Expertise:
Ecology, physiology and life history of marine zooplankton. Responses of aquatic organisms to environmental change.
My research is focused on the ecology, physiology and biogeochemistry of aquatic organisms. We establish and test fundamental rules and principles of biology using marine and freshwater taxa. In developing new perspectives our methodologies span: experimentation, fieldwork, conceptualisation and meta-analysis. We have experimental experience with crustaceans, jellyfish, ciliates and phytoplankton. We have a focus which also includes the formulation of mechanistic understanding of the response of organisms and ecosystems to climate change.
Selected Publications
Hirst AG, Glazier D, Atkinson D (2014) Body shape-shifting during growth permits tests that distinguish between competing geometric theories of metabolic scaling. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12334
Kiørboe T, Hirst AG. (2014) Shifts in mass-scaling of respiration, feeding, and growth rates across life-form transitions in marine pelagic animals. The American Naturalist 183 (4) E118-E130.
Hirst AG, Forster J (2013) When growth models are not universal: evidence from marine invertebrates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280: 20131546. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1546
FitzGeorge-Balfour T, Hirst AG, Lucas CH, Craggs J (2013) Influence of copepod size and behaviour on vulnerability to predation by the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita. Journal of Plankton Research. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbt077
Forster, Hirst AG, Atkinson D (2012) Warming induced reductions in body size are greater in aquatic than terrestrial species. PNAS 109: 19310-19314
Useful links
http://horne1991.wix.com/thehirstlab