Stuart Piertney

Stuart Piertney
University of Aberdeen | ABDN · Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences

BSc, PhD

About

224
Publications
30,924
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Introduction
I am an evolutionary biologist and molecular ecologist with an interest in understanding the environmental causes and ecological consequences of microevolution in natural populations. My research encompasses phylogenetic inference among species, population genetic structure across landscapes, resolving patterns of relatedness between individuals, and characterising ecologically meaningful and adaptively important gene dynamics using next generation 'omics approaches.

Publications

Publications (224)
Article
The examination of genetic structure in the deep‐ocean hadal zone has focussed on divergence between the tectonic trenches to understand how environment and geography may drive species divergence and promote endemism. There has been little attempt to examine localised genetic structure within trenches, partly because of logistical challenges associ...
Article
Full-text available
Phenotypic plasticity is predicted to evolve in more variable environments, conferring an advantage on individual lifetime fitness. It is less clear what the potential consequences of that plasticity will have on ecological population dynamics. Here, we use an invertebrate model system to examine the effects of environmental variation (resource ava...
Article
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Our understanding of the ecology of the hadal zone (> 6000 m depth) is based solely on subduction trenches, leaving other geomorphological features, such as fracture zones, troughs, and basins, understudied. To address this knowledge gap, the Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone, Indian Ocean (WZFZ; ~ 22°S, 102°E; maximum depth 6625 m measured during Exped...
Technical Report
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As there is no agreed national list of species of socio-economic and/or cultural value for Scotland, a set of criteria for selecting species has been developed. These include: • Species prioritised for conservation value • Species identified as being culturally important • Species providing important ecosystem services • Game species • Species coll...
Article
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A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.
Article
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While there is now an established recognition of microplastic pollution in the oceans, and the detrimental effects this may have on marine animals, the ocean depth at which such contamination is ingested by organisms has still not been established. Here, we detect the presence of ingested microplastics in the hindguts of Lysianassoidea amphipod pop...
Article
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The increasingly recognised effects of microbiomes on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of their hosts are promoting a view of the “hologenome” as an integral host-symbiont evolutionary entity. For example, sex-ratio distorting reproductive parasites such as Wolbachia are well-studied pivotal drivers of invertebrate reproductive processes, and more rec...
Data
Rarefaction curves for male and female samples in single-end and paired-end assemblies. (PDF)
Data
Microbial diversity metrics in samples grouped by season, region and sex. (PDF)
Data
Hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling of Jaccard and Bray-Curtis dissimilarities in single-end and paired-end assemblies. (PDF)
Data
Median relative abundance of predicted KEGG pathways. (PDF)
Data
Fold changes and taxonomic classification of sequence variants with differential abundance between sexes (northern region only), based on rarefied data. The top panels represent the full dataset of eleven samples; the bottom panels represent the eight samples from the northern region only. (PDF)
Data
Fold changes and taxonomic classification of sequence variants with differential abundance between sexes, based on non-rarefied data. The top panels represent the full dataset of eleven samples; the bottom panels represent the eight samples from the northern region only. (PDF)
Data
Total read counts and relative abundances of sequences closely related to SILVA-strains of reproductive parasites Wolbachia, Rickettsia, Spiroplasma and Cardinium. (XLSX)
Article
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We identified mixed infections of pathogenic Leptospira in small mammals across a landscape-scale study area in Madagascar by using primers targeting different Leptospira spp. Using targeted primers increased prevalence estimates and evidence for transmission between endemic and invasive hosts. Future studies should assess rodentborne transmission...
Article
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Selective pressure from pathogens is considered a key selective force driving the evolution of components of the immune system. Since single components of the immune system may interact with many pathogens, and single pathogens may be recognized by multiple components of the immune system, gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of parasit...
Article
Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are a prominent family of cellular chaperones that are involved in the folding, assembly and degradation of cellular proteins, cell-cycling and signal transduction. HSPs are high conserved across taxa and form a key component of the stress response with signatures of molecular adaptation in some species exposed to extreme...
Article
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Genome size varies considerably across taxa, and extensive research effort has gone into understanding whether variation can be explained by differences in key ecological and lifehistory traits among species. The extreme environmental conditions that characterize the deep sea have been hypothesized to promote large genome sizes in eukaryotes. Here...
