Dr. B. (Benjamin) Müller
Postdoctoral Researcher
Faculty of Science
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Visiting address
- Science Park 904
Postal address
- Postbus 94240
1090 GE Amsterdam
Contact details
Links
Social media
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Profile
I am a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) fellow in the working group of Jasper de Goeij at the department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology. For the first two years I will be based at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, before coming back for the third year to UvA. Before that I worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Jasper de Goeij's group, where I participated in two research projects, was involved in the coordination of field and lab activities, as well as the supervision and guidance of Ph.D., M.Sc. and B.Sc. students in our research group.
Research Interests
- Energy and nutrient cycling through sponge- and microbe-mediated pathways
- Effect of environmental parameters on dissolved organic matter release mechanisms and consequences for ecosystem functioning
- DOM dynamics on pristine and phase shifting reefs
- Role of DOM in coral-algal competitions
- Bioeroding sponges on phase-shifting reefs
Past & Current Projects
DDMS — Differential DOM-cycling through Microbes and Sponges
The aim of my MSCA global fellowship is to to determine how past-to-future changes in coral reef community composition affect the bio-availability of the produced dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its individual and combined utilization by planktonic microbes and sponges.
Thereto, I will:
- Characterize DOM released by corals, algae, and benthic cyanobacterial mats using various analytical methods and determine a compound-specific uptake and the utilization of this DOM by sponges and bacterioplankton.
- Assess uptake and utilization of different DOM-mixtures mimicking historic, current, and future benthic cover.
- Investigate potential microbe-sponge interactions.
For more information see https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/894645
For the first two years I will be based at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and conduct fieldwork at the CARMABI research station on Curacao. Additionally, I will receive training at the Marine Science Insitute in Santa Barbara and the Skaggs School for Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in San Diego. For the third year I will then return to the University of Amsterdam. SPONGE ENGINE — Fast and efficient sponge engines drive and modulate the food web of reef ecosystems
The aim of this ERC project awarded to Jasper de Goeij is to systematically establish a novel reef food web framework including:
Corals and algae, releasing DOM “fuel” to run the engine
Sponges, the “engine”, taking up DOM and converting energy and nutrients stored in it into particulate detritus
Detrivores, which feed on the sponge detritus and serve as food for higher trophic levels, the “driven communities”
Corals and algae release DOM. Sponges take up this “fuel” and convert energy and nutrients stored in it into particulate detritus. Detritivores feed on the detritus, serve as food for higher trophic levels, the “driven communities”, and release inorganic nutrients that are taken up by the fuelling communities. In this project we evaluate (1) how the morphology of sponges and their associated microbes contribute to the processing of DOM, (2) which roles sponge cells themselves and associated microbes play in the DOM uptake. These physiological tasks are complimented by (3) assessing carbon and nitrogen fluxes from fuelling communities, through sponges, to the driven communities.
SponGES — Deep-sea Sponge Grounds Ecosystems of the North Atlantic: an integrated approach towards their preservation and sustainable exploitation
As part of this multi-lateral EU project SponGES, our team aims to assess carbon fluxes and transfer through deep-sea sponges, and to test the existence of a sponge loop pathway on deep-sea sponge grounds.
By combining in situ and ex situ incubations using natural food and isotopically labelled food sources we will quantify carbon and oxygen fluxes of different deep-sea sponge species and trace the carbon and nitrogen from dissolved and particulate food sources, through sponges, sponge detritus, and ultimately detrivores, that feed on sponge detritus.
Our results will contribute to develop an integrated ecosystem-based approach to preserve and sustainably use deep-sea sponge grounds within the SponGES project.
