Dr Angus Atkinson is a marine ecologist with over 25 years of research experience and currently co-ordinates the plankton ecology team at PML.Dr Atkinson also co-leads the NERC-funded Western Channel Observatory and is responsible for the delivery of plankton data from this valuable 25-year time series.
Previously Dr Atkinson worked at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge where he studied the distribution, feeding and energy budgets of zooplankton, particularly copepods and Antarctic krill.
Angus' research interests lie in bentho-pelagic coupling, involving zooplankton vertical migration and gravitational fluxes, phenology shifts and seasonal succession in plankton communities, zooplankton feeding and pelagic food webs, as well as the role of zooplankton in biogeochemical cycles, particularly in modifying nutrient ratios in particulate matter.
Selected Publications
Atkinson A, Hill SH, Barange M, Pakhomov EA, Raubenheimer D, Schmidt K, Simpson SJ, Reiss C (2014) Sardine cycles, krill declines and locust plagues: revisiting “wasp-waist” food webs. Trend in Ecology and Evolution 29: 309-316
Lindeque PK, Parry HE, Harmer RA, Somerfield PJ, Atkinson, A (2013) Next generation
sequencing reveals the hidden diversity of zooplankton assemblages. PLoS One 8 (11) e81327
Hill SL, Phillips A, Atkinson A (2013) potential climate change effects on the habitat of Antarctic krill in the Weddell quadrant of the Southern Ocean PLoS One 8 (8) e72246
Stowasser G, Atkinson A, McGill RAR, Phillips RA, Collins MA, Pond DW (2012) Food web dynamics in the Scotia Sea in summer: a stable isotope study. Deep-Sea Res II 59/60: 208-221
Hill SL, Lees K, Atkinson A, Murphy EJ (2012) A foodweb model to explore uncertainties in the South Georgia shelf pelagic ecosystem. Deep-Sea Res II 59/60: 237-252