Professor Simon Creer
Professor of Molecular Ecology

Affiliations
Links
- http://mefgl.bangor.ac.uk/staff/si.php
Personal website
Contact info
I am interested in using contemporary molecular tools to address diverse questions focusing on biodiversity, ecology and evolution. This is a particularly exciting time in the field of molecular ecology, since advances in DNA sequencing throughput have recently offered a paradigm shift in our ability to assess previously intractable functional and taxonomic biodiversity at an unprecedented scale, augmenting existing biodiversity fields and empowering others. Using such technologies, I am testing a range of hypotheses regarding the alpha and beta functional and taxonomic diversity of macro-, meio- and microbial communities (e.g. microbiomes) in space and time, based on genomic, community and environmental DNA (eDNA). Focal habitats have included estuarine, coastal and deep sea environments with an increasing focus now on freshwater, terrestrial, whole organisms and the aerial biosphere in order to understand the drivers of diversity in natural communities and also how diversity is linked with ecological function, trophic relationships, environmental and human health. Current additional activities include phylogenomics, population genetics, life history evolution, polyploidy, pollination genomics.
Any funded Fellowship, postgraduate or postdoctoral positions will be advertised on the group website/social media feeds, but we also welcome enquiries from candidates seeking their own funding mechanisms, to develop future research collaborations.
Email: s.creer@bangor.ac.uk
Phone: +44(0)1248 382302
Address: School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK
URL: http://mefgl.bangor.ac.uk/staff/si.php
Twitter: @SiCreerProf
- Published
Worldwide Analysis of Sedimentary DNA Reveals Major Gaps in Taxonomic Knowledge of Deep-Sea Benthos
Sinniger, F., Pawlowski, J., Harii, S., Gooday, A. J., Yamamoto, H., Chevaldonne, P., Cedhagen, T., Carvalho, G. & Creer, S., 14 Jun 2016, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 3, 92Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Whole genome duplication and transposable element proliferation drive genome expansion in Corydoradinae catfishes
Marburger, S., Alexandrou, M., Taggart, J. B., Creer, S., Carvalho, G., Oliveira, C. & Taylor, M. I., 14 Feb 2018, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285, 1872, 20172732.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Using DNA metabarcoding to investigate honey bee foraging reveals limited flower use despite high floral availability
De Vere, N., Jones, L. E., Gilmore, T., Moscrop, J., Lowe, A., Smith, D., Hegarty, M. J., Creer, S. & Ford, C. R., 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 42838.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Using DNA Metabarcoding to Identify Floral Visitation by Pollinators
Lowe, A., Jones, L., Witter, L., Creer, S. & de Vere, N., 24 Mar 2022, In: Diversity. 14, 4Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
- Published
Ultrasequencing of the meiofaunal biosphere: practice, pitfalls and promises.
Creer, S., Fonseca, V. G., Porazinska, D. L., Giblin-Davis, R. M., Sung, W., Powers, D. M., Packer, M., Carvalho, G. R., Blaxter, M. L., Lambshead, P. J. & Thomas, W. K., 1 Mar 2010, In: Molecular Ecology. 19, 1, p. 4-20Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
UK DNA working group eDNA week, January 2022
Handley, L. L., Blackwell, T., Broadhurst, H. A., Clark, K., Davison, P. I., England, J., Mariani, S., McDevitt, A. D., Pillay, G. K., Read, D., Walsh, K., Nisbet, A. & Creer, S., 1 Jan 2023, In: Environmental DNA. 5, 1, p. 18-24 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Transcriptomics and in vivo tests reveal novel mechanisms underlying endocrine disruption in an ecological sentinel, Nucella lapillus
Hughes, R. N., Pascoal, S., Carvalho, G. R., Vasieva, O., Hughes, R., Cossins, A., Fang, Y., Ashelford, K., Olohan, L., Barroso, C., Mendo, S. & Creer, S., 1 Mar 2013, In: Molecular Ecology. 22, 6, p. 1589-1608Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Tideless estuaries in brackish seas as possible freshwater-marine transition zones for bacteria: the case study of the Vistula river estuary
Golebiewski, M., Calkiewicz, J., Creer, S. & Piwosz, K., Apr 2017, In: Environmental Microbiology Reports. 9, 2, p. 129-143Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The utility of AFLPs for supporting mitochondrial DNA phylogeographical analyses in the Taiwanese bamboo viper, Trimeresurus stejnegeri
Creer, S., Thorpe, R., Malhotra, A., Chou, W. H. & Stenson, A. G., 1 Jan 2004, In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 17, 1, p. 100-107Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The importance of being genomic: Non-coding and coding sequences suggest different models of toxin multi-gene family evolution
Malhotra, A., Creer, S., Harris, J. B. & Thorpe, R. S., 7 Sept 2015, In: Toxicon. 107, Part B, p. 344-358Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The ecologist’s field guide to sequence-based identification of biodiversity
Creer, S., Deiner, K., Frey, S., Porazinska, D., Taberlet, P., Thomas, W. K., Potter, C. & Bik, H. M., 13 Sept 2016, In: Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 7, p. 1008-1018 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The biogeography of the atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) gut microbiome
Llewellyn, M. S., McGinnity, P., Dionne, M., Letourneau, J., Thonier, F., Carvalho, G., Creer, S. & Derome, N., May 2016, In: ISME Journal. 10, p. 1280-1284Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Temporal genetic homogeneity among shore crab (Carcinus maenas) larval events supplied to an estuarine system on the Portuguese northwest coast.