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Impressions from the field
Field Trip Curacao_February - March 2017
Left: M.Sc. student Koen Tomson and B.Sc. student Mainah Folkers bringing cages to the study site. Right: Cages with set ups to determine in situ detritus production by encrusting sponges. Koen and Mainah setting up cages and working under water. Left: Sponges hanging upside-down over funnels to determine detritus production by encrusting sponges. Right: Three of the investigated sponge species growing next to each other - Chondrilla caribensis (red), Scopalina ruetzleri (orange), and Halisarca caerulea (purple). Left: Growth experiment with the encrusting sponge Haliclona vansoesti. Right: Koen and Mainah getting back on the boat after a dive. Field work as Researcher at the CARMABI research station on Curacao_April 2015 - December 2016
Left: Investigating the combined effects of light and nutrient availability in turf algal-coral interactions. Right: Determining community changes in cryptic sponge communities in permanent quadrats. In collaboration with Emma George and other researchers of the Rohwer and Wegley-Kelly Lab, San Diego, we investigated the outcome of coral-algal interactions (left) and the role of the over geometry for this outcome. Coral spawning of Orbicella faveolata (left) and Diplora strigosa (right) captured with fluorescence photography. Left: Outplaning of lab-fertilized coral settlers on artificial substrates with SECORE volunteers Natalia Hurtado and Emily Chappell. Right: Investigating the day and night release of DOM released by turf algae in collaboration with researchers from the Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, University of Amsterdam, and Rohwer and Wegley-Kelly Lab, San Diego. Field work on Curacao and Bonaire during my Ph.D. at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)_February 2010 - December 2015
Taking water samples (left) and measuring light intensity (right) in close proximity to corals and algae on the reef. Left: Drilling cores with bioeroding sponges out of coral rock. Middle: Incubation experiment with turf algae growing on plastic bottles. Right: Sealing DOC vials with a bunsen burner in the lab. Left: Testing the Vacu SIP device with Jasper de Goeij. Right: Sampling of the in- and out-flowing water of the bioeroding sponge Cliona delitrix with the Vacu SIP device. -
Videos and media links
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Publications
2022
Indraningrat, A. A. G., Steinert, G., Becking, L. E., Mueller, B., de Goeij, J. M., Smidt, H., & Sipkema, D. (2022). Sponge holobionts shift their prokaryotic communities and antimicrobial activity from shallow to lower mesophotic depths. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 115(10), 1265–1283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-022-01770-4 [details]- Kornder, N. A., Esser, Y., Stoupin, D., Leys, S. P., Mueller, B., Vermeij, M. J. A., Huisman, J., & de Goeij, J. M. (2022). Sponges sneeze mucus to shed particulate waste from their seawater inlet pores. Current Biology, 32(17), 3855-3861.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.017 [details]
- Mueller, B., Brocke, H. J., Rohwer, F. L., Dittmar, T., Huisman, J., Vermeij, M. J. A., & de Goeij, J. M. (2022). Nocturnal dissolved organic matter release by turf algae and its role in the microbialization of reefs. Functional Ecology, 36(8), 2104-2118. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14101 [details]
2021
- Bart, M. C., Mueller, B., Rombouts, T., van de Ven, C., Tompkins, G. J., Osinga, R., Brussaard, C. P. D., MacDonald, B., Engel, A., Rapp, H. T., & de Goeij, J. M. (2021). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is essential to balance the metabolic demands of four dominant North-Atlantic deep-sea sponges. Limnology and Oceanography, 66(3), 925-938. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11652 [details]
- Campana, S., Hudspith, M., Lankes, D., de Kluijver, A., Demey, C., Schoorl, J., Absalah, S., van der Meer, M. T. J., Mueller, B., & de Goeij, J. M. (2021). Processing of Naturally Sourced Macroalgal- and Coral-Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) by High and Low Microbial Abundance Encrusting Sponges. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, [640583]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.640583 [details]
- George, E. E., Mullinix, J. A., Meng, F., Bailey, B. A., Edwards, C., Felts, B., Haas, A. F., Hartmann, A. C., Mueller, B., Roach, T. N. F., Salamon, P., Silveira, C., Vermeij, M. J. A., Rohwer, F., & Luque, A. (2021). Space-filling and benthic competition on coral reefs. PeerJ, 9, [e11213]. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11213 [details]
- Kornder, N. A., Cappelletto, J., Mueller, B., Zalm, M. J. L., Martinez, S. J., Vermeij, M. J. A., Huisman, J., & de Goeij, J. M. (2021). Implications of 2D versus 3D surveys to measure the abundance and composition of benthic coral reef communities. Coral reefs, 40(4), 1137-1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-021-02118-6 [details]
- Little, M., George, E. E., Arts, M. G. I., Shivak, J., Benler, S., Huckeba, J., Quinlan, Z. A., Boscaro, V., Mueller, B., Güemes, A. G. C., Rojas, M. I., White, B., Petras, D., Silveira, C. B., Haas, A. F., Kelly, L. W., Vermeij, M. J. A., Quinn, R. A., Keeling, P. J., ... Roach, T. N. F. (2021). Three-Dimensional Molecular Cartography of the Caribbean Reef-Building Coral Orbicella faveolata. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, [627724]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.627724 [details]
