battley, P.F., McCaffery, B.J., Rogers, D.I., Jae-Sang Hong, Moores, N., Ju-Yong Ki, Lewis, J. & Piersma, T. (2008). Invisible connections. Why migrating shorebirds need the Yellow Sea. Wageningen: Wetlands International. Piersma, T. (2007). Waarom nonnetjes samen klaarkomen en andere wonderen van het wad. Utrecht: KNNV Uitgeverij. (met strips van Gerrie Hondius) Drent, R., Tinbergen, J.M., Bakker, J.P. & Piersma, T. (eds.) (2005). Seeking nature's limits. Ecologists in the field. Utrecht: KNNV Publishing. van de Kam, J., Ens, B.J., Piersma, T. & Zwarts, L. (2004). Shorebirds. An illustrated behavioural ecology. Utrecht: KNNV Publishers. Rogers, D.I., Piersma, T., Lavaleye, M., Pearson, G.B., de Goeij, P. & van de Kam, J. (2003). Life along land's edge. Wildlife on the shores of Roebuck Bay, Broome. Perth: Department of Conservation and Land Management. Jukema, J., Piersma, T., Hulscher, J.B., Bunskoeke, E.J., Koolhaas, A. & Veenstra, A. (2001). Golden plovers and wilsternetters: a deeply rooted fascination with migrating birds. Ljouwert/Utrecht: Fryske Akademy/KNNV Uitgeverij. Key journal publications Piersma, T., Gudmundsson, G.A. & Lilliendahl, K. (1999). Rapid changes in the size of different functional organ and muscle groups during refueling in a long-distance shorebird. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 72, 405-415. Kvist, A., Lindström, Å., Green, M., Piersma, T. & Visser, G.H. (2001). Carrying large fuel loads during sustained bird flight is cheaper than expected. Nature 413, 730-732. Klaassen, M., Lindström, Å., Meltofte, H. & Piersma, T. (2001). Arctic waders are not capital breeders. Nature 413, 794. Piersma, T., Koolhaas, A., Dekinga, A., Beukema, J.J., Dekker, R. & Essink, K. (2001). Long-term indirect effects of mechanical cockle-dredging on intertidal bivalve stocks in the Wadden Sea. Journal of Applied Ecology 38, 976-990. Piersma, T. (2002). Energetic bottlenecks and other design constraints in avian annual cycles. Integrative and Comparative Biology 42, 51-67. Piersma, T. & Drent, J. (2003). Phenotypic flexibility and the evolution of organismal design. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18, 228-233. Luttikhuizen, P.C., Drent, J., van Delden, W. & Piersma, T. (2003). Spatially structured genetic variation in a broadcast spawning bivalve: quantitative vs. molecular traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16, 260-272. van Gils, J. A., Schenk, I. W., Bos, O. & Piersma, T. (2003). Incompletely informed shorebirds that face a digestive bottleneck maximize net energy gain when exploiting patches. American Naturalist 161, 777-793. van Gils, J.A., Spaans, B., Dekinga, A. & Piersma, T. (2006). Foraging in a tidally structured environment by red knots (Calidris canutus): ideal, but not free. Ecology 87, 1189-1202. Buehler, D.M. & Piersma, T. (2008) Travelling on a budget: predictions and ecological evidence for bottlenecks in the annual cycle of long-distance migrants. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B 363, 247-266.