Dr Martin Skov

Reader in Marine Biology

Contact info

Room: 408 Westbury Mount      Phone: 01248 383846

E-mail: mwskov@bangor.ac.uk

Web: Google Scholar

 

I did a BSc (1st Class Hons) in marine biology with Bangor University in 1996, which followed by a PhD in mangrove ecology with Liverpool University in 2001. My postdoctoral career took me through a two year research fellowship with Lisbon University in Portugal, studying crustacean recruitment dynamics, a one year postdoc with Bangor University on phytoplankton research, and a 3 year postdoctoral fellowship with Southampton University, in which I used intertidal snails and biofilms to test model predictions related to resource distribution and habitat fragmentation. I returned to Bangor University in 2009 for a Research Lectureship, which in January 2013 led to a permanent lectureship and later a Senior Lectureship with the School of Ocean Sciences.

I am an experimental ecologist with particular interests in the ecological functioning and ecosystem services of coastal salt marshes, mangroves and seagrasses. My research focuses particularly on regulators of landscape-scale functioning, such as examining what determines the delivery of natural coastal protection and carbon sequestration by marshes and mangroves, and explaining and predicting long- and medium-term changes in marsh and mangrove area cover. I have a strong interest in the human interactions with coastal wetlands, including wellbeing associations and how ecosystem management impacts on ecosystem service delivery. My work includes fundamental experimentation with ecosystem simulations in the field and hydrological flumes, use of historical data, records and systematic observations for understanding long-term processes in coastal systems.

 

Research Areas

Marine Ecology

Marine Conservation and Resource Management

Sediment Dynamics and Morphology

 

  1. Published

    A framework linking ecosystem services and human well-being: Saltmarsh as a case study

    Rendon, O. R., Garbutt, A., Skov, M., Moller, I., Alexander, M., Ballinger, R., Wyles, K., Smith, G., McKinley, E., Griffin, J., Thomas, M., Davidson, K., Pages, J., Read, S. & Beaumont, N., Dec 2019, In: People and Nature. 1, 4, p. 486-496

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  2. Published

    Editorial: Structure, Functioning and Conservation of Coastal Vegetated Wetlands

    Richir, J., Bouillon, S., Gobert, S., Skov, M. & Borges, A. V., 29 May 2020, In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8, 4 p., 134.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Impact of climate change on UK estuaries: A review of past trends and potential projections

    Robins, P. E., Skov, M. W., Lewis, M. J., Gimenez, L., Davies, A. G., Malham, S. K., Neill, S. P., McDonald, J. E., Whitton, T. A., Jackson, S. E. & Jago, C. F., 17 Dec 2015, In: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 169, p. 119-135

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Published

    Light grazing of saltmarshes is a direct and indirect cause of nest failure in Common Redshank Tringa totanus

    Sharps, E., Smart, J., Skov, M. W., Garbutt, A. & Hiddink, J. G., 2 Mar 2015, In: Ibis. 157, 2, p. 239-249

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    Light grazing of saltmarshes increases the availability of nest sites for Common Redshank Tringa totanus, but reduces their quality

    Sharps, E., Garbutt, A., Hiddink, J. G., Smart, J. & Skov, M. W., 1 Apr 2016, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 221, p. 71-78

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Published

    Nest trampling and ground nesting birds: quantifying temporal and spatial overlap between cattle activity and breeding redshank

    Sharps, E., Smart, J., Mason, L. R., Jones, K., Skov, M., Garbutt, A. & Hiddink, J., Aug 2017, In: Ecology and Evolution. 7, 16, p. 6622-6633

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    Patchiness in resource distribution mitigates habitat loss: insights from high-shore grazers.

    Skov, M. W., Hawkins, S. J., Volkelt-Igoe, M., Pike, J., Thompson, R. C. & Doncaster, C. P., 1 May 2011, In: Ecosphere. 2, 5, p. 60

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    Past and present grazing boosts the photo-autotrophic biomass of biofilms.

    Skov, M. W., Volkelt-Igoe, M., Hawkins, S. J., Jesus, B., Thompson, R. C. & Doncaster, C. P., 22 Feb 2010, In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 401, p. 101-111

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Organic carbon accumulation in British saltmarshes

    Smeaton, C., Garrett, E., Koot, M. B., Ladd, C. J. T., Miller, L. C., McMahon, L., Foster, B., Barlow, N. L. M., Blake, W., Gehrels, W. R., Skov, M. W. & Austin, W. E. N., 20 May 2024, In: Science of the Total Environment. 926, p. 172104

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. Published

    Using citizen science to estimate surficial soil blue carbon stocks in Great British saltmarshes

    Smeaton, C., Burden, A., Ruranska, P., Ladd, C. J. T., Garbutt, A., Jones, L., McMahon, L., Miller, L. C., Skov, M. & Austin, W. E. N., 11 Aug 2022, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9, 16 p., 959459.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review