Dr Adrian Glover

Research

Latest news!

About me

I am a marine biologist 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 - systematics and evolutionary novelty of polychaetes at chemosynthetic ecosystems ('whale-falls', hydrothermal vents and cold seeps), biodiversity of polychaetes on the abyssal plains and deep-sea slope, temporal changes in high-latitude environments (e.g. Antarctica), and environmental impacts in the deep sea.

This is my basic CV and home page. I also run a 'web 2.0' style site for polychaete taxonomists called polychaetes.info - supported by the NHM-led EDIT-Scratchpad project.

My current projects include:

• A combined molecular and morphological taxonomic approach to understanding the evolutionary origin and diversity of annelids at chemosynthetic ecosystems of a biogenic origin (e.g. whale-falls and wood-falls)
  
• 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 in the deep sea. We are currently working on samples from the central Pacific abyssal plain, the North-East Atlantic abyssal plain, and the deep canyon systems of the Portuguese margin in collaboration with many scientists from the EU and USA.
  
• Temporal changes in high-latitude ecosystems (i.e Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean), and responses to global climate change. We are investigating the potential importance of benthic-pelagic coupling on the Antarctic shelf, and the effect of a shifts in the seasonal food supply to benthic animals (including the abundant polychaetes) using a long time-series study.
  
• Human 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 climate change, deep-sea disposal, deep-sea fisheries, and oil exploration. Future activities that may impact the deep-sea include deep-sea mining, carbon dioxide sequestration and ocean acidification.

I am currently being funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the European Union (Science Framework 6 and 7), and internal research grants from the Natural History Museum, which is funded by the UK Government.

If there are opportunities to join our research group, I will advertise them here. I supervise graduate student projects both at MSc and PhD (e.g NERC-CASE) level in co-operation with UK University supervisors, subject to funding becoming available.

Vacancies:

Although I currently do not have any vacancies for paid work, I am always interested to take on graduate students. We offer an in-house post-graduate course at the NHM on taxonomy and biodiversity, as well as acting as a  CASE partner for Research Council funded PhD students.

Biography

Sampling in Antarctica from the RRS James Clark Ross

2003 – present Researcher, Zoology Department, The Natural History Museum, London.

2000 – 2003 Post-doctoral Research Assistant, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, USA

2000 PhD, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton

1996 BSc, Biology Department, University of York

Deploying a Speere ROV with Thomas Dahlgren

Teaching

Details on my teaching activities including course lectures

Teaching polychaete taxonomy to students at University of the Western Cape, South Africa

TOL/L11: Annelid biodiversity and systematics. MSc course, ‘Advanced Methods in Biodiversity and Systematics’. Download lectures.

Royal Society Teaching Workshop: Introduction to Polychaete Taxonomy. (I hope to create a separate site for this teaching workshop, held at the University of Western Cape in January 2007).

Queen Mary, University of London - Deep-Sea Benthic Biological Oceanography. Final year module. This course is no longer offered, but I hope to find a new home for it soon.

Downloads

I intend to use this area for downloads and interesting links.

Check out our LIVE underwater camera that is currently situated at 30m water depth in a small fjord off the coast of Sweden focussed on a whale-fall! Note that it may not be always working owing to a variety of reasons such as software glitches, flooding of the camera housing or sudden infestation of barnacles. You can rest assured that my collaborators at the Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences, Sweden will be hard at work trying to fix it.

I intend to put files to download here as and when I think of something useful. In the meantime, please check out our website polychaetes.info where we are uploading taxonomic information produced in our lab to a searchable and editable database available to the public.

You can now also search the Zoology Department Specimen Collection which is in the process of being databased by the curation group here in the department using the KE EMu software. For enquiries about specimen loans, please contact Emma Sherlock. 

Collecting whale-bones from a sperm whale stranding near Hull. Unfortunately this specimen was too large to fit in the museum vehicle.