2020
- Bart, M. C., de Kluijver, A., Hoetjes, S., Absalah, S., Mueller, B., Kenchington, E., Rapp, H. T., & de Goeij, J. M. (2020). Differential processing of dissolved and particulate organic matter by deep-sea sponges and their microbial symbionts. Scientific Reports, 10, [17515]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74670-0 [details]
- Busch, K., Hanz, U., Mienis, F., Mueller, B., Franke, A., Roberts, E. M., Rapp, H. T., & Hentschel, U. (2020). On giant shoulders: how a seamount affects the microbial community composition of seawater and sponges. Biogeosciences, 17(13), 3471-3486. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3471-2020 [details]
- Lesser, M. P., Mueller, B., Pankey, M. S., Macartney, K. J., Slattery, M., & de Goeij, J. M. (2020). Depth‐dependent detritus production in the sponge, Halisarca caerulea. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(6), 1200-1216. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11384 [details]
2018
- Van Duyl, F. C., Mueller, B., & Meesters, E. H. (2018). Spatio-temporal variation in stable isotope signatures (δ13C and δ15N) of sponges on the Saba Bank. PeerJ, 6, [e5460]. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5460 [details]
2017
- Mueller, B. (2017). First documentation of encrusting specimen of Cliona delitrix on Curaçao: a cause for concern? Marine Biodiversity Records, 10(1), [10]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-017-0111-4
- Mueller, B., Meesters, E. H., & van Duyl, F. C. (2017). DOC concentrations across a depth dependent light gradient on a Caribbean coral reef. PeerJ, 5, [e3456]. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3456 [details]
2016
- Chamberland, V. F., Petersen, D., Latijnhouwers, K. R. W., Snowden, S., Mueller, B., & Vermeij, M. J. A. (2016). Four-year-old Caribbean Acropora colonies reared from field-collected gametes are sexually mature. Bulletin of Marine Science, 92(2), 263-264. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2015.1074 [details]
- Gumanao, GS., Saceda‐Cardoza, MM., Mueller, B., & Bos, AR. (2016). Length–weight and length–length relationships of 139 Indo‐Pacific fish species (Teleostei) from the Davao Gulf, Philippines. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 32(2), 377-385. https://doi.org/10.1111/jai.12993
- Mueller, B., den Haan, J., Visser, P. M., Vermeij, M. J. A., & van Duyl, F. C. (2016). Effect of light and nutrient availability on the release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by Caribbean turf algae. Scientific Reports, 6, [23248]. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep23248 [details]
2015
- Alexander, B. E., Mueller, B., Vermeij, M. J. A., van der Geest, H. H. G., & de Goeij, J. M. (2015). Biofouling of inlet pipes affects water quality in running seawater aquaria and compromises sponge cell proliferation. PeerJ, 3, [e1430]. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1430 [details]
- Brocke, H. J., Wenzhoefer, F., de Beer, D., Mueller, B., van Duyl, F. C., & Nugues, M. M. (2015). High dissolved organic carbon release by benthic cyanobacterial mats in a Caribbean reef ecosystem. Scientific Reports, 5, [8852]. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08852
2014
- Mueller, B., de Goeij, J. M., Vermeij, M. J. A., Mulders, Y., van der Ent, E., Ribes, M., & van Duyl, F. C. (2014). Natural Diet of Coral-Excavating Sponges Consists Mainly of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC). PLoS ONE, 9(2), e90152. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090152 [details]
- Mueller, B., van der Zande, R. M., van Leent, P. J. M., Meesters, E. H., Vermeij, M. J. A., & van Duyl, F. C. (2014). Effect of light availability on dissolved organic carbon release by Caribbean reef algae and corals. Bulletin of Marine Science, 90(3), 875-893. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2013.1062 [details]
2013
- Bos, A. R., Gumanao, G. S., Mueller, B., & Saceda, M. M. (2013). Size at maturation, sex differences, and pair density during the mating season of the Indo-Pacific beach star Archaster typicus (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Philippines. Invertebrate Reproduction & Development, 57(2), 113-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/07924259.2012.689264
- Bos, A. R., Gumanao, G. S., Mueller, B., & Saceda-Cardoza, M. M. E. (2013). Management of crown-of-thorns sea star (Acanthaster planci L.) outbreaks: Removal success depends on reef topography and timing within the reproduction cycle. Ocean & Coastal Management, 71, 116-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2012.09.011
- Meesters, EH., Mueller, B., & Nugues, MM. (2013). Caribbean free-living coral species co-occurring deep off the windward coast of Curaçao. Coral reefs, 32(1), 109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0960-6
2011
- Bos, A. R., Mueller, B., & Gumanao, G. S. (2011). FEEDING BIOLOGY AND SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CORALLIMORPHARIAN PARACORYNACTIS HOPLITES (ANTHOZOA: HEXACORALLIA). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 59(2), 245-250.
