Overview
I am an ecologist studying how coral reef habitats are changing in response to persistent anthropogenic impacts. My current research focusses on the capacity of modern reef communities in the Gulf of Mexico to support positive net reef growth and structural complexity while keeping pace with rising sea levels.
My doctoral research at the University of Wageningen and the Royal NIOZ focused on characterizing the long-term trajectories of change in the configuration of benthic reef communities in the Dutch Caribbean. As part of this, I have had the opportunity to study the longest running time-series on coral reefs in the world, which includes photos of permanent quadrats that have been collected since the early 1970s.
One of the main goals of my PhD was to study changes in the balance between bioerosion and bioaccretion processes within reef assemblages. This is how I got introduced to the work of Prof. Chris Perry, as we implemented the ReefBudget census approach, that he and his group developed here at the University of Exeter to estimate present day and historical reef carbonate budget states.
I have joined this group in the Geology Department at the University of Exeter in September 2022 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. The project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
While I consider myself a reef ecologist, I am also interested in the chemical processes taking place within reef habitats, marine animal physiology and taxonomy, the modelling of future responses, and the use of molecular research techniques.
Qualifications
PhD, Coral Reef Ecology, University of Wageningen (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
MSc, Limnology and Oceanography, University of Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
BSc, Biology, University of Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Links
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Research
Research interests
- Coral reef ecology
- Reef carbonate budgets
- Bioerosion
- Sponge ecology
- Reef biochemistry
- Climate change and reefs
- Long-term time-series
- Benthic Cyanobacterial Mats (BCMs)
- Invertebrate spawing in the Red Sea
Research projects
Title: Natural coastal protection potential of Mexican Atlantic coral reefs across a gradient of ecological degradation.
For this Leverhulme Trust funder postdoctoral research project (2022-2025) we aim to quantify how different aspects of reef-derived coastal protection benefits vary across gradients of reef ecological degradation. We will collect empirical data on key model parameters of the ReefBudget approach (https://geography.exeter.ac.uk/reefbudget/) and seek to develop new and improved methods to examine the capacity of reefs to accrete vertically. Ultimately the project will generate a set of monitoring tools to further support coastal vulnerability assessments. The research will predominantly be conducted on the Atlantic reefs of Mexico and in collaboration with Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
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Publications
Journal articles
de Bakker D, van Duyl FC, Perry CT, Meesters EH (In Press). Extreme spatial heterogeneity in carbonate accretion potential on a Caribbean fringing reef linked to local human disturbance gradients. Global Change Biology
Morris J, Enochs I, Webb A, de Bakker D, Soderberg N, Kolodziej G, Manzello D (2022). The influences of diurnal variability and ocean acidification on the bioerosion rates of two reef-dwelling Caribbean sponges.
Glob Chang Biol,
28(23), 7126-7138.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Achlatis M, van der Zande RM, Webb AE, de Bakker DM, de Nooijer LJ, de Goeij JM (2021). Photosynthetically stimulated bioerosion in symbiotic sponges: the role of glycerol and oxygen.
CORAL REEFS,
40(3), 881-891.
Author URL.
Webb AE, de Bakker DM, Soetaert K, da Costa T, van Heuven SMAC, van Duyl FC, Reichart G-J, de Nooijer LJ (2021). Quantifying functional consequences of habitat degradation on a Caribbean coral reef.
BIOGEOSCIENCES,
18(24), 6501-6516.
Author URL.
Webb AE, Engelen AH, Bouwmeester J, van Dijk I, Geerken E, Lattaud J, Engelen D, de Bakker BS, de Bakker DM (2021). Synchronized broadcast spawning by six invertebrates (Echinodermata and Mollusca) in the north-western Red Sea.
MARINE BIOLOGY,
168(5).
Author URL.
Webb AE, Engelen AH, Bouwmeester J, van Dijk I, Geerken E, Lattaud J, Engelen D, de Bakker BS, de Bakker DM (2021). Synchronized broadcast spawning by six invertebrates (Echinodermata and Mollusca) in the north-western Red Sea (vol 168, 56, 2021).
MARINE BIOLOGY,
168(6).
Author URL.
Bart MC, de Vet SJ, de Bakker DM, Alexander BE, van Oevelen D, van Loon EE, van Loon JJWA, de Goeij JM (2019). Spiculous skeleton formation in the freshwater sponge <i>Ephydatia fluviatilis</i> under hypergravity conditions.
PEERJ,
6 Author URL.
van Heuven SMAC, Webb AE, de Bakker DM, Meesters E, van Duyl FC, Reichart G-J, de Nooijer LJ (2018). In-situ incubation of a coral patch for community-scale assessment of metabolic and chemical processes on a reef slope.
PEERJ,
6 Author URL.
de Bakker DM, Webb AE, van den Bogaart LA, van Heuven SMAC, Meesters EH, van Duyl FC (2018). Quantification of chemical and mechanical bioerosion rates of six Caribbean excavating sponge species found on the coral reefs of Curacao.
PLOS ONE,
13(5).
Author URL.
Kenny NJ, de Goeij JM, de Bakker DM, Whalen CG, Berezikov E, Riesgo A (2018). Towards the identification of ancestrally shared regenerative mechanisms across the Metazoa: a Transcriptomic case study in the Demosponge <i>Halisarca caerulea</i>.
MARINE GENOMICS,
37, 135-147.
Author URL.
de Bakker DM, van Duyl FC, Bak RPM, Nugues MM, Nieuwland G, Meesters EH (2017). 40 Years of benthic community change on the Caribbean reefs of Curacao and Bonaire: the rise of slimy cyanobacterial mats.
CORAL REEFS,
36(2), 355-367.
Author URL.
Webb AE, van Heuven SMAC, de Bakker DM, van Duyl FC, Reichart G-J, de Nooijer LJ (2017). Combined Effects of Experimental Acidification and Eutrophication on Reef Sponge Bioerosion Rates.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE,
4 Author URL.
De Bakker DM, Meesters EH, Bak RPM, Nieuwland G, Van Duyl FC (2017). Long-term Shifts in Coral Communities on Shallow to Deep Reef Slopes of Curacao and Bonaire: Are There Any Winners? (vol 3, 247, 2016).
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE,
4 Author URL.
De Bakker DM, Meesters EH, Bak RPM, Nieuwland G, Van Duyl FC (2016). Long-term Shifts in Coral Communities on Shallow to Deep Reef Slopes of Curacao and Bonaire: Are There Any Winners?.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE,
3 Author URL.
de Bakker DM, Meesters EHWG, van Bleijswijk JDL, Luttikhuizen PC, Breeuwer HJAJ, Becking LE (2016). Population Genetic Structure, Abundance, and Health Status of Two Dominant Benthic Species in the Saba Bank National Park, Caribbean Netherlands: <i>Montastraea cavernosa</i> and <i>Xestospongia muta</i>.
PLOS ONE,
11(5).
Author URL.
de Bakker DM, Wilkinson M, Jensen B (2015). Extreme variation in the atrial septation of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona).
JOURNAL OF ANATOMY,
226(1), 1-12.
Author URL.
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