Dr Nicola Foster
Profiles

Dr Nicola Foster

Lecturer in Marine Biology

School of Biological and Marine Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Biography

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University and I study coral populations across a broad depth range, from shallow, tropical coral reefs (<30 m), to the relatively unexplored mesophotic coral ecosystems (30-200 m), and beyond to the cold-water corals of the deep sea (>200 m). I am particularly interested in variation in diversity and community structure along the depth gradient, and the horizontal and vertical connectivity of populations via larval dispersal, and the implications of this on conservation and management of the marine environment. 

Currently, I am working on two key projects. I am investigating the changes in diversity and distribution of mesophotic reefs in the British Indian Ocean Territory in relation to depth and oceanographic drivers. In this project, I will assess the genetic connectivity of sessile reef species across the depth gradient from shallow to mesophotic depths to determine the potential of mesophotic reefs to resupply shallow reefs with larvae following mortality. In the second project (DeepLinks), we are investigating how patterns of population connectivity vary with depth in the deep sea, and how this influences species diversity, using a combination of molecular techniques, modelling and community analysis.

Qualifications

2019 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2019 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practise, University of Plymouth

2007 PhD University of Exeter - Population dynamics of the dominant Caribbean reef-building coral, Montastraea annularis.

2002 MSc University of Wales, Bangor - Marine Environmental Protection.

2000 BSc (Hons) University of Wales, Bangor - Marine Biology.

Research expeditions

  • RV Odyssey (2022) Indian Ocean (Manned submersible Triton 7500/3 series, Triton 3300/3 series)
  • MV Tethys Supporter (2022) Indian Ocean (ROV Seaeye Falcon, Drop Camera, PAR Surveys) 
  • MV Tethys Supporter (2020) Indian Ocean (ROV Seaeye Falcon, PAR Surveys)
  • MV Tethys Supporter (2019) Indian Ocean (ROV Seaeye Falcon)

Professional membership

International Society for Reef Studies

Society for Conservation Biology

Marine Biological Association

Deep-sea Biology Society

Roles on external bodies

Member - Challenger 150 Marine Megafaunal Imaging Working Group (2021 - present)

Member - Challenger 150 Indian Ocean Regional Working Group (2021 - present)

Member - Challenger 150 North Atlantic Regional Working Group (2021 - present)

Key publications

Foster NL, Box SJ & Mumby PJ (2008) 'Competitive effects of macroalgae on the fecundity of the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis' Marine Ecology Progress Series 367, 143-152 , DOI
View all publications
Teaching

Teaching

Teaching interests

My teaching interests include marine ecology, population genetics, conservation, and tropical marine ecosystems. 

I am stage leader and admissions tutor for BSc Marine Biology with Foundation Year, and I teach on and am module leader for:
  • MBIO505 Marine Conservation Theory
  • MBIO001 Issues in Marine Biology

I also teach on the following modules:

  • MBIO120 Introduction to Marine Biology
  • GEES001 Study and Mathematical Skills for Science
  • MAR532 Marine Conservation Practice
  • MBIO313 Personal Research Project
  • MAR533 MSc Marine Conservation Project
  • MAR524  MSc Applied Marine Science Dissertation Project
  • MBAM5109 MRes Dissertation Project

I also supervise around 5 undergraduate student projects and 2 Masters student projects every year.

Past MRes/MSc students:

  • Maurice Walkes (2022; An investigation of megafauna associated with buttresses of the cold-water coral, Desmophyllum pertusum, on Rost Reef, Norway).
  • Taryn Cadena (2022; Coral reef ecosystem resiliency and methods of conservation by coastal indigenous peoples and coastal communities).

Research

Research

Research interests

My research focuses on coral populations across a broad depth range, from shallow, tropical coral reefs (<30 m), to the relatively unexplored mesophotic coral ecosystems (30-200 m), and beyond to the cold-water corals of the deep sea (>200 m). I am particularly interested in variation in diversity and community structure along the depth gradient, and the horizontal and vertical connectivity of populations via larval dispersal, and the implications of this on conservation and management of the marine environment.

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

Current PhD Students

  • Clara Diaz (2019- present; Director of Studies): "Investigating the distribution and diversity of mesophotic reefs in the Chagos Archipelago" (funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation)


Past PhD Students
  • Nils Piechaud (2016-2019; 2nd Supervisor): "The application of autonomous underwater vehicles to challenges in marine habitat mapping and predictive species distribution modelling"
  • Poppy Hesketh Best - (2017-2020; 5th Supervisor): "Deep-sea Discovery - mining marine environments for novel biologics".