Domingues, C. P., Creer, S., Taylor, M. I., Queiroga, H. & Carvalho, G. R., 1 May 2011, In: Heredity. 106, 5, p. 832-840Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Temporal change in floral availability leads to periods of resource limitation and affects diet specificity in a generalist pollinator
Lowe, A., Jones, L., Brennan, G., Creer, S., Christie, L. & de Vere, N., 24 Oct 2022, In: Molecular Ecology. 32, 23, p. 6363-6376 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Temporal Patterns of Honeybee Foraging in a Diverse Floral Landscape Revealed Using Pollen DNA Metabarcoding of Honey
Jones, L., Lowe, A., Ford, C. R., Creer, S. & de Vere, N., 1 Aug 2022, In: Integrative and Comparative Biology. 62, 2, p. 199-210Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Temperate airborne grass pollen defined by spatio-temporal shifts in community composition
Brennan, G. L., Potter, C., De Vere, N., Griffith, G. W., Skjøth, C. A., Osborne, N. J., Wheeler, B. W., McInnes, R. N., Clewlow, Y., Barber, A., Hanlon, H. M., Hegarty, M., Jones, L., Kurganskiy, A., Rowney, F. M., Armitage, C., Adams-Groom, B., Ford, C. R., Petch, G. M., The PollerGEN Consortium & Creer, S., May 2019, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 3, 5, p. 750-754Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Targeting optimal introns for phylogenetic analyses in non-model taxa: experimental results in Asian pitvipers.
Creer, S., Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R. S. & Pook, C. E., 1 Aug 2005, In: Cladistics. 21, 4, p. 390-395Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Systematics of the Protobothrops jerdonii complex (Serpentes, Viperidae, Crotalinae) inferred from morphometric data and molecular phylogeny.
Guo, P., Malhotra, A., Li, C., Creer, S., Pook, P. E. & Wen, T., 1 Jul 2009, In: Herpetological Journal. 19, 2, p. 85-96Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Subtle shifts in microbial communities occur alongside the release of carbon induced by drought and rewetting in contrasting peatland ecosystems
Potter, C., Freeman, C., Golyshin, P., Ackerman, G., Fenner, N., McDonald, J., Ehbair, A., Jones, T., Murphy, L. & Creer, S., Sept 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 11314.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Strategies for sample labelling and library preparation in DNA metabarcoding studies
Bohmann, K., Elbrecht, V., Caroe, C., Bista, I., Leese, F., Bunce, M., Yu, D. W., Seymour, M., Dumbrell, A. & Creer, S., May 2022, In: Molecular Ecology Resources. 22, 4, p. 1231-1246 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
- Published
Soil textural heterogeneity impacts bacterial but not fungal diversity
Seaton, F., George, P., Lebron, I., Jones, D. L., Creer, S. & Robinson, D. A., 1 May 2020, In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 144, 107766.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Soil health cluster analysis based on national monitoring of soil indicators
Seaton, F. M., Barrett, G., Burden, A., Creer, S., Fitos, E., Garbutt, A., Griffiths, R. I., Henrys, P., Jones, D. L., Keenan, P., Keith, A., Lebron, I., Maskell, L., Pereira, M. G., Reinsch, S., Smart, S. M., Williams, B., Emmett, B. A. & Robinson, D. A., Nov 2021, In: European Journal of Soil Science. 72, 6, p. 2414-2429 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Shifts in honeybee foraging reveal historical changes in floral resources
Jones, L., Brennan, G. L., Lowe, A., Creer, S., Ford, C. R. & de Vere, N., 14 Jan 2021, In: Communications Biology. 4, 1, 37.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Shifts in Soil Structure, Biological, and Functional Diversity Under Long-Term Carbon Deprivation
George, P. B. L., Fidler, D. B., Van Nostrand, J. D., Atkinson, J. A., Mooney, S. J., Creer, S., Griffiths, R. I., McDonald, J. E., Robinson, D. A. & Jones, D. L., 14 Sept 2021, In: Frontiers in Microbiology. 12, 735022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Sequencing our way towards understanding global eukaryotic biodiversity
Bik, H. M., Porazinska, D., Creer, S., Caporaso, J. G., Knight, R. & Thomas, W. K., 1 Apr 2012, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 27, 4, p. 233-243Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Second-generation sequencing derived insights into the temporal biodiversity dynamics of freshwater protists.