People

Research Group

Nicholas Higgs - PhD Student. Nick is a NERC-CASE funded PhD student working on whale-falls, whale taphonomy, boring by Osedax, bone bioerosion and whale palaeontology. 

Margaret Packer - Laboratory Manager & Research Assistant. Margaret is responsible for maintaining the research labs for the polychaete and nematode research groups, including our microscopy facilities (Leica DM5000, Zeiss V.20, Leica MZ95, Leica MZ6) and sorting laboratories. Margaret also assists with research projects.

Affiliated Students / Post-docs

Dr Helena Wiklund - at the University of Göteborg, Sweden. Helena has just successfully defended her PhD!

Daphne Cuvelier - PhD student at the University of the Azores. Daphne is studying hydrothermal vent biology.

Cecilia Anderung - Post-doctoral scholar in the Palaeontology Department, NHM. Cecilia is studying the population genetics of blue and sperm whales using an ancient DNA approach.

External collaborators

I have just started to make this list, which I realise still has many people missing. Work in progress!

Dr Thomas Dahlgren, University of Gothenburg

Prof Craig Smith, University of Hawaii

Dr Helena Wiklund, University of Gothenburg

...

Publications

Updated 20/9/09

Summary

Peer-reviewed Publications: 25

Consultancy Reports: 4

Popular Science Articles: 4

Total: 33

Publications

2009/10

27. Glover, A.G., Gooday, A.N. et al. (submitted) Climatic and geological drivers of long-term temporal change in deep-sea ecosystems. Advances in Marine Biology

26. Johnson, K., Brooks, S., Fenberg, P., Glover, A.G., James, K., Lister, A., Michel, E., Spencer, M., Todd, J., Valsami-Jones, E., Young, J., Stewart, J. (submitted) Climate change and biosphere response: unlocking the collections vault. TREE

25. Cuvelier, D., Sarrazin, J., Colaço, A., Copley, J., Desbruyères, D., Glover, A.G., Tyler, P.A., Serrao Santos, R. (in press) Distribution and spatial variation of Atlantic hydrothermal faunal assemblages revealed by high-resolution video image analysis. Deep-Sea Research

24. Paterson, G.L.J., Doner, S., Budaeva, N., Barrio-Frojan, C., Chimonides, P.J., Glover, A.G. , Whitaker, A. (2009). A census of abyssal polychaetes. Deep-Sea Research II 56, 1739-1746

23. Wiklund, H., Glover, A.G., Dahlgren, T.G. (2009) Three new Ophryotrocha (Annelida: Dorvilleidae) species from a whale-fall in the north-east Atlantic. Zootaxa 2228, 43-56

2008/9

22. Wiklund, H., Glover, A.G., Johannessen, P.J. , Dahlgren, T.G. (2009). Cryptic speciation at organic-rich marine habitats: a new bacteriovore annelid from whale-fall and fish farms in the North East Atlantic. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155, 774-785

21. Glover, A.G., Sundberg, P., Dahlgren, T.G. (2009) In Linnaeus’ wake: three hundred years of marine discovery. Zoologica Scripta 38 (Suppl 1), 1-6

20. Mincks, S.L., Dyal, P., Paterson, G.L.J. , Smith, C.R., Glover, A.G. (2008). An abundant new species of Aurospio (Annelida, Spionidae) from Antarctica, with analysis of its ecology, reproductive biology and evolutionary history. Marine Ecology 2008, 1-17

19. Sumida, P.Y.G, Bernardino, A.F., Stedall, V.P., Glover, A.G., Smith, C.R. (2008) Temporal changes in benthic megafaunal abundance and composition across the West Antarctic Peninsula shelf: results from video surveys. Deep-Sea Research Part II 55, 2465-2477

18. Glover, A.G., Smith, C.R., Mincks, S., Sumida, P., Thurber, A. (2008) Macrofaunal abundance and composition on the West Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf: evidence for a sediment ‘food bank’ and similarities to deep-sea habitats. Deep-Sea Research Part II 55, 2491-2501

17. Glover, A.G., Kemp, K.M., Smith, C.R., Dahlgren, T.G. (2008) On the role of bone-eating worms in the degradation of marine vertebrate remains. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B

16. Smith, C.R., Levin, L.A., Koslow, A., Tyler, P.A., Glover, A.G. (2008) The near future of deep seafloor ecosystems. In: Aquatic Ecosystems: Trends and Global Prospects, Ed. Polunin, N. Cambridge University Press.

