Peter Vermeiren

Rifcon · Effect Modelling & Statistics

To establish the use of eggs as biomonitoring tools for maternal body burdens, we investigated the mother-to-egg ratio of 56 PCB, 12 OCP and 34 PBDE unique compounds from maternal plasma into replicate egg yolk and albumen samples in the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) as a case study of a threatened migratory marine species. We applied robust...

The high accumulation potential of estuaries for plastics, particularly microplastics, poses a threat to the high societal value and biodiversity they provide. To support a spatially refined evaluation of the risk that microplastic pollution poses to fauna utilizing estuarine sedimentary habitats, we investigated the distribution of microplastics (...

The inability to quantitatively integrate scattered data regarding potential threats posed by the increasing total amount and diversity of chemical substances in our environment limits our ability to understand whether existing regulations and management actions sufficiently protect wildlife. Systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses are grea...

Cohort structure and degree of individual resource specialization affect individual- and population-level fitness and ecosystem interactions. These 2 characteristics are difficult to establish for long-lived marine species such as sea turtles. Both characteristics were approached by applying a novel Broken-Stick analysis of Stable isotope Time seri...

We aimed to identify patterns in the internal distribution of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and assess contributing factors using sea turtles and their offspring as a case study of a long-lived wildlife species. We systematically synthesized 40 years of data and developed a lipid database to test whether lipid-normalized POP concentrations a...

Despite the global occurrence of microplastic contamination on sandy beaches, evidence of microplastic distribution within beaches remains contradictory. When conflicting evidence is used to inform sampling surveys, it increases uncertainty in resulting data. Moreover, it hampers spatially explicit risk characterization of microplastic pollution to...

A wide knowledge base regarding the ecological preferences of benthic macroinvertebrates is synthesized in public databases. This knowledge can assist in disentangling the influence of multiple environmental factors on the probability of occurrence of macroinvertebrates and in identifying anthropogenic impacts on the macroinvertebrate assemblage. W...

Intertidal crabs display distinct morphological traits that allow differential interactions with biotic and abiotic features of the intertidal landscape, but are also influenced by allometry and sexual selection. This study aimed to explore the influence of sexual, allometric and habitat factors on morphological variation in the intertidal mangrove...

Species distribution models (SDMs) are often criticised for lacking explicit linkage to ecological concepts. We aim to improve the ecological basis of SDMs by integrating prior knowledge about ecological preferences of organisms. Additionally, we aim to support a systematic, data-driven review of such prior knowledge by confronting it with independ...

Plastic pollution presents a global environmental concern with potentially widespread ecological, socio-economic and health implications. Methodological advances in microplastic extraction, quantification and identification from sediments have been made. However, integrating these fragmentary advances into a holistic, cost-effective protocol and ap...

Understanding and predicting the ecological consequences of different management alternatives is becoming increasingly important to support environmental management decisions. Ecological models could contribute to such predictions, but in the past this was often not the case. Ecological models are often developed within research projects but are ra...

Maternal transfer of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) confronts developing embryos with a pollution legacy and poses conservation concerns due to its potential impacts unto subsequent generations. We conducted a systematic review focussing on: 1) processes of POP maternal transfer, 2) challenges and opportunities to synthesising current knowled...

• Freshwater ecosystems are under a constant risk of being irreversibly damaged by human pressures that threaten their biodiversity, the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs), and human well‐being. Despite the implementation of various environmental regulations, the challenges of safeguarding freshwater assets have so far not been tackled succ...

https://sciencetrends.com/newborn-turtles-carry-the-pollution-history-of-their-mothers/

Micro- and macroplastic accumulation threatens estuaries worldwide because of the often dense human populations, diverse plastic inputs and high potential for plastic degradation and storage in these ecosystems. Nonetheless, our understanding of plastic sources and sinks remains limited. We designed conceptual models of the local and estuary-wide t...

Increased human population growth threatens the ecological functioning and goods and services provided by tropical coastal ecosystems. However, a lack of scientific baselines and resources hamper efforts to develop and monitor ecological indicators of environmental change. Citizen science can provide a cost and time effective solution, but needs co...

Intertidal crabs are abundant, key components of tropical estuaries whose trophic interactions provide a direct and identifiable link within the ecosystem. Our study investigated spatial variability in food resource use of intertidal crabs, using stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) values. This was done for two genera with contrasting feeding strategies...

Intertidal crabs are abundant in tropical estuaries and have bio-indicator potential. However, the use of intertidal crabs in guiding management actions is limited because high-replication, cost-effective tools to analyze their distribution patterns at large scales are lacking. This study used assemblage modeling and photography to rapidly build fo...

To address the increasing threats from urbanization and climate change, an improved understanding of ecosystem processes at large, estuary-wide scales is required. Intertidal crabs contribute to estuarine functioning via trophic interactions and ecosystem engineering. Previous studies on crab spatial distribution patterns have focused on site- or t...

Intertidal crabs are intricately involved in many estuarine processes. However, their integration in general applicable ecological models is limited by a lack of understanding regarding their landscape level spatial distribution patterns. This gap, in part, reflects on the time consuming sampling methods employed which limit the scale and level of...