Creer, S., 1 Jul 2010, In: Molecular Ecology. 19, 14, p. 2829-2831Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Second-generation environmental sequencing unmasks marine metazoan biodiversity.
Fonseca, V. G., Carvalho, G. R., Sung, W., Johnson, H. F., Power, D. M., Neill, S. P., Packer, M., Blaxter, M. L., Lambshead, J. D., Thomas, W. K. & Creer, S., 19 Oct 2010, In: Nature Communications. 1, 7, p. 98Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Seasonal progression and differences in major floral resource use by bees and hoverflies in a diverse horticultural and agricultural landscape revealed by DNA metabarcoding
Lowe, A., Jones, L., Brennan, G., Creer, S. & de Vere, N., Jun 2022, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 59, 6, p. 1484-1495Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Sample size effects on the assessment of eukaryotic diversity and community structure in aquatic sediments using high-throughput sequencing
Nascimento, F. J. A., Lallias, D., Bik, H. M. & Creer, S., 6 Aug 2018, In: Scientific Reports. 8Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Sample richness and genetic diversity as drivers of chimera formation in nSSU metagenetic analyses
Fonseca, V. G., Nichols, B., Lallias, D., Quince, C., Carvalho, G. R., Power, D. M. & Creer, S., 25 Jan 2012, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 40, 9, p. e66Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem
Broman, E., Raymond, C., Sommer, C., Gunnarsson, J. S., Creer, S. & Nascimento, F. J. A., Aug 2019, In: Molecular Ecology. 28, 16, p. 3813-3829 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
SNP Discovery in European Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, L) by High-Throughput Transcriptome and Genome Sequencing
Montes, I., Conklin, D., Albania, A., Creer, S., Carvalho, G. R., Santos, M. & Estonba, A., 1 Aug 2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 8, p. e70051Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach
Fonseca, V. G., Sinninger, F., Gaspar, J. M., Quince, C., Creer, S., Power, D., Peck, L. S. & Clark, M. S., 21 Jul 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 6094.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Primer and database choice affect fungal functional but not biological diversity findings in a national soil survey
George, P., Creer, S., Griffiths, R. I., Emmett, B. A., Robinson, D. A. & Jones, D. L., 1 Nov 2019, In: Frontiers in Environmental Science. 7, 173.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Predicting the severity of the grass pollen season and the effect of climate change in Northwest Europe
Kurganskiy, A., Creer, S., De Vere, N., Griffith, G. W., Osborne, N. J., Wheeler, B. W., McInnes, R. N., Clewlow, Y., Barber, A., Brennan, G., Hanlon, H. M., Hegarty, M. J., Potter, C., Rowney, F. M., Adams-Groom, B., Petch, G. M., Pashley, C. H., Satchwell, J., De Weger, L. A., Rasmussen, K., Oliver, G., Sindt, C., Bruffaerts, N., The PollerGEN Consortium & Skjoth, C. A., 26 Mar 2021, In: Science Advances. 7, 13, eabd7658.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Predicting function from sequence in a large multifunctional toxin family
Malhotra, A., Creer, S., Harris, J. B., Stöcklin, R., Favereau, P. & Thorpe, R. S., 3 Jul 2013, In: Toxicon. 72, p. 113-125Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plasticity in response to feed availability: Does feeding regime influence the relative growth performance of domesticated, wild and hybrid Atlantic salmon Salmo salar parr?