2007/8 (and earlier)

15. Dahlgren, T.G., Wiklund, H., Källström, B., Lundälv, T., Smith, C.R., Glover, A.G. (2006). A shallow-water whale-fall experiment  in the north Atlantic. Cahiers De Biologie Marine 47, 385-389

14. Paterson, G.L.J., Glover, A.G., Tilman, C. (2006) Body size response of abyssal polychaetes to different nutrient regimes. Scientia Marina December 2006, 319-330

13. 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

12. 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

11. 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

10. 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

9. 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

8. 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.

7. Mincks S.L., Smith, C.R., Glover, A.G., Sumida, P.Y.G. & DeMaster, D.J. (2002) Benthic responses to seasonal phytodetritus deposition on the west Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf. EOS Transactions AGU 83: Abstract OS31N-03.

6. Smith C.R., Baco-Taylor, A., Glover, A.G., Kadko, D. & Schuller, D. (2002) Faunal succession on replicate deep-sea whale falls: time scales and vent-seep relationships. EOS Transactions AGU 83: Abstract OS42P-03.

5. Smith C.R., Mincks, S.L., Glover, A.G., DeMaster, D.J. & Sumida, P.Y.G. (2002) FOODBANCS on the Antarctic Peninsula shelf: the benthic food bank hypothesis and the seasonal deposition pulse. EOS Transactions, American Geophysical Union 83: Abstract OS 223- OS224.

4. 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.

3. 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.

2. 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.

1. Glover, A.G., Paterson, G.L.J., Gage, J.D., Hawkins, L., Sheader, M. (2000) Scales of polychaete biodiversity from the abyssal north Atlantic. Bulletin of Marine Science 67 (1), 664.

Consultancy Reports

Bamber R N, Robbins R S, Evans N J, Barrio Frojan C, Glover A G, Packer M & Paterson G L J 2005. Benthic analysis: Mosen A oilfield environmental survey off southern Gabon (6328). Natural History Museum Consultancy Report to Gardline Environmental No.. ECM 801K/04, February 2005, 22pp, (D)

Bamber R N, Robbins R S, Barrio Frojan C, Glover A G, Packer M & Paterson G L J 2005. Benthic analysis: Titan oilfield environmental survey, 1050-1130 m depth off Gabon (6330). Natural History Museum Consultancy Report to Gardline Environmental No.. ECM 801M/05, February 2005, 20pp, (D)

Bamber R N, Robbins R S, Barrio Frojan C, Glover A G, Packer M & Paterson G L J 2005. Benthic analysis: Mosen H oilfield environmental survey off Gabon (6329). Natural History Museum Consultancy Report to Gardline Environmental No.. ECM 801L/05, February 2005, 20pp, (D)

Bamber R N, Cabrinovic A, Clark P F, Glover A G, Lowe M & Taylor J 2003.  Benthic analysis: inshore environmental survey off Trinidad (5951), May 2003.  Report No. ECM 801G/03, The Natural History Museum, London. 14pp  (D)

Popular Science

Glover, A.G. (2008) Beneath the ice. New Statesman, October 23, 2008

Glover, A.G. (2008) On the bed of the deep, deep sea. Times Literary Supplement, March 21 2008 No. 5477.

Glover, A.G. (2007) Whale-fall. Planet Earth, Autumn 2007, 14-15

Glover, A.G. (2000) Here's mud in your eye! New Scientist 167, 48-49.