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Employee information:

Name: Sil Nieuwhof
Department: YERSEKE SPATIAL ECOLOGY (YRE)
Email: Sil.Nieuwhof(at)nioz.nl
Telephone: +31 (0)113 577 445
 
Current project(s): NSO Ruimteonderzoek

About:

  

 
Sil Nieuwhof
PhD Candidate
Department: Spatial Ecology
T. +31 (0) 113 577 445
Sil.Nieuwhof(at)nioz.nl

Visiting address:
Korringaweg 7
4401 NT Yerseke
The Netherlands

Postal address:
Postbus 140
4400 AC Yerseke
The Netherlands

Short CV

2012 – present PhD candidate - NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Yerseke
2011   Research Assistant - Wageningen University, Wageningen
2009 – 2011 MSc, Ecology, Wageningen University

Major thesis subject:
Calcification and photosynthesis in the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata under a constant and curved light regime

Minor thesis subject:
The distribution of nuclei in a natural population of the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune

Internship subject:
The effect of hydrodynamics on performance of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) on natural reefs
2005 – 2009 BSc, Biology, Wageningen University

 Research Interests

Topics

  • Remote sensing of shellfish and sediment characteristics
  • Spatially extended ecosystem engineering
  • Inter- and intraspecific ecological connectivity
  • Climate change sensitivity of ecosystem engineers

Techniques

  • Optical and SAR remote sensing
  • Geographic information systems
  • Structure from motion to quantify surface roughness
  • Image analysis and classification
  • Spatial modeling

Project

NWO/ALW/NSO Ruimteonderzoek Project (2011-2016)

Shellfish regulate bottom and water quality and influence sediment dynamics in shallow tidal waters. Yet, it is largely unknown at what spatiotemporal scale these ecosystem engineers influence the surrounding bottom sediment. The effects may be both species-dependent (mussels versus oysters) and context-dependent (for example, depending on hydrodynamics).

Global change - particularly changes in temperature, river discharge, storminess and sea level - may have profound impact on the distribution of mussel and oyster beds. For example, global warming promotes the northward expansion of the invasive Pacific oyster in Europe, whereas the mussel has experienced a large decline in many areas. This may lead to dramatic changes in the intertidal zone, as changes in engineering by shellfish will be felt throughout the habitat.

We will study the ecosystem engineering of shellfish on the bottom sediment, and how this may be affected by global change.

Multi-band, multi-polarized SAR imagery will be used in an inverse analytical backscattering model, complemented by optical remote sensing, to characterize the distribution and dynamics of intertidal shellfish beds in contrasting ecosystems. This provides a unique opportunity to assess the effects of mussel and oyster beds under a wide range of conditions. We will relate the distribution of mussel and oyster beds to environmental drivers (e.g., water temperature, river outflow, hydrodynamics). This will yield a model of the potential impact of global change on shellfish distribution and ecosystem functioning in shallow tidal waters.

Links

Nieuwsbrief Waddensleutels: http://128.140.217.112/~p50726/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nieuwsbrief-Waddensleutels-november-2012.pdf

Blog Zee in Zicht: http://www.zeeinzicht.nl/nieuws2/?p=1856

RTV Noord: http://www.rtvnoord.nl/artikel/artikel.asp?p=115680