Dr. Emma Penning
Research interests
I am a PhD student at the University of Groningen and I am based at the Coastal Systems group of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). I have worked under the supervision of Theunis Piersma since the start of my masters. I work in the research project Conservation of the Dynamic Island of Griend. The project is funded by the Dutch NGO Natuurmonumenten and I work in close collaboration with colleagues at the University of Groningen. My study area is the island Griend and the mudflat around the island, located in the Western Dutch Wadden Sea (here).
In spring and autumn hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds make use of Griend to rest but also to fatten up at the food-rich mudflat that surround it. Sanderlings are increasingly making use of Griend and are the main focus of my project. I study habitat use of Sanderlings in relation to food abundance and in relation to wintering area.
In addition, I study the possible effects of the recent restoration works on Griend on the presence of Sanderlings. The restoration was required because of ongoing rapid erosion, and intends to restore processes that should make sure that the island can maintain itself in the future. The reconstruction was featured in The National Geographic. We keep a blog about the research that is done around Griend.
Functions
Key-publications
Professional education
Awards and Prizes
Blog
blogs about the research that is done around Griend.
Global Flyway Ecology
Visit my page on the website of all of Theunis Piersma's collaborators.
Griend restoration in media
Linked news
NIOZ publications
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2024
Reijers, V.C; van Rees, F.; van der Heide, T.; Oost, A.P.; Ruessink, G.; Koffijberg, K.; Camphuysen, C.J.; Penning, E.; Hijner, N.; Govers, L.L. (2024). Birds influence vegetation coverage and structure on sandy biogeomorphic islands in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Sci. Total Environ. 950: 175254. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175254
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2023
Nauta, J.; Christianen, M.J.A.; Temmink, R.J.M.; Fivash, G.S.; Marín Díaz, B.; Reijers, V.C.; Didderen, K.; Penning, E.; Borst, A.C.W.; Heusinkveld, J.H.T.; Zwarts, M.; Cruijsen, P.M.J.M.; Hijner, N.; Lengkeek, W.; Lamers, L.P.M.; van der Heide, T.; Bouma, T.J.; van der Wal, D.; Olff, H.; Govers, L.L. (2023). Biodegradable artificial reefs enhance food web complexity and biodiversity in an intertidal soft‐sediment ecosystem. J. Appl. Ecol. 60(3): 541-552. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14348Penning, E. (2023). Sanderlinks. PhD Thesis. University of Groningen: Groningen. https://dx.doi.org/10.33612/diss.830020613
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2022
Bijleveld, A.I.; van Maarseveen, F.; Denissen, B.; Dekinga, A.; Penning, E.; Ersoy, S.; Gupte, P.R.; de Monte, L.; ten Horn, J.; Bom, R.A.; Toledo, S.; Nathan, R.; Beardsworth, C.E. (2022). WATLAS: high-throughput and real-time tracking of many small birds in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Animal Biotelemetry 10: 36. https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40317-022-00307-wPenning, E.; Verkuil, Y.I.; Klunder, L.; Reneerkens, J. (2022). Sanderlings feed on a diverse spectrum of prey worldwide but primarily rely on brown shrimp in the Wadden Sea. Ardea 110(2): 187-199. https://dx.doi.org/10.5253/arde.2022.a11Temmink, R.J.M.; Fivash, G.S.; Govers, L.L.; Nauta, J.; Marín Díaz, B.; Cruijsen, P.M.J.M.; Didderen, K.; Penning, E.; Olff, H.; Heusinkveld, J.H.T.; Lamers, L.P.M.; Lengkeek, W.; Christianen, M.J.A.; Reijers, V.C.; Bouma, T.J.; van der Heide, T. (2022). Initiating and upscaling mussel reef establishment with life cycle informed restoration: Successes and future challenges. Ecol. Eng. 175: 106496. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106496
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2021
Marín Díaz, B.; Fivash, G.S.; Nauta, J.; Temmink, R.J.M.; Hijner, N.; Reijers, V.C; Cruijsen, P.M.J.M.; Didderen, K.; Heusinkveld, J.H.T.; Penning, E.; Maldonado-Garcia, G.; van Belzen, J.; de Smit, J.C.; Christianen, M.J.A.; van der Heide, T.; van der Wal, D.; Olff, H.; Bouma, T.J.; Govers, L.L. (2021). On the use of large-scale biodegradable artificial reefs for intertidal foreshore stabilization. Ecol. Eng. 170: 106354. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106354Penning, E.; Govers, L.L.; Dekker, R.; Piersma, T. (2021). Advancing presence and changes in body size of brown shrimp Crangon crangon on intertidal flats in the western Dutch Wadden Sea, 1984–2018. Mar. Biol. (Berl.) 168(11): 160. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03967-z
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2016
Bijleveld, A.I.; MacCurdy, R.B.; Chan, Y.-C; Penning, E.; Gabrielson, R.M.; Cluderay, J.; Spaulding, E.L.; Dekinga, A.; Holthuijsen, S.; Ten Horn, J.; Brugge, M.; van Gils, J.A.; Winkler, D.W.; Piersma, T. (2016). Understanding spatial distributions: negative density-dependence in prey causes predators to trade-off prey quantity with quality. Proc. - Royal Soc., Biol. Sci. 283: 1828. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1557
Linked projects
