Zoology staff directory

Research interests

I am interested in the ecology, biodiversity and evolutionary origin of polychaetes, which are marine segmented worms belonging to the clade Annelida. Polychaetes are extraordinarily diverse in the deep-sea, the largest yet most poorly sampled environment on the planet. My research has focused on four areas - evolutionary novelty of polychaetes at chemosynthetic ecosystems (especially 'whale-falls'), biodiversity of polychaetes on the abyssal plains, temporal changes in high-latitude environments (e.g. Antarctica), and environmental impacts in the deep sea.

Current activities

A combined molecular and morphological approach to understanding the evolutionary origin and diversity of annelids at chemosynthetic ecosystems of a biogenic origin (e.g. whale-falls and wood-falls). This project is in collaboration with Dr Thomas Dahlgren (Göteborg University) and Dr Craig Smith (University of Hawaii).

The novel annelid clade, Osedax, including its phylogenetic position, functional anatomy and patterns of larval development and dispersal ability.

Large-scale patterns of biodiversity and biogeography on the abyssal plains, and the potential impact of polymetallic nodule mining in these habitats. This is an international project being carried out in collaboration with Dr Gordon Paterson, Dr John Lambshead, Prof Craig Smith (University of Hawaii) and is funded by the Kaplan Foundation, the International Seabed Authority and the Natural History Museum.

Temporal changes in high-latitude ecosystems, and responses to global change. We are investigating the potential importance of benthic-pelagic coupling on the Antarctic shelf, and the effect of a strongly seasonal food supply on benthic animals (including the abundant polychaetes) using a long time series study.

Environmental impacts in the deep sea. Although remote and seemingly immune to terrestrial and shallow-water impacts, the deep-sea is starting to be affected by human activities. These include deep-sea disposal, deep-sea fisheries, and oil exploration. Future activities that may impact the deep-sea include polymetallic nodule mining, carbon dioxide sequestration and climate change.

Contracts, grants, awards

Royal Society 2006 USA Incoming Fellowship grant to study Antarctic polychaetes (160K GBP)

EU MarBEF DEEPSETS 2005 Responsive Mode Proposal – Chemosynthetic ecosystems PhD proposal. (6K GBP)

NERC New Investigator 2005 – Polychaetes at deep-sea whale falls: molecular and morphological evidence for phylogeny, population structure and evolutionary novelty. (51K GBP)

EU MarBEF 2005 Taxonomy Clearing System – Functional anatomy of Osedax using transmission electron microscope. (3.5K GBP)

Museum Research Fund 2003 – Molecular genetics of polychaetes from deep-sea chemosynthetic habitats: population structure, gene-flow and phylogeny. (19K GBP)

Employment history

	Researcher - Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii
2000 - 2003	Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, USA. - Post-doctoral Research Fellow
2003 - present	The Natural History Museum - Researcher (Polychaete Research Group)

Higher education

1996	University of York - BSc Hons
2001	University of Southampton - PhD

Biographical details

Fieldwork (oceanographic cruises)

November 2005 – January 2006 45 day cruise with RRS Discovery to the Crozet Islands, Southern Ocean to study the impacts of spatially-variable export production on benthic communities.

August 2003 – 2005 (and ongoing) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives off Tjärnö Marine Biological Laboratory, Sweden to study implanted Minke and Pilot whale carcasses at 120 and 30m.

February 2005. 5 day cruise aboard the R/V Western Flyer, using ROV to study whale, wood and kelp-fall experiments on the California slope.

June, July 2004 R/V L'Atalante. 46 day cruise in central equatorial Pacific, use of USNEL box core, multiple core and Nautile submersible to investigate biodiversity on abyssal plain.

March 2004 R/V Western Flyer. 10 day cruise using ROV Tiburon on chemosynthetic habitats on the California slope (whale, wood and kelp-fall experiments).

February 2004 RV Umitaka-Maru 7 day cruise in the central equatorial Pacific close to Hawaii. Use of multiple core to take DNA-friendly samples in 5000m of water. Dr A GLOVER is Chief Scientist for benthic group.

February 2003 R/V New Horizon. 35 day cruise in the central equatorial Pacific. Use of USNEL spade box core and multiple core to take DNA-friendly deep-sea macrofaunal samples.

