Dr. Don Deibel
Bachelors: B.Sc. Bucknell
Doctoral: Ph.D. Georgia
Telephone: (709) 864-3241
E-mail: ddeibel@mun.ca
Website: http://www.mun.ca/osc/ddeibel/index.php
List all publications
Research Interests:
I am interested in the behavioural and physiological ecology of marine invertebrates with applications to simulation modelling, global climate change and the ecology of invasive species. In particular, I determine the role of zooplankton in marine ecosystems, including planktonic tunicates and suprabenthic zooplankton. Recently, I have been focusing on seasonal dynamics of lipids and fatty acids to determine the response of zooplankton to phytoplankton blooms and to elucidate seasonal cycles of reproduction and energy storage. My work on invasive species is focused on two non-native ascidian tunicates that we have found in some harbours on the south coast of insular Newfoundland, Botryllus schlosseri and Botrylloides violaceus. We have determined the seasonal cycles of somatic growth and reproduction of B. schlosseri and found that it has made life history adaptations to the short growing season and long winters in Newfoundland. We are also developing TaqMan QPCR assays for species-specific identification of larvae and colony fragments in water samples based upon partial sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene of mitochondrial DNA. My research on planktonic tunicates is presently focused on the population ecology and genetics of the pan-Arctic appendicularians Oikopleura vanhoeffeni, O. labradoriensis and Fritillaria borealis. We have found that these 3 species have very specific temperature-and-salinity niches in Newfoundland fjords and have developed a technique of using statolith diameter as a proxy for age in field populations. It seems that O. vanhoeffeni has evolved to have a long life span and reproduce at a large body size, whereas O. labradoriensis has evolved to have a shorter life span and reproduce at a smaller body size. These disparate life history adaptations have major implications for the separation of these congeneric species in space and time.
Recent Publications:
Connelly, T.L.; Deibel, D.; Parrish, C.C. (2012). Elemental composition, total lipid content, and lipid class proportions in zooplankton from the benthic boundary layer of the Beaufort Sea shelf (Canadian arctic). Polar Biology. 46. [This publication is currently 'In Press']
Deibel, D.; Parrish, C.C.; Gronkjaer, P.; Munk, P.; Nielsen, T.G. (2012). Lipid class and fatty acid content of the leptocephalus larva of tropical eels. Lipids. 30. [This publication is currently 'In Press']
Deibel, D.; Lowen, J.B. (2011). A review of the life cycles and life-history adaptations of pelagic tunicates to environmental conditions. Ices Journal Of Marine Science. Doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsr. 159 12. [This publication is currently 'In Press']
Ma, K.; Deibel, D; McKenzie, C.H. (2011). Indigenous and non-indigenous ascidian tunicates of Newfoundland and Labrador. In Proceedings of the Contributed Papers of the 27th Annual General Meeting of the Aquaculture Association of Canada: ACC Advance Special Publication (Vol. 17, pp. 58-63).
Lowen, J.B.; Ma, K.; Deibel, D. (2011). Aquatic invasive species: Golden Star Tunicate in Newfoundland and Labrador waters. Fisheries & Oceans Canada; (http://publications.gc.ca/collections/ Collection_2011/mpo-dfo/fs23-555-2-2011-eng.pdf). 2.
Lowen, J.B.; Ma, K.; Deibel, D. (2011). Aquatic invasive species: Violet tunicate in Newfoundland and Labrador waters. Fisheries and Oceans, (http://publications.gc.ca/collections/ Collection_2011/mpo-dfo/fs23-555-3-2011-eng.pdf). 2.
Callahan, A.G.; Deibel, D.; McKenzie, C.H.; Hall, J.R.; Rise, M.L. (2010). Survey of harbours in Newfoundland for indigenous and non-indigenous ascidians and an analysis of their cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequences. Aquatic Invasions. 5 31-39.
Choe, N.; Deibel, D. (2010). Life history characters and population dynamics of the boreal larvacean Oikopleura vanhoeffeni (Tunicata) in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association Of The UK. doi: 10.1017 12.
Loseto, L.L.; Stern, G.A.; Connelly, T.L.; Deibel, D.; Gemmill, B.; Prokopowicz, A.; Fortier, L.; Ferguson, S.H. (2009). Summer diet of beluga whales inferred by fatty acid analysis of the eastern Beaufort Sea food web. Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology. 374 (1) 12-18. (Click here for Abstract)
Choe, N.; Deibel, D. (2009). Statolith diameter as an age indicator in the planktonic tunicate Oikopleura vanhoeffeni: Variability in age-specific growth patterns in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology. 375 89-98. (Click here for Abstract)