Harvey, A., Solberg, M. F., Glover, K. A., Taylor, M. I., Creer, S. & Carvalho, G., 1 Sept 2016, In: Journal of Fish Biology. 89, 3, p. 1754-1768Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plasticity in growth of farmed and wild Atlantic salmon: is the increased growth rate of farmed salmon caused by evolutionary adaptations to the commercial diet?
Harvey, A., Solberg, M. F., Troianou, E., Carvalho, G., Taylor, M. I., Creer, S., Dyrhovden, L., Matre, I. H. & Glover, K. A., 1 Dec 2016, In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2016, 16, 264.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plastic responses to past environments shape adaptation to novel selection pressures
Coates, S., Comeault, A., Wood, D. P., Fay, M. F., Creer, S., Osborne, O., Dunning, L. T. & Papadopulos, A. S. T., 30 Jan 2025, In: PNAS. 122, 5, e2409541122.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plastic and Heritable Components of Phenotypic Variation in Nucella lapillus: An Assessment Using Reciprocal Transplant and Common Garden Experiments
Hughes, R. N., Pascoal, S., Carvalho, G. R., Creer, S., Rock, J., Kawaii, K., Mendo, S. & Hughes, R., 27 Jan 2012, In: PLoS ONE. 7, 1, p. e30289Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Plant and soil communities are associated with the response of soil water repellency to environmental stress
Seaton, F., Jones, D. L., Creer, S., George, P., Smart, S. M., Lebron, I., Barrett, G., Emmett, B. & Robinson, D., 15 Oct 2019, In: Science of the Total Environment. 687, p. 929-938Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Phylogenomics and species delimitation for effective conservation of manta and devil rays
Hosegood, J., Humble, E., Ogden, R., De Bruyn, M., Creer, S., Stevens, G. M. W., Abudaya, M., Bassos-Hull, K., Bonfil, R., Fernando, D., Foote, A., Hipperson, H., Jabado, R. W., Kaden, J., Moazzam, M., Peel, L. R., Pollett, S., Ponzo, A., Poortvliet, M., Salah, J., Senn, H., Stewart, J. D., Wintner, S. & Carvalho, G., Dec 2020, In: Molecular Ecology. 29, 24, p. 4783-4796Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Performance of amplicon and shotgun sequencing for accurate biomass estimation in invertebrate community samples
Bista, I., Carvalho, G., Tang, M., Walsh, K., Zhou, X., Hajibabaei, M., Shokralla, S., Seymour, M., Bradley, D., Liu, S., Christmas, M. & Creer, S., Sept 2018, In: Molecular Ecology Resources. 18, 5, p. 1020-1034Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Parasitism perturbs the mucosal microbiome of Atlantic Salmon
Llewellyn, M. S., Leadbeater, S., Garcia, C., Sylvain, F.-E., Custodio, M., Ang, K. P., Powell, F., Carvalho, G., Creer, S., Elliot, J. & Derome, N., 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 43465.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Optimal intron analyses in the Trimeresurus radiation of Asian pitvipers.
Creer, S., Pook, C. E., Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R. S., 1 Feb 2006, In: Systematic Biology. 55, 1, p. 57-72Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
On the application of molecular barcodes in toxinological research
Creer, S., 1 Nov 2005, In: Toxicon. 46, 6, p. 709-710Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Offshore insular variation in the diet of the Taiwanese bamboo viper Trimeresurus stejnegeri (Schmidt)
Creer, S., Chou, W. H., Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R. S., 1 Aug 2002, In: Zoological Science. 19, 8, p. 907-913Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Novel insights into marine fish biodiversity across a pronounced environmental gradient using replicated environmental DNA analyses
Czachur, M. V., Seymour, M., Creer, S. & von der Heyden, S., 1 Jan 2022, In: Environmental DNA. 4, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
New evidence on the phylogenetic position of the poorly known Asian pitviper Protobothrops kaulbacki (Serpentes : Viperidae : Crotalinae) with a redescription of the species and a revision of the genus Protobothrops.
Guo, P., Malhotra, A., Li, P. P., Pook, C. E. & Creer, S., 1 Oct 2007, In: Herpetological Journal. 17, 4, p. 237-246Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Multiple causation of phylogeographical pattern as revealed by nested clade analysis of the bamboo viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri) within Taiwan.
Creer, S., Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R. S. & Chou, W. H., 1 Aug 2001, In: Molecular Ecology. 10, 8, p. 1967-1981Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review