Biology

Adjunct Professor

Contact

Email: breitburgd@si.edu

Office Phone: 443-482-2308

Lab: http://www.serc.si.edu/labs/estuarine_ecology/index.jsp

Fax: 443-482-2380

Office Address: PO Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland 21037

URL: http://www.life.umd.edu/biology/faculty/breitburg/index.html

Graduate Program Affiliations

BISI - Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)

Research Interests

We are particularly interested in how responses of individual organisms and variation among species shape the patterns we see over large spatial scales and in complex biological assemblages. Our research addresses issues that are both theoretical in nature and have more immediate practical applications. Most or our studies center on Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
We work with a wide range of organisms, from fish to jellyfish. Topics of current interest in our lab include the effects of low dissolved oxygen on interactions and distributions of Chesapeake Bay organisms, potential effects of oyster decline and restoration on the Chesapeake Bay food web, how multiple stressors related to human activities influence coastal systems, how the complexity of food webs influences responses of coastal systems to stress, how links among regions of the estuarine landscape influence gelatinous zooplankton population dynamics, and how to improve oyster restoration.

Recent Publications

Fulford, R.S., D.L. Breitburg, R.I.E. Newell, W.M. Kemp, and M. Luckenbach. 2007. Effects of oyster population restoration strategies on phytoplankton biomass in Chesapeake Bay: A flexible modeling approach. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 336:43-61. >>
National Research Council. 2007. A Review of the Final Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy. Committee to Review the JSOST Research Priorities Plan, National Research Council The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. D. Breitburg, committee member. 148 pp.
Breitburg, D.L. and R.S. Fulford. 2006. Oyster-sea nettle interdependence and altered control within the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Estuaries and Coasts 29:776-784. pdf
Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Advisory Panel (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chesapeake Bay Office). 2006. Fisheries ecosystem planning for Chesapeake Bay. American Fisheries Society, Trends in Fisheries Science and Management 3, Bethesda, Maryland. (D. Breitburg, Panel Member)
Breitburg, D.L. and E. Houde. 2006. Habitat, habitat requirements, and habitat management. Pages 145-188 in Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Advisory Panel (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chesapeake Bay Office). Fisheries ecosystem planning for Chesapeake Bay. American Fisheries Society, Trends in Fisheries Science and Management 3, Bethesda, Maryland.
Breitburg, D.L. and G.F. Riedel. 2005. Multiple stressors in marine systems. Pp 167-182 In E. Norse and L. Crowder, eds. Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity. Island Press, Washington.
Richmond, C.E., D. L. Breitburg and K.A. Rose. 2005. The role of environmental generalist species in ecosystem function. Ecological Modeling. 188: 279-295. >>
Grove, M. and D.L. Breitburg. 2005. Growth and reproduction of gelatinous zooplankton exposed to low dissolved oxygen. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 301: 185-198. >>
Decker, M.B., D.L. Breitburg and J.E. Purcell. 2004. Effects of low dissolved oxygen on zooplankton predation by the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 280:163-172. >>
National Research Council. 2004. River Basins and Coastal Systems Planning within the U.S. Army corps of Engineers. (D. Breitburg, panel member). The National Academies Press. Washington, D.C. 167 pp

Education

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1984. Marine and estuarine ecology; relationship between behavior and community ecology; behavior and ecology of fishes.