Dr. rer. nat. Jorger Rafael Bermúdez-Monsalve

Rafael Bermúdez is a Lecturer at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, in Guayaquil Ecuador. Rafael is interested in the bacterial and viral diversity at the eastern equatorial Pacific, where the Humboldt and Panama currents meet. He has also worked on the effect of Ocean Acidification in the biomolecular composition of primary producers and its concomitant influence in food webs at the GEOMAR Research Center in Kiel, Germany. He also worked in the effect of riverine inputs in the primary productivity of the southern part of the Humboldt Current System at the EULA Center in Concepción, Chile