Martin Attrill

Academic profile

Professor Martin Attrill

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

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The Global Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Martin's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

Goal 02: SDG 2 - Zero HungerGoal 03: SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-beingGoal 04: SDG 4 - Quality EducationGoal 06: SDG 6 - Clean Water and SanitationGoal 07: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean EnergyGoal 08: SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic GrowthGoal 11: SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesGoal 12: SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and ProductionGoal 13: SDG 13 - Climate ActionGoal 14: SDG 14 - Life Below WaterGoal 15: SDG 15 - Life on LandGoal 17: SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

About Martin

Professor Martin Attrill is a marine ecologist whose primary research interest is focused on the mechanisms behind long-term change and large-scale spatial patterns in marine assemblages and populations. He has been working with long-term data from marine fish and invertebrate populations within a range of habitats such as the Thames Estuary, Brazilian coral reefs and the open Atlantic Ocean, including investigating the role of climate variation on fish, corals and plankton.

He has published over 160 papers in the prime literature, primarily on fish and benthic systems such as seagrass, but in recent years has been involved in projects investigating the roles of Marine Protected Areas and their interaction with fishing, particularly the UK Defra designation in Lyme Bay, SW England, which the team has been monitoring since 2008 and formed a novel research partnership with the Blue Marine Foundation and local fishermen to undertake research into sustainable fishing with MPAs across the UK.

He is also PI on a large grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation to investigate the link between oceanography and biodiversity in the British Indian Ocean Territory MPA and developed the concept for National Marine Parks in the UK, supporting the first declared NMP in Plymouth.

Prof Attrill has also been interested in the human impacts of large scale offshore renewable energy developments and how we can effectively and suitably monitor their interaction with the environment. In May 2012, Prof Attrill was invited to New York to advise the United Nations on the environmental impact of marine renewable energy and in February 2013 to Washington as an expert advisor for the US government (BOEM) at a workshop on the future of offshore energy.

From 2009-2018, Prof Attrill was Director of the Marine Institute at University of Plymouth and in 2018 designed and set up the MSc in Marine Conservation.

Supervised Research Degrees

Successful completion:

