Projectdetails

During the last three decades, the Arctic ice cap has reduced in area by 20%, opening up coastal marine habitats in the Arctic to a rapidly growing extent. Major effects on marine biodiversity are to be expected in the very near future. A large-scale interchange of marine flora and fauna across the Arctic took place between the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans following the opening of the Bering Strait 4 to 7 million years ago. It is imperative to accelerate our efforts towards understanding the historical trans-Arctic biotic interchange in order to predict effects of its modern-day equivalent and to test these predictions over the coming decades. This project addresses this question from two angles, asking, first, what made some taxa successful trans-Arctic colonizers and others not, and second, how did trans-Arctic migration affect evolutionary adaptations? This interdisciplinary project will study ecologically relevant genetic variation by combining controlled experimental work with analysis at both the DNA (AFLP) and RNA (cDNA-AFLP) levels. As study taxon the bivalve genus Macoma is chosen because of its ecological significance as an important secondary producer and intermediate position in the food web, its excellent fossil record, the extensive earlier experience with it in ecological experiments, including laboratory rearing, and the fact that it is relatively undisturbed by human activities.

Key words: trans-Arctic migration, global climate change, ecological genomics, adaptive plasticity, population differentiation.

Artikelen

• J Campos, KTCA Peijnenburg, J van Bleijswijk, PC Luttikhuizen, HW van der Veer (2008). Phylogeography of the common shrimp, Crangon crangon (L.) across its distribution range. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . pp. 1015-1030
• PC Luttikhuizen, J Drent (2008). Inheritance of predominantly hidden shell colours in Macoma balthica (L.) (Bivalvia: Tellinidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies. pp. 355-362
• R Dekker, PC Luttikhuizen (2010). Pseudo-cryptic species Arenicola defodiens and A. marina (Polychaeta: Arenicolidae) in Wadden Sea, North Sea and Skagerrak: morphological and molecular variation. Journal of Sea Research. pp. 17-23
• K Mokhtar-Jamai, D Aurelle, N Blavet, A Chenuil, E Boissin, JDD Bishop, A Diaz, F Patti, S Mousset, C Rocher, M Krakau, TB Hoareau, E Egea, G Penant, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2010). An efficient method to find potentially universal population genetic markers, applied to metazoans. BMC Evolutionary Biology. pp. 
• R Bak, MC Reyes-Niva, J Faria, P Frade, JA Kaandorp, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2010). Semi-permeable species boundaries in the coral genus Madracis: Introgression in a brooding coral system. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. pp. 1072-1090
• PJC Honkoop, J Drent, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Intraspecific egg size variation and sperm limitation in the broadcast spawning bivalve Macoma balthica. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. pp. 156-161
• HW van der Veer, JFMF Cardoso, C Carvalho, S Santos, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Seasonal variability in somatic and reproductive investment of the bivalve Scrobicularia plana (da Costa, 1778) along a latitudinal gradient. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. pp. 19-26
• J Reneerkens, O Haddrath, A Bol, T Piersma, AJ Baker, H Witte, J van Bleijswijk, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Novel and cross-species microsatellite markers for parentage analysis in sanderling Calidris alba. Journal of Ornithology. pp. 807-810
• HW van der Veer, J Campos, S Santos, CHR Heip, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Spatial distribution patterns of the peppery furrow shell Scrobicularia plana (da Costa, 1778) along the European coast: A review. Journal of Sea Research. pp. 238-247
• R Dekker, A Bol, JFMF Cardoso, Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Overlapping distributions of cryptic Scoloplos cf. armiger species in the western Wadden Sea. Journal of Sea Research. pp. 231-237
• Dr. ir. P.C. Luttikhuizen (2011). Overlapping distributions of cryptic Scoloplos cf. armiger species in the western Wadden Sea. Journal of Sea Research. pp. 231-237