- Mueller, B., Bos, A. R., Graf, G., & Gumanao, G. S. (2011). Size-specific locomotion rate and movement pattern of four common Indo-Pacific sea stars (Echinodermata; Asteroidea). Aquatic Biology, 12(2), 157-164. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00326
2010
- Bos, A. R., Gumanao, G. S., Van Katwijk, M. M., Mueller, B., Saceda, M. M., & Tejada, R. L. P. (2010). Ontogenetic habitat shift, population growth, and burrowing behavior of the Indo-Pacific beach star, Archaster typicus (Echinodermata; Asteroidea). Marine Biology, 158(3), 639-648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1588-0
2018
- George, E. E., Mullinix, J., Meng, F., Bailey, B., Edwards, C., Felts, B., Haas, A., Hartmann, A. C., Mueller, B., Nulton, J., Roach, T. N. F., Salamon, P., Silveira, C. B., Vermeij, M. J. A., Rohwer, F. L., & Luque, A. (2018). Relevance of coral geometry in the outcomes of the coral-algal benthic war. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/327031 [details]
2014
- Mumby, P. J., Flower, J., Chollett, I., Box, S. J., Bozec, Y. M., Fitzsimmons, C., Forster, J., Gill, D., Griffith-Mumby, R., Oxenford, H. A., Peterson, A. M., Stead, S. M., Turner, R. A., Townsley, P., van Beukering, P. J. H., Booker, F., Brocke, H. J., Cabañillas-Terán, N., Canty, S. W. J., ... Williams, S. M. (2014). Towards Reef Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Handbook for Caribbean Coral Reef Managers. University of Exeter. [details]
2022
- Müller, B., Brocke, H., Rohwer, F., Dittmar, T., Huisman, J., Vermeij, M. & de Goeij, J. (2022). Nocturnal dissolved organic matter release by turf algae and its role in the microbialization of reefs. DRYAD. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1ns1rn8ww
2020
- Franke, A., Hentschel, U., Hanz, U., Busch, K., Mienis, F., Müller, B., Martyn Roberts, E. & Tore Rapp, H. (2020). Microbial diversity and biogeochemical parameters at Schulz Bank seamount (Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge) measured in summer 2016, 2017 and 2018. PANGAEA. https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.911304
- Absalah, S., Müller, B., Kenchington, E., Bart, M., de Kluijver, A., de Goeij, J. M., Hoetjes, S. & Rapp, H. (2020). (Table S1) Sponge biomass and natural isotopic ratios for incubated deep-sea sponge specimens. PANGAEA. https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.925076
- Rapp, H., Absalah, S., Hoetjes, S., de Kluijver, A., de Goeij, J. M., Bart, M., Müller, B. & Kenchington, E. (2020). (Table S3) Relative abundance of each phospholipid fatty acid to the total PLFA content of each deep-sea sponge species and substrate. PANGAEA. https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.925078
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Ancillary activities
No ancillary activities
Indraningrat, A. A. G., Steinert, G., Becking, L. E., Mueller, B., de Goeij, J. M., Smidt, H., & Sipkema, D. (2022). Sponge holobionts shift their prokaryotic communities and antimicrobial activity from shallow to lower mesophotic depths. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 115(10), 1265–1283.