The SERG Group has an excellent international reputation and has produced more than 110 publications in the mainstream literature and receives funding from national and international bodies.
Informal enquiries to Prof Paterson, Tel: 00 44 (0) 1334 463603, e-mail d.paterson@st-andrews.ac.uk, Web site: http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/serg/index.html.

General background:

The Sediment Ecology Research Group (SERG), known popularly as "The Mud Lab" of the Gatty Marine Laboratory, University of St Andrews specialises in the investigation of the ecology of aquatic systems, with emphasis on marine and estuarine coasts, shallow marine systems and salt marshes. These depositional systems are of international importance with regard to their ecology and for the ecosystem services that they provide. However, they are often under significant industrial and demographic pressure and are continually responding to natural and anthropogenic changes. A current major issue is the impact of global climate change on these sensitive systems. The SERG group has been working in the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, France, the USA and the UK to investigate the ecology and dynamics of these important systems. In addition the group has recently formed an alliance with the CEH, Edinburgh to examine anthropogenic problems in fresh water systems and has conducted work on lake, loch and riverine environments. In summary, SERG studies aspect of ecophysiology (primary production, carbon flux), ecology (Biodiversity-functionality relationships, microphytobenthos and macrofauna diversity) and sedimentology (stability and erosion of sediments) of aquatic systems. The group uses advanced techniques including low-temperature scanning electron microscopy, PAM Fluorescence, in situ microcosm and mesocosms studies, HPLC and flume systems. This research has often included the development of new equipment (e.g CSM system) to examine the physics and biology of the environment. This work is of global importance for attempts to model the erosion, distribution and transport of sediments and is now contributing toward the theoretical debate on the role of habitat modification in the evolutionary theory of niche construction.

Major SERG Research Themes:
Biodiversity - ecosystem function relationships
"The most striking feature of the Earth is life. The most striking feature of life is it’s diversity” (Tilman 2000).
The challenge of this theme is to understand the importance of biodiversity in the natural functioning of ecosystems. Several theories are in contention to explain the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem turnover. The essential question is "do we need biodiversity for our ecosystems to supply the services, such as food production, oxygen production and detrital decay, essential to man?”. We have used estuarine systems as models for this investigation because these systems are naturally depauperate (low in biodiversity) and have found through a series of experimental and field studies that species identity is more important than diversity per se in depauperate coastal environments. We are now examining the importance of spatial heterogeneity in terms of ecosystem function (NERC funded project).

Selected papers

1. Dyson, K., Bulling, M.T., Solan3, M., Hernandez-Millian, G., Raffaelli, D.G, White, P.C.L. Paterson, D.M., 2007. Influence of macrofaunal assemblages and environmental heterogeneity on microphytobenthic production in experimental systems. Proceeding of the Royal Society, Series B. (In press/ on line).
2. Boogert, N.J, Paterson, D.M and Laland, K.N. 2006. The implications of niche construction and ecosystem engineering for conservation biology. Biosciences. 57(7): 570-578.
3. Biles, C.L., Solan, M ., Isaksson I., Paterson, D.M., Emes., C. and Raffaelli, D.G. 2003 Flow modifies the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: an in situ study of estuarine sediments. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 285-286, 165-177.
4. Emmerson, M., Solan, M., Emes, C., Paterson, D.M. and Raffaelli, D. 2001. Idiosyncratic effects of species diversity on ecosystem function. Nature, 411, 73-77.

The influence of biota on the behaviour of sediments

Almost all natural sediments support varying populations of organisms which significantly alter the response of sediment to physical forcing. Several mechanisms have been shown to produce this stabilisation, including the building of biogenic structures and the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The possibility that the use of biochemical parameters can improve the modelling of sediment erodibility is being investigated. This has significant economic importance for the environmental assessment of coastal engineering projects. An additional and complimentary part of this research involves the development of techniques to measure the stability of sediments in situ. This includes the CSM system which is now being further developed as a submersible device in cooperation with the company Sediment Services Ltd that manufactures the intertidal device. A new development has been the use of the CSM system in the investigation of the stabilisation of living stromatolites under the US RIBS “Biocomplexity” program. This work has been given new impetus by developments in ecological theory (Niche construction) which emphasise the role of the biological mediation of habitats as a driver for evolutionary change (In cooperation with Prof K Laland).

Selected papers

1. Vardy, S., Saunders, J.E., Tolhurst, T.J., Davies, P. and Paterson, D.M. 2007. Calibration of the high-pressure cohesive strength meter (CSM). Continental Shelf Research. 27: 1190-1199.
2. T.J. Tolhurst, P. Friend, C. Watts, R. Wakefield, K.S. Black, D. M. Paterson. 2006. The effects of rain on the erosion threshold of intertidal cohesive sediments. Aquatic Ecology; 40(4): 533-54 1.

1. Perkins, R.G., Sun, H., Watson, J., Player, M.A., and Paterson, D.M.. 2004. In-line laser holography and video analysis of eroded floc from artificial and estuarine sediments. Env. Sci. Technol. 38: 4640-4648.
2. Black, K.S., Tolhurst, T.J., Hagerthey, S.E., and Paterson, D.M., 2002. Working with Natural Cohesive Sediments. J. Hydraulic Engineering, 128 (1): 1-7.
3. Paterson, D.M. & Black. K. S. 1999. Water flow, sediment dynamics, and benthic biology. In: Advances in Ecological Research (Raffaelii, D and Nedwell, D. eds). OUP. Oxford 155- 193.

Primary productivity of benthic autotrophs

Our knowledge of phytoplankton primary productivity has far outstripped information on benthic productivity despite the significant contribution of microphytobenthos to the carbon budget of shallow or intertidal ecosystems. The highly stratified biofilms in the surficial layers of sediments are characterized by steep physico­chemical gradients which respond instantaneously to the microenvironment. Measurements of
productivity must be made with as little disturbance as possible and on a scale appropriate to the spatial and temporal variability of the system. These problems are being solved by the application of fluorescence measurements (PAM system). The use of fluorescence to assess the photo-physiology of biofilm is now gaining momentum and allows a non-destructive measurement to be obtained. However, there are limits to the technique and experience is required to interpret the results. SERG has been applying this technique to intertidal and sub tidal systems including coral reefs and stromatolite assemblages. (In cooperation with Dr Rupert Perkins, Cardiff).

Selected papers

1. Jesus, B., Marani, M., Brotas, V., Paterson, D. M., 2005. Spatial dynamics of microphytobenthos determined by PAM fluorescence. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. 65: 30-42.
2. Consalvey, M., Paterson,. D.M & Underwood, G.J.C. 2004. The ups and downs of life in a benthic biofilm: Migration of benthic diatoms. Diatom Research, 19(2), 181-202.
3. Paterson, D.M., Perkins, R., Consalvey, M and Underwood, G.J.C. (2003). Ecosystem function, cell micro-cycling and the structure of transient biofilms. In: Fossil and Recent Biofilms A Natural History of Life on Earth (Krumbein W.E., Paterson, D.M. and Zavarzin, G, A, eds), Kluwer, London, 47-63.
4. Jesus, B., Mendes, C. R., Brotas, V., and Paterson, D.M. 2006. Effect of sediment type on microphytobenthos vertical distribution: Modeling the productive biomass and improving ground truth measurements. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 332: 60-74.