  • Sarah Perryman (UK, 1993-1996): Heavy metals in estuaries: validation of sensitivity of monitoring methods at different levels of biological organisation.
  • Aziz Arshad (Malaysia, 1995-1999): Temporal and spatial responses of benthic communities and populations across upper estuarine environmental gradients.
  • Sergio Netto (Brazil, 1995-1999): Meiofauna and macrofauna communities of Rocas Atoll, Brazil.
  • Ahmed Abada (Egypt, 1995-2000): From rivers to oceans: a comparison of contrasting aquatic ecosystems using benthic size spectra.
  • Ozeas Costa Jnr (Brazil, 1998-2002): Biogeochemical nutrient cycling and its relationship with coral reef eutrophication.
  • Francisco Kelmo O dos Santos (Brazil, 1998-2002): Ecological Consequences of 1997-1998 El Niño -Southern Oscillation on the major Coral Reef Communities from Northern Bahia, Brazil.
  • Hector Hernandez (Mexico, 1998-2003): The influence of seasonal sediment dynamics and oil-drilling activity on the benthic communities of the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Emma Jackson (UK, 1998-2003): The importance of seagrass beds as nursery grounds for fisheries species.
  • Matt Frost (UK, 1999-2003, PT): The role of frontal systems in controlling sandy beach macroinvertebrate communities.
  • Angus Jackson (UK, 2000-2004): Mobile predators in a dynamic environment: the role of fish in structuring upper-estuarine benthic communities.
  • Joseph Borg (Malta, 1997-2004, PT): Role of Posidonia oceanica meadow structure in determining diversity of associated macrofaunal assemblages.
  • Sophie Leterme (France, 2003-2006): Multi-scale variability in phytoplankton populations of the North Atlantic basin: from eddies to global change.
  • Chris Leakey (UK, 2003-2006): Quantifying inhabitation, feeding and connectivity between adjacent estuarine and coastal regions for three commercially important marine fishes.
  • Emma Sheehan (UK, 2003-2007): Ecological impact of crab tiling on estuarine fauna.
  • Abigail McQuatters Gollop (USA, 2004-2007): Plankton as indicators for eutrophication in Europe’s regional seas
  • Patrik Svensson (Sweden, 2004-2009, PT): The effectiveness of privately managed MPAs in tropical coastal areas
  • Ahmed Al-Mazrooei (Oman, 2005-2009): Evolutionary biology and behaviour of marine gastropods
  • Pierre Helaouet (France, 2005-2009): Scenarios of change in the state, structure and functioning of North Atlantic pelagic ecosystems
  • Rebecca Jefferson (UK, 2006-2011): Articulating the ecosystem approach in Europe’s Seas: socio-ecological indicators for adaptive management
  • Stacey DeAmicis (USA, 2006-2012): Impact of the invasive Sargassum muticum on Zostera marina seagrass ecosystems.
  • Sian Rees (UK, 2007-2012): Estimating the value of marine conservation in the UK
  • James Highfield (UK, 2007-2011): Linking benthic dynamics to pelagic ecosystem functioning in shallow seas
  • James Grecian (UK, 2008-2011): Linking offshore development with seabird populations.
  • Valentina Lauria (Italy, 2008-2012): The relative influence of climate change and fishing impact on long-term trends in North Atlantic fish biomass and seabird populations
  • Eddie Melatunan (Indonesia, 2008-2012): Impact of ocean acidification on the developmental biology of gastropods
  • Vivienne Johnson (UK, 2009-2012): Using volcanic CO2 gradients to investigate responses of marine photoautotrophs to ocean acidification
  • Isobel Bloor (UK, 2009-2013): Cephalopod Recruitment from English-Channel Spawning Habitats (CRESH)
  • Laura Pettit (UK, 2010-2014): Assessing the effects of long-term ocean acidification at volcanic CO2 vents
  • Julian Evans (Malta, 2010-2014): Habitat characterisation of infralittoral coarse gravel beds in the Maltese Islands.
  • Bryony Pearce (UK, 2006-2014 PT): The ecology of Sabellaria reefs
  • Maria Campbell (UK, 2008 start PT): Assessing change in fishing boat movements using VMS data.
  • Sarah Gall (UK, 2012-2016): Assessing the impact of lobster potting activity with the South Devon Potting Agreement area: ecology and socioeconomics.
  • Adam Rees (UK, 2012 start): Assessing the impact of static gear fishery on the marine protected area within Lyme Bay, SW England
  • Laura Bray (UK, 2013 start): Impact of marine renewable energy on Mediterranean ecosystems
  • Jacob Bedford (UK, 2015-2018): Using historical data to establish baselines in North Sea plankton indicators.
  • Demetris Kletou (Greece, 2011-2018): A multi-step approach in ultraoligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean to evaluate the ecological status, climate change response and restoration potential of Posidonia oceanica
  • Kirsty McQuaid (South Africa, 2015-2019): The application of predictive modelling to marine spatial planning associated with deep-sea mining.
  • Xiaoyu Fang (China, 2015-2019): Identifying the role of past and current benthos activities for estuarine ecosystem functioning.
  • Danielle Bridger (UK, 2015-2021): The environmental impact of Europe’s largest offshore mussel farm, Lyme Bay.
  • Thomas Stamp (UK, 2016-2020): The ecology and distribution of Sea Bass within the South West UK
  • Bede Davies (UK, 2018-2022): The effectiveness of partially protected marine areas for ecosystem-based fisheries management
  • Samantha Blampied (UK, 2018-2022): Evaluating the effectiveness, socio-economic value and trophic dynamics of MPAs in Jersey's territorial waters.

Current:

  • David Cox (UK, 2016 start PT): Assessing the viability and environmental impact of a large scallop farm off South Devon
  • Llucia Mascorda Cabre (Spain, 2019 start): Oceanographic and ecological interactions with an offshore, longline mussel farm
  • Oliver Thomas (UK, 2020 start): Intertidal seagrass meadows in South west England: the ecological and socio-economic benefits of restoration.
  • Giulia La Bianca (Italy, 2020 start): Using ecosystem services mapping in deep sea marine spatial planning.
  • Nata Tavonvunchai (Thailand, 2021 start): Climate-smart Blue Governance.
  • Flossy Barraud (UK, 2022 start): An Exploration of Ocean Interaction, Marine Citizenship and Women's Empowerment Initiatives in Small Island Developing States.

 

Contact Martin

A408, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
+44 1752 584606