Article
A population's effective size ( N e ) is a key parameter that shapes rates of inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, thereby influencing evolutionary processes and population viability. However, estimating N e , and identifying key demographic mechanisms that underlie the N e to census population size ( N ) ratio, remains challenging, especially...
Article
The legacy and reach of anthropogenic influence is most clearly evidenced by its impact on the most remote and inaccessible habitats on Earth. Here we identify extraordinary levels of persistent organic pollutants in the endemic amphipod fauna from two of the deepest ocean trenches (>10,000 metres). Contaminant levels were considerably higher than...
Article
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Norway rats are a globally distributed invasive species, which have colonized many islands around the world, including in the South Atlantic Ocean. We investigated the phylogeography of Norway rats across the South Atlantic Ocean and bordering continental countries. We identified haplotypes from 517 bp of the hypervariable region I of the mitochond...
Article
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Attempts to mitigate the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems increasingly target large land masses where control, rather than eradication, is the management objective. Depressing numbers of invasive species to a level where their impact on native biodiversity is tolerable requires overcoming the impact of compensatory immigration from n...
Article
Determining how intra-specific genetic diversity is apportioned among natural populations is essential for detecting local adaptation and identifying populations with inherently low levels of extant diversity which may become a conservation concern. Sequence polymorphism at two adaptive loci (MHC DRA and DQB) was investigated in long-finned pilot w...
Article
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Studying patterns of intra-specific genetic variation among populations allows for a better understanding of population structure and local adaptation. However, those patterns may differ according to the genetic markers applied, as neutral genetic markers reflect demographic processes and random genetic drift, whereas adaptive markers also carry th...
Article
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The interaction between environmental variation and population dynamics is of major importance, particularly for managed and economically important species, and especially given contemporary changes in climate variability. Recent analyses of exploited animal populations contested whether exploitation or environmental variation has the greatest infl...
Chapter
Molecular markers have found pervasive application in the study of wildlife populations, informing issues as broad such as the evolutionary relationships among species, population genetic structure and gene flow among populations, and relatedness among individuals. The type and scope of molecular markers favoured by molecular ecologists is currentl...
Article
Here, we describe the development of 16 polymorphic microsatellite markers using an Illumina MiSeq sequencing approach in the deep-sea amphipod Paralicella tenuipes. A total of 25 577 844 DNA sequences were filtered for microsatellite motifs of which 197 873 sequences were identified. From these sequences, 64 had sufficient flanking regions for pri...
Article
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Deleterious recessive alleles that are masked in outbred populations are predicted to be expressed in small, inbred populations, reducing both individual fitness and population viability. However, there are few definitive examples of phenotypic expression of lethal recessive alleles under inbreeding conditions in wild populations. Studies that demo...
Article
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Biogenic reefs created by Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) (horse mussel reefs) are marine habitats which support high levels of species biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services. Currently, M. modiolus reefs are listed as a threatened and/or declining species and habitat in all OSPAR regions and thus are highlighted as a conservation...
Article
The control and eradication of invasive species is a common management strategy to protect or restore native biodiversity. On South Georgia in the Southern Ocean, the brown rat Rattus norvegicus was brought onto the island with the onset of whaling and sealing activity in the 1800s and has had a significant detrimental impact on key bird species of...
Article
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Landscape genomics promises to provide novel insights into how neutral and adaptive processes shape genome-wide variation within and among populations. However, there has been little emphasis on examining whether individual-based phenotype-genotype relationships derived from approaches such as genome-wide association (GWAS) manifest themselves as a...
Article
Amphipods of the superfamily Lysianassoidea are ubiquitous at hadal depths (>6000 m) and therefore are an ideal model group for investigating levels of endemism and the drivers of speciation in deep ocean trenches. The taxonomic classification of hadal amphipods is typically based on conventional morphological traits but it has been suggested that...
Article
Integration of ecological and genetic approaches is a particularly powerful strategy to identify natural population diversity and structure over different timescales. To investigate the potential occurrence of population differentiation in long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas in the North Atlantic, both biogeochemical (fatty acids and stable...
Article
Identifying the genetic architecture underlying complex phenotypes is a notoriously difficult problem that often impedes progress in understanding adaptive eco-evolutionary processes in natural populations. Host-parasite interactions are fundamentally important drivers of evolutionary processes, but a lack of understanding of the genes involved in...