October 2002 R/V Western Flyer. 14 day cruise, using the ROV Tiburon to take samples from natural and experimentally-implanted whale-fall, kelp and wood island habitats off southern California at 2000m depth.

July 2002 R/V Sproul. 3 day cruise, experimental implantation of kelp parcels in the deep sea.

March 2001 United States Antarctic Program participant aboard the ARSV Laurence M Gould. 30 day cruise, using USNEL spade box core, otter trawls, plankton tows, multiple cores to sample the deep (600m) continental shelf.

February 2000 United States Antarctic Program participant aboard the ARSV Laurence M Gould. 30 day cruise, using USNEL spade box core, otter trawls, plankton tows, multiple cores to sample the deep (600m) continental shelf.

October 2000 United States Antarctic Program participant aboard the ARSV Laurence M Gould. 30 day cruise, using USNEL spade box core, otter trawls, plankton tows, multiple cores to sample the deep (600m) continental shelf.

November 2000 R/V Kamikai 'O Kanaloa. 7 day cruise.Use of the Pisces IV submersible to investigate the distribution of deep-water coral species off the island of Hawai'i. 1 successful eight hour dive to 600m aboard Pisces IV.

Web links

• Homepage

Publications

Sumida, P.Y.G, Bernardino, A.F., Stedall, V.P., Glover, A.G., Smith, C.R. (in press) Temporal changes in benthic megafaunal abundance and composition across the West Antarctic Peninsula shelf: results from video surveys. Deep-Sea Research Part II

Glover, A.G., Smith, C.R., Mincks, S., Sumida, P., Thurber, A. (in press) Spatial and temporal variability in macrofaunal community structure on the West Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf. Deep-Sea Research Part II

Dahlgren, T.G., Wiklund, H., Källström, B., Lundälv, T., Smith, C.R., Glover, A.G. (in press) A shallow-water whale-fall experiment  in the north Atlantic. Cahiers De Biologie Marine

Glover, A.G., Dahlgren, T., Goetze, E., Smith, C.R. (2005) Morphology, reproductive biology and population genetics of the whale-fall and hydrothermal vent specialist, Bathykurila guaymasensis Pettibone, 1989 (Annelida: Polynoidae). Marine Ecology 26, 223-234

Glover, A.G., Källström, B., Smith, C.R., Dahlgren, T. (2005) World-wide whale worms? A new species of Osedax from the shallow north Atlantic. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B 272, 2587-2592

Paterson, G.L.J., Glover, A.G., Tilman, C. (in press) Body size response of abyssal polychaetes to different nutrient regimes. Scientia Marina

Smith, C.R., Levin, L.A., Koslow, A., Tyler, P.A., Glover, A.G. (in press) The near future of deep seafloor ecosystems. Cambridge University Press.

Dahlgren, T., Glover, A.G., Smith, C.R., Baco, A. (2004) Fauna of whale falls: systematics and ecology of a new polychaete (Annelida: Chrysopetalidae) from the deep Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I 51:1873-1887

Glover A.G. & Smith, C.R. (2003) The deep-sea floor ecosystem: current status and prospects for anthropogenic change by the year 2025. Environmental Conservation 30(3):219-241

Glover, A.G, Smith, C.R., Paterson, G.L.J., Wilson, G.D.F., Hawkins, L., Sheader, M. (2002) Polychaete species diversity in the central Pacific abyss: local and regional patterns, and relationships with productivity Marine Ecology Progress Series 240, 157-170

Smith, C.R., Baco, A.R., Glover, A.G. (2002) Faunal succession on replicate deep-sea whale falls: time scales and vent-seep relationships. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 43, 293-297

Glover, A.G., Paterson, G.L.J., Bett, B., Gage, J., Sibuet, M., Sheader, M. and Hawkins, L. (2001) Patterns in polychaete abundance and diversity from the Madeira Abyssal Plain, north-east Atlantic. Deep-Sea Research I 48, 217-236

Lambshead, P.J.D., Tietjen, J., Glover, A.G., Ferrero, T., Thistle, D. and Gooday, A. (2001) The impact of large-scale natural physical disturbance on the diversity of deep-sea north Atlantic nematodes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 214, 121-126

Paterson, G.L.J. and Glover, A.G. (2000) A new species of Sigambra (Polychaeta, Pilargidae) from the abyssal plains of the NE Atlantic. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum (Zoology Series) 66, (2), 167-170