Grants & contracts

Co-investigator - Garfield Weston Foundation: Oceanographic drivers of ecosystem variability in the Chagos Archipelago (£500,000; 2020-2022).

Co-investigator - Save Our Seas Foundation: Can coral reefs recover at d'Arros? ($15,000 to Plymouth University).

Researcher/Co-investigator - Garfield Weston Foundation: Conservation strategies for biodiversity hotspots and safe havens in a changing climate: oceanographic drivers of ecosystem variability in the Chagos Archipelago (£1,000,000; 2019-2021).

Researcher/Co-investigator - NERC Grant: Influence of population connectivity on depth-dependent diversity of deep-sea benthic biota (£574,000; 2015-2018)

Publications

Publications

Key publications

Foster NL, Box SJ & Mumby PJ (2008) 'Competitive effects of macroalgae on the fecundity of the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis' Marine Ecology Progress Series 367, 143-152 , DOI

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Diaz C, Foster N, Attrill M, Bolton A, Ganderton P, Howell K, Robinson E & Hosegood P (2023) 'Mesophotic coral bleaching associated with changes in thermocline depth' Open access
Diaz C, Howell K, Robinson E, Hosegood P, Bolton A, Ganderton P, Arber P, Attrill M & Foster N (2023) 'Light and temperature drive the distribution of mesophotic benthic communities in the Central Indian Ocean' Diversity and Distributions , DOI Open access
Hays GC, Hosegood P & Koldewey H (2020) 'A review of a decade of lessons from one of the world’s largest MPAs: conservation gains and key challenges' Marine Biology , DOI Open access
Lane SM, Briffa M, Wilson AJ, Truebano M & Foster NL (2020) 'Evidence of fostering in an internally brooding sea anemone' Ethology 126, (12) 1141-1147 , DOI Open access
Howell KL, Davies JS, Allcock AL, Braga-Henriques A, Buhl-Mortensen P, Carreiro-Silva M, Dominguez-Carrió C, Durden JM, Foster NL & Game CA (2019) 'A framework for the development of a global standardised marine taxon reference image database (SMarTaR-ID) to support image-based analyses' PLOS ONE 14, (12) e0218904-e0218904 , DOI Open access
Piechaud N, Hunt C, Culverhouse PF, Foster NL & Howell KL (2019) 'Automated identification of benthic epifauna with computer vision' Marine Ecology Progress Series 615, 15-30 , DOI Open access
Kennedy EV, Tonk L, Foster NL, Mumby PJ & Stevens JR (2019) 'Temporal stability of Orbicella annularis symbioses: A case study in the Bahamas' Bulletin of Marine Science 95, (2) 289-304 , DOI Open access
Rees SE, Pittman SJ, Foster N, Langmead O, Griffiths C, Fletcher S, Johnson DE & Attrill M (2018) 'Bridging the divide: Social-ecological coherence in Marine Protected Area network design' Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems , DOI Open access
Rees SE, Foster NL, Langmead O, Pittman S & Johnson DE (2017) 'Defining the qualitative elements of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 with regard to the marine and coastal environment in order to strengthen global efforts for marine biodiversity conservation outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14' Marine Policy , DOI Open access
Foster NL, Rees S, Langmead O, Griffiths C, Oates J & Attrill M (2017) 'Assessing the ecological coherence of a marine protected area network in the Celtic Seas' Ecosphere 8, (2) , DOI Open access
Kennedy EV, Tonk L, Foster NL, Chollett I, Ortiz J-C, Dove S, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Mumby PJ & Stevens JR (2016) 'Symbiodinium biogeography tracks environmental patterns rather than host genetics in a key Caribbean reef-builder, Orbicella annularis' Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283, (1842) 20161938-20161938 , DOI Open access
Sheehan EV, Vaz S, Pettifer E, Foster NL, Nancollas SJ, Cousens S, Holmes L, Facq J-V, Germain G & Attrill MJ (2016) 'An experimental comparison of three towed underwater video systems using species metrics, benthic impact and performance' Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7, (7) 843-852 , DOI Open access
