Michael Steinke

Michael Steinke
University of Essex · School of Biological Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy

About

97
Publications
25,649
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
6,446
Citations
Additional affiliations
September 2006 - present
University of Essex
Position
  • Lecturer

Publications

Publications (97)
Article
Full-text available
Ecological theory and empirical research show that both direct lethal effects and indirect non-lethal effects can structure the composition of communities. While the direct effects of grazers on marine phytoplankton communities are well studied, their indirect effects are still poorly understood. Direct and indirect effects are inherently difficult...
Preprint
The Pacific oyster (Magallana (Crassostrea) gigas) was introduced to UK waters in the mid 20th century and currently accounts for over 95% of UK oyster fishery landings. Recently however, its non native origin has led policy makers to consider a limit on UK oyster aquaculture operations. M. gigas is effectively naturalised in the UK, with multiple...
Article
Shellfish grown for food are vulnerable to environmental contamination, potentially rendering them unsafe for human consumption. Non-invasive gape (valve openness) sensing allows in-situ monitoring of bivalve shellfish behaviours, such as feeding, that can result in exposure to contaminated waters. Sensors were attached to Blue mussels and deployed...
Article
Full-text available
Warming could facilitate the intensification of toxic algal blooms, two important stressors for marine organisms that are predicted to co-occur more frequently in the future. We investigated the immediate and delayed effects of a heatwave and a simulated bloom (3 × 106 cells L-1) of the diarrhetic shellfish-toxin (DST)-producing benthic dinoflagell...
Preprint
Full-text available
Saltmarsh restoration efforts often highlight high carbon burial rates as a climate mitigation opportunity. We created a 200-year managed-realignment model incorporating carbon burial, albedo change, and emissions of climate-active compounds across three successive realignment stages: mudflat, realigned saltmarsh, and mature saltmarsh. Total climat...
Article
Full-text available
Some of the highest microplastic concentrations in marine environments have been reported from the Fram Strait in the Arctic. This region supports a diverse ecosystem dependent on high concentrations of zooplankton at the base of the food web. Zooplankton samples were collected during research cruises using Bongo and MOCNESS nets in the boreal summ...
Article
Full-text available
Isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is emitted in vast quantities (>500 Tg C yr ⁻¹ ). Most isoprene is emitted by trees, but there is still incomplete understanding of the diversity of isoprene sources. The reactivity of isoprene in the atmosphere has potential implications for both global warming and global cooling, with human health implications al...
Article
Full-text available
The underlying mechanisms that influence microplastic ingestion in marine zooplankton remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate how microplastics of a variety of shapes (bead, fiber, and fragment), in combination with the algal-derived infochemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), affect the ingestion rate of micr...
Article
Full-text available
The marine sulfur cycle is substantially fueled by the phytoplankton osmolyte dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). This metabolite can be metabolized by bacteria, which results in the emission of the volatile sulfur species methanethiol (MeSH) and the climate-cooling dimethylsulfide (DMS). It is generally accepted that bacteria contribute significant...
Article
Full-text available
“Infochemicals” (information‐conveying chemicals) dominate much of the underwater communication in biological systems. They influence the movement and behavior of organisms, the ecological interactions between and across populations, and the trophic structure of marine food webs. However, relative to their terrestrial equivalents, the wider ecologi...
Article
Full-text available
Chemicals released following herbivore grazing on primary producers can promote multitrophic interactions by influencing the foraging behaviour of higher order predators. In particular, chemicals released during microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton can act as infochemical cues that elicit foraging responses and improve search efficiency in car...
Article
Full-text available
Microplastics are abundant and widespread in the marine environment. They are a contaminant of global environmental and economic concern. Due to their small size a wide range of marine species, including zooplankton can ingest them. Research has shown that microplastics are readily ingested by several zooplankton taxa, with associated negative impa...
Article
Full-text available
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) affect atmospheric chemistry, climate and regional air quality in terrestrial and marine atmospheres. Although isoprene is a major BVOC produced in vascular plants, and marine phototrophs release dimethyl sulfide (DMS), lakes have been widely ignored for their production. Here we demonstrate that oligotro...
Chapter
All organisms and ecosystems emit and consume volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Traditionally, these have been qualitatively and quantitatively described in isolation without full consideration of the 'signatures’ produced by the totality of all volatiles released. Here, we suggest that volatilomics, a research area applied to medical diagnostics,...
Article
Full-text available
The production of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is poorly quantified in tropical reef environments but forms an essential process that couples marine and terrestrial sulfur cycles and affects climate. Here we quantified net aqueous DMS production and the concentration of its cellular precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in the sea anemone Aiptasia...