Article
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Understanding the extent to which diversity at immunologically important genes is reduced by demographic perturbations such as population bottlenecks, and the resulting consequences this has on individual fitness, is of fundamental importance for the effective management of genetic resources in natural populations. Toll-like receptors are key immun...
Article
The extent to which genotypic variation at a priori identified candidate genes can explain variation in complex phenotypes is a major debate in evolutionary biology. Whilst some high-profile genes such as the MHC or MC1R clearly do account for variation in ecologically relevant characters, many complex phenotypes such as response to parasite infect...
Article
Anonymous non-coding sequence markers (ANMs) are powerful neutral genetic markers with great utility in phylogeography, population genetics and population genomics. Developing ANMs has previously relied on sequencing random fragments of genomic DNA in the target species and then querying bioinformatics databases to identify unannotated, putatively...
Article
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Erratum to: Conserv Genet (2012) 13:1213–1230 DOI 10.1007/s10592-012-0366-6In the original publication, Tables 3 and 6 were published with incorrect estimates of population heterozygosities. All other diversity statistics were correct as originally presented. Updated versions of Tables 3 and 6 with corrected heterozygosity estimates confirmed using...
Article
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The use of different roost types by Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) during reproduction was investigated in two adjacent river valleys in northeastern Scotland. Forty-six individuals from six colonies were radiotracked during the summers of 2004–2006. The frequency of roost switching varied with reproductive status, and was lowest in lactatin...
Chapter
Understanding the consequences of environmental change on both long- and short- term ecological and evolutionary dynamics is a basic pre-requisite for any effective conservation or management programme but inherently problematic because of the complex interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes. Components of such complexity have been d...
Data
Clone sequence characterization following genome mapping and geneontology annotation. Contains chicken/turkey chromosome locations of mapped clone sequences, nearest ensemble gene identifiers and associated geneontology terms.
Data
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Principal coordinate analysis plots of epigenetic and genetic variation in the study populations.
Article
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Epigenetic modification of cytosine methylation states can be elicited by environmental stresses and may be a key process affecting phenotypic plasticity and adaptation. Parasites are potent stressors with profound physiological and ecological effects on their host, but there is little understanding in how parasites may influence host methylation s...
Article
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Capsule Atlantic Island Wrens are very closely related to mainland European populations. Aims The first genetic screen of the North-east Atlantic island subspecies of (Winter) Wren Troglodytes troglodytes was performed to resolve their relationship to mainland Eurasian and Nearctic populations. Methods The ND2 gene was sequenced from 15 wrens from...
Article
The red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) is an economically important game bird species endemic to the upland heather moors of the British Isles, where its conservation status is “amber” due to long-term declines in breeding populations. One major driver of grouse population ecology is chronic infection by the highly prevalent, gastrointestinal par...
Article
The detrimental effect of invasive species on native ecosystems is well established and motivates management strategies to reduce their impact. Eradication can be difficult in mainland areas but control is often a feasible option, providing recolonisation of control areas is minimised. Molecular genetic techniques can be used to define management u...
Article
Here we provide the first record of the ‘supergiant’ amphipod Alicella gigantea Chevreux, 1899 (Alicellidae) from the Southern Hemisphere, and extend the known bathymetric range by over 1000 m to 7000 m. An estimated nine individuals were observed across 1500 photographs taken in situ by baited camera at 6979 m in the Kermadec Trench, SW Pacific Oc...
Article
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Background The translocation of plants or animals between populations has been used in conservation to reinforce populations of threatened species, and may be used in the future to buffer species’ ranges from the anticipated effects of environmental change. This population admixture can result in outbreeding, and the resulting “hybrid” offspring c...
Article
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Understanding the consequences of environmental change on ecological and evolutionary dynamics is inherently problematic because of the complex interplay between them. Using invertebrates in microcosms, we characterise phenotypic, population and evolutionary dynamics before, during and after exposure to a novel environment and harvesting over 20 ge...
Article
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In general, landscape genetic studies have ignored the potential role that the phenotype of individuals plays in determining fine-scale genetic structure in species. This potential over-simplification ignores an important component that dispersal is both condition- and phenotype dependent. In order to investigate the relationship between potential...