Foster NL, Lukowiak K & Henry TB (2015) 'Time-related expression profiles for heat shock protein gene transcripts (HSP40, HSP70) in the central nervous system of Lymnaea stagnalis exposed to thermal stress' Communicative & Integrative Biology 8:3, Open access
Rodríguez-Rodríguez D, Sciberras M, Foster NL & Attrill MJ (2015) 'Status of management effort in 153 marine protected areas across the English Channel' Mar Pollut Bull 94, (1-2) 168-175 Author Site , DOI
Kennedy EV, Foster NL, Mumby PJ & Stevens JR (2015) 'Erratum to: Widespread prevalence of cryptic Symbiodinium D in the key Caribbean reef builder, Orbicella annularis' Coral Reefs 34, (2) 533-533 , DOI
Kennedy EV, Foster NL, Mumby PJ & Stevens JR (2015) 'Widespread prevalence of cryptic Symbiodinium D in the key Caribbean reef builder, Orbicella annularis' Coral Reefs 34, (2) 519-531 , DOI
Bennett KA, Hughes J, Stamatas S, Brand S, Foster NL, Moss SEW & Pomeroy PP (2015) 'Adiponectin and Insulin in Gray Seals during Suckling and Fasting: Relationship with Nutritional State and Body Mass during Nursing in Mothers and Pups' Physiol Biochem Zool 88, (3) 295-310 Author Site , DOI
Foster NL & Briffa M (2014) 'Familial strife on the seashore: aggression increases with relatedness in the sea anemone Actinia equina' Behav Processes 103, 243-245 Author Site , DOI Open access
Howell KL, Bullimore RD & Foster NL (2014) 'Quality assurance in the identification of deep-sea taxa from video and image analysis: response to Henry and Roberts' ICES Journal of Marine Science 71, (4) 899-906 , DOI
Bullimore RD, Foster NL & Howell KL (2013) 'Coral-characterized benthic assemblages of the deep Northeast Atlantic: defining "Coral Gardens" to support future habitat mapping efforts' ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE 70, (3) 511-522 , DOI
Foster NL, Baums IB, Sanchez JA, Paris CB, Chollett I, Agudelo CL, Vermeij MJA & Mumby PJ (2013) 'Hurricane-Driven Patterns of Clonality in an Ecosystem Engineer: The Caribbean Coral <i>Montastraea annularis</i>' PLOS ONE 8, (1) , DOI Open access
Foster NL, Foggo A & Howell KL (2013) 'Using species-area relationships to inform baseline conservation targets for the deep North East Atlantic' PLoS One 8, (3) Author Site , DOI Open access
FOSTER NL, PARIS CB, KOOL JT, BAUMS IB, STEVENS JR, SANCHEZ JA, BASTIDAS C, AGUDELO C, BUSH P & DAY O (2012) 'Connectivity of Caribbean coral populations: complementary insights from empirical and modelled gene flow' Molecular Ecology 21, (5) 1143-1157 , DOI
Foster NL, Williams M, Chan S, Ramirez C & Vasquez V (2009) 'Damage to the reefs of Port Honduras Marine Reserve, Belize, during the 28 May 2009 earthquake' Coral Reefs 29, (1) 19-19 , DOI
Foster NL, Box SJ & Mumby PJ (2008) 'Competitive effects of macroalgae on the fecundity of the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis' Marine Ecology Progress Series 367, 143-152 , DOI
Foster NL, Baums IB & Mumby PJ (2007) 'Sexual vs. asexual reproduction in an ecosystem engineer: the massive coral Montastraea annularis' Journal of Animal Ecology 76, 384-391
Mumby PJ, Foster NL & Fahy EAG (2005) 'Patch dynamics of coral reef macroalgae under chronic and acute disturbance' Coral Reefs 24, (4) 681-692 , DOI
Chapters
Foster NL & Attrill MJ (2021) 'Changes in coral reef ecosystems as an indication of climate and global change' Climate Change Elsevier 427-443 , DOI
Attrill MJ & Foster NL (2016) 'Chapter 12 Changes in Coral Reef Ecosystems' Climate Change Elsevier 183-193 , DOI
Attrill MJ & Foster NL (2015) 'Changes in coral reef ecosystems' in Letcher TM Climate change: Observed impacts on planet earth. Elsevier Science 183-193 Publisher Site
Presentations and posters
Hesketh Best P, Howell K, Upton M, Bishop A, Warburton P, Foster N & Koch M Hesketh Best P, Howell K, Upton M, Bishop A, Warburton P, Foster N & Koch M 'Assessing and optimising culturing methods for the associated-bacteria of two species of deep-sea sponges (class Hexactinellida) for antimicrobial bioprospecting' , DOI