Article
Full-text available
The production of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is poorly quantified in tropical reef environments but forms an essential process that couples marine and terrestrial sulfur cycles and affects climate. Here we used gas chromatography to quantify net DMS production and the concentration of its cellular precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in the sea...
Article
Full-text available
Corals are prolific producers of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). High atmospheric concentrations of the DMSP breakdown product dimethylsulfide (DMS) have been linked to coral reefs during low tides. DMS is a potentially key sulfur source to the tropical atmosphere, but DMS emission from corals during tidal exposure is not well quantified. Here w...
Chapter
Aquatic environments produce a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can transfer into the atmosphere and affect climate. Much of our understanding on the biogeochemistry of volatiles in seawater stems from research on the biogenic trace gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Here, we describe four protocols for the quantification of DMS and other V...
Article
Full-text available
Scleractinian corals are prolific producers of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), but ecophysiological mechanisms influencing cellular concentrations are uncertain. While DMSP is often proposed to function as an antioxidant, interactions between specific host–symbiont genotype associations, plasticity in DMSP concentrations and environmental condi...
Article
All natural systems emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) that can affect atmospheric processes and climate. It is also likely that volatiles carry information on the physiological status of the emitter and that they alter physiological functioning and behaviour across trophic levels in aquatic food webs. Our understanding of the ecology...
Article
Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a singl...
Article
Full-text available
Little is currently known about the potential impact of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on estuarine microbial communities. The Colne estuary, UK, is susceptible to oil pollution through boat traffic, and there is the potential for AgNP exposure via effluent discharged from a sewage treatment works located in close proximity. This study examined the e...
Article
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), in particular dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and isoprene, have fundamental ecological, physiological and climatic roles. Our current understanding of these roles is almost exclusively established from terrestrial or oceanic environments but signifies a potentially major, but largely unknown, role for BVOCs in...
Article
Full-text available
Seaweed and seagrass communities in the northeast Atlantic have been profoundly impacted by humans, and the rate of change is accelerating rapidly due to runaway CO2 emissions and mounting pressures on coastlines associated with human population growth and increased consumption of finite resources. Here, we predict how rapid warming and acidificati...
Article
This review summarizes the current understanding on plant and algal volatile organic compound (VOC) production and emission in extreme environments, where temperature, water availability, salinity or other environmental factors pose stress on vegetation. Here, the extreme environments include terrestrial systems, such as arctic tundra, deserts, CO2...
Article
Full-text available
Marine anthozoans maintain a mutualistic symbiosis with dinoflagellates that are prolific producers of the algal secondary metabolite dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of the climate-cooling trace gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Surprisingly, little is known about the physiological role of DMSP in anthozoans and the environmental factors...
Article
Full-text available
Grazing on marine macroalgae is a key structuring process for coral reef communities. However, ocean acidification from rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations is predicted to adversely affect many marine animals, while seaweed communities may benefit and prosper. We tested how exposure to different pCO2 (400, 1,800 and 4,000 μatm) may affect grazing...
Article
Full-text available
The release of chemicals following herbivore grazing on primary producers may provide feeding cues to carnivorous predators, thereby promoting multitrophic interactions. In particular, chemicals released following grazing on phytoplankton by microzooplankton herbi- vores have been shown to elicit a behavioural foraging response in carnivorous copep...
Article
Full-text available
Chemical interactions play a fundamental role in the ecology of marine foodwebs. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is a ubiquitous marine trace gas that acts as a bioactive compound by eliciting foraging behavior in a range of marine taxa including the copepod Temora longicornis. Production of DMS can rapidly increase following microzooplankton grazing on phy...
Article
We used laboratory cultures of marine microalgae to investigate the effects of growth conditions and their taxonomic position on the production of isoprene, a gas that has major effects on atmospheric chemistry and provides stress tolerance to many primary producers. Isoprene was quantified from 21 microalgal strains sampled during exponential grow...
Article
The production of the marine trace gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS) provides 90% of the marine biogenic sulfur in the atmosphere where it affects cloud formation and climate. The effects of increasing anthropogenic CO2 and the resulting warming and ocean acidification on trace gas production in the oceans are poorly understood. Here we report the first m...
Article
Infochemicals released by marine phytoplankton play important roles in food web interactions by influencing the feeding behavior and selectivity of zooplanktonic predators. Recent modeling efforts have focused on the role of such chemicals as toxic grazing deterrents in phytoplankton competition. However, infochemicals may also be utilized as grazi...
Article
Dinoflagellates are recognised as one of the major phytoplankton groups that produce dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of the marine trace gas dimethylsulphide (DMS) which has climate-cooling potential. To improve the prospects for including dinoflagellates in global climate models that include DMSP-related processes, we increased t...
Article
Production of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) from marine samples is often quantified using gas chromatography techniques. Typically, these are labour intensive and have a slow sample turnover rate. Here we demonstrate the use of a portable fast DMS sensor (FDS) that utilises the chemiluminescent reaction of DMS and ozone to measure DMS production in aqueou...
Article
Full-text available
Concentrations of the secondary algal metabolite dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) and its breakdown product, the climate-active trace gas dimethylsulphide (DMS), are sensitive to changes in pCO2. Data on the response of marine macroalgae to future pCO2 levels are lacking. Here we report the first measurements of DMSP and DMS production in two spe...
Article
Full-text available
Environmental context As atmospheric CO2 levels rise due to human activities, more of the gas dissolves in the oceans, increasing their acidity. The effect of these seawater changes on marine organisms is largely unknown. We examine the consequences of higher CO2 levels on the production by plankton of dimethyl sulfide, a climatically active gas. W...
Article
Full-text available
Isoprene is important for its atmospheric impacts and the ecophysiological benefits it affords to emitting organisms; however, isoprene emissions from marine systems remain vastly understudied compared to terrestrial systems. This study investigates for the first time drivers of isoprene production in a temperate estuary, and the role this producti...
Article
Full-text available
Volatile infochemicals including climatically relevant dimethylsulphide (DMS) have been suggested to play important roles in the structuring and functioning of marine food webs. Experimenting with complex natural plankton communities or several trophic levels in laboratory microcosms is challenging and, as a result, empirical data confirming the ro...
Article
Full-text available
Many “model” protists are maintained in culture and used, experimentally, to answer questions associated with planktonic processes. Given the current interest and rapidly increasing amount of literature on the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina, we present in this special issue a series of focused, interlinked research articles. Being wri...
Article
Full-text available
The global surface seawater dimethylsulphide (DMS) database (http://saga.pmel.noaa.gov/dms/) contains >50,000 data points and is the second largest trace gas database after carbon dioxide. However, there has been relatively little quality control on the data that have been collated to date. Furthermore, the recent development of technologies capabl...
Article
Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) are sulfur compounds that may function as antioxidants in algae. Symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium show strain-specific differences in their susceptibility to temperature-induced oxidative stress and have been shown to contain high concentrations of DMSP. We investigated...
Article
Marine environments with naturally high CO2 concentrations have become important research sites for studying the impacts of future ocean acidification on biological processes. We conducted high temporal resolution pH and temperature measurements in and around a shallow (2.5 - 3m) CO2 vent site off Ischia, Italy in May and June 2008. Loggers were de...
Article
Full-text available
Gases are produced and consumed by numerous biological processes in the oceans and some volatiles are readily exchanged with the atmosphere where they can affect our climate. They can be waste products but they are also fundamental as nutrient and energy sources and terminal electron acceptors in respiration, and can facilitate communication and in...
Article
Full-text available
Predatory protists use chemical recognition to increase feeding efficiency by responding to point sources of prey chemoattractants and through adhering to the cell surface of their prey. In response, their prey possess a multitude of chemical-based antipredator strategies. Given that these chemical interactions play a key role in driving aquatic fo...
Article
Full-text available
Microzooplankton are ecologically important grazers of phytoplankton and bacteria in aquatic systems. Inhabiting a three-dimensional realm, the ability of a microzooplankter to detect and respond to infochemical cues from its prey will confer a strong selective advantage. The heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina has been repeatedly used to...
Article
Full-text available
Oxyrrhis marina is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate that swims in helical paths in a three-dimensional (3D) environment. It is also known to react to various environ-mental stimuli and resultant changes in its swimming patterns have been widely observed. Understanding this swimming behaviour and providing tools for quanti-fying swimming-related param...
Article
Full-text available
We investigated dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) quota (pg DMSP cell(-1)), intracellular DMSP concentration (mM), in vitro and in vivo DMSP-lyase activity (DLA) and dimethylsulphide (DMS) concentration in batch cultures of 10 species of coccolithophore. Species were chosen to span the phylogenetic and size range that exists within the coccolithop...
Article
Research into isoprene production from marine sources traditionally relies on gas chromatography techniques which are labor intensive, provide a slow sample turnover, and require significant method training. An alternative method is the use of a Fast Isoprene Sensor (FIS), a chemiluminescence-based approach that provides real time isoprene analysis...
Article
Research into isoprene production from marine sources traditionally relies on gas chromatography techniques which are labor intensive, provide a slow sample turnover, and require significant method training. An alternative method is the use of a Fast Isoprene Sensor (FIS), a chemiluminescence‐based approach that provides real time isoprene analysis...
Article
Full-text available
Using a steady-state diffusion model, we calculated the concentration of the ecologically relevant algal metabolite dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in the phycosphere. Incorporating diffusive losses, the concentration was predicted to be 10(6)-fold lower than previously suggested.
Article
Full-text available
The oceanic uptake of man-made CO(2) emissions is resulting in a measureable decrease in the pH of the surface oceans, a process which is predicted to have severe consequences for marine biological and biogeochemical processes [Caldeira K, Wickett ME (2003) Nature 425:365; The Royal Society (2005) Policy Document 12/05 (Royal Society, London)]. Her...
Article
We investigated the relationship between microplankton composition and dimethylsulphide (DMS) concentration in the Mauritanian upwelling in July/August 2006. As well as DMS and DMSP-lyase activity (DLA), we made some accompanying measurements of the precursor of DMS, DMSP (dimethylsulphoniopropionate) in the particulate and dissolved fraction, and...
Article
Full-text available
We report the results of an experiment in the Northeast Atlantic in which sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) was released within an eddy and the behaviour of trace gases, nutrients and productivity followed within a Lagrangian framework over a period of 24 days. Measurements were also made in the air above the eddy in order to estimate air–sea exchange rat...
Article
Full-text available
The potential impact of seawater acidification on the concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and the activity of the enzyme DMSP-lyase was investigated during a pelagic ecosystem CO2 enrichment experiment (PeECE III) in spring 2005. Natural phytoplankton blooms were studied for 24 days under present, double a...
Article
We report the results of an experiment in the Northeast Atlantic in which sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) was released within an eddy and the behaviour of trace gases, nutrients and productivity followed within a Lagrangian framework over a period of 24 days. Measurements were also made in the air above the eddy in order to estimate air–sea exchange rat...
Article
We report the results of an experiment in the Northeast Atlantic in which sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6) was released within an eddy and the behaviour of trace gases, nutrients and productivity followed within a Lagrangian framework over a period of 24 days. Measurements were also made in the air above the eddy in order to estimate air–sea exchange ra...
Article
We compare dissolved dimethyl sulphide (DMS) measurements made by our independent laboratories during a mesocosm study of marine phytoplankton under different CO 2 regimes in a Norwegian fjord. Sample preparation and analyses were conducted using headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Max-Planck Inst...
Article
Full-text available
The potential impact of seawater acidification on the concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and the activity of the enzyme DMSP-lyase was investigated during a pelagic ecosystem CO2 enrichment experiment (PeECE III) in spring 2005. Natural phytoplankton blooms were studied for 24 days under present, double a...
Article
We compare dissolved dimethyl sulphide (DMS) measurements made by our independent laboratories during a mesocosm study of marine phytoplankton under different CO2 regimes in a Norwegian fjord. Sample preparation and analyses were conducted using headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Max-Planck Insti...
Article
Full-text available
Most oceanic dimethyl sulphide (DMS) is produced through the enzymatic cleavage of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), a process governed by the activity of DMSP-lyases in algae and bacteria. Laboratory and field experiments with the DMS-producing coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi have advanced our understanding of algal DMSP lyases. However, desp...
Article
In vitro DMSP-lyase activity (DLA) measurements were made during an Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruise in May 2004, which travelled through the southern and northern oligotrophic gyres. Along the transect, twice-daily measurements were taken from the surface (0.5 ? 8.0 m) and the chlorophyll maximum (chl max; 47 ? 150 m). Surface samples sho...
Article
Full-text available
In vitro DMSP-lyase activity (DLA) me-asurements were made during an Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruise in May 2004, which travelled through the southern and northern oligotrophic gyres. Along the transect, twice-daily measurements were taken from the surface (0.5 – 8.0 m) and the chloro-phyll maximum (chl max; 47 – 150 m). Surface sam-ples...
Article
Full-text available
The worldwide colony-forming haptophyte phytoplankton Phaeocystis spp. are key organisms in trophic and biogeochemical processes in the ocean. Many organisms from protists to fish ingest cells and/or colonies of Phaeocystis. Reports on specific mortality of Phaeocystis in natural plankton or mixed prey due to grazing by zooplankton, especially prot...
Article
Full-text available
Seawater concentrations of the climate-cooling, volatile sulphur compound dimethylsulphide (DMS) are the result of numerous production and consumption processes within the marine ecosystem. Due to this complex nature, it is difficult to predict temporal and geographical distribution patterns of DMS concentrations and the inclusion of DMS into globa...
Article
Several observations and model calculations suggest that chemically mediated interactions can structure planktonic food webs. However, only recently have improvements in chemical methods, coupled with ecological assays, led to the characterization of chemical cues that affect the behaviour and/or physiology of planktonic organisms. We are currently...