Article
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Handicap models link the evolution of secondary sexual ornaments to physiological costs and thus provide a mechanistic explanation for signal honesty in sexual selection. Two commonly invoked models, the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) and the oxidative stress handicap hypothesis (OSHH), propose suppression of immunocompetence or increa...
Article
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The Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus (Blyth 1848) was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1986. The species is poorly known despite a number of studies and, until now, its egg has not been seen by any ornithologist. We report here the discovery of a Jerdon’s Courser egg at Aberdeen University in Scotland, the identification o...
Article
The red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) is of conservation concern in the British Isles and continental Europe, with historically declining populations and a highly fragmented distribution. We quantified the distribution of genetic variation within and among European populations to identify isolated populations that may need to be managed a...
Article
Parasitic nematodes are found in almost all wild vertebrate populations but few studies have investigated these host-parasite relationships in the wild. For parasites with free-living stages, the external environment has a major influence on life-history traits, and development and survival is generally low at sub-zero temperatures. For reindeer th...
Article
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Extant populations of Irish red grouse (Lagopus lagopus hibernicus) are both small and fragmented, and as such may have an increased risk of extinction through the effects of inbreeding depression and compromised adaptive potential. Here we used 19 microsatellite markers to assay genetic diversity across 89 georeferenced samples from putatively sem...
Article
Body mass (BM) and resting metabolic rates (RMR) are two inexorably linked traits strongly related to mammalian life histories. Yet, there have been no studies attempting to estimate heritable variation and covariation of BM and RMR in natural populations. We used a marker-based approach to construct a pedigree and then the 'animal model' to estima...
Article
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A perceived consequence of a population bottleneck is the erosion of genetic diversity and concomitant reduction in individual fitness and evolutionary potential. Although reduced genetic variation associated with demographic perturbation has been amply demonstrated for neutral molecular markers, the effective management of genetic resources in nat...
Article
Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) vector a wide variety of internationally important arboviral pathogens of livestock and represent a widespread biting nuisance. This study investigated the influence of landscape, host and remotely-sensed climate factors on local abundance of livestock-associated species in Scotland, within a hier...
Article
We describe the isolation and characterisation of 17 microsatellite loci for the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, Corvidae). Sixteen loci were polymorphic in 269 individuals from across Western Europe, with a mean allele number of 8.75±3.73 SD. Observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosity ranged from 0.11 to 0.71 and 0.15 to 0.70, resp...
Article
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The important ecological role of Mytilus mussels in marine ecosystems, their high abundance in coastal waters and the demand for human consumption has made them a target species for aquaculture. Mussel cultivation is the most important and rapidly growing sector of the Scottish shellfish aquaculture industry and until recently production was consid...
Article
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In the NE Atlantic, evidence has been found of genetic discontinuities between Iberian bottlenose dolphins and those of Scotland and the Mediterranean. Here, we explored the genetic relationships between resident populations of dolphins from southern Galicia (NW Spain) and the Sado estuary (S Portugal), and their relationship with dolphins inhabiti...
Article
Spawning patterns in female brown trout Salmo trutta were examined by documenting the construction of nests in a small stream and later excavating them to recover progeny. The maternal provenance of nests was determined by genetic typing of embryos using microsatellite markers. Seventy-two nests, for which position and date of construction were kno...
Article
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The identification of genes involved in a host's response to parasite infection provides both a means for understanding the pathways involved in immune defence and a target for examining host-parasite co-evolution. Most studies rely on a candidate gene approach derived from model systems to identify gene targets of interest, and there have been a d...
Article
Population genetic structure of North Atlantic killer whale samples was resolved from differences in allele frequencies of 17 microsatellite loci, mtDNA control region haplotype frequencies and for a subset of samples, using complete mitogenome sequences. Three significantly differentiated populations were identified. Differentiation based on micro...
Article
A central issue in ecology is in understanding the relative influences of intrinsic and extrinsic effects on population regulation. Previous studies on the cyclic population dynamics of red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) have emphasized the destabilizing effects of either nematode parasites or territorial behaviour and aggression. The potential...
Article
The genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have become the target of choice for studies wishing to examine adaptively important genetic diversity in natural populations. Within Molecular Ecology alone, there have been 71 papers on aspects of MHC evolution over the past few years, with an increasing year on year trend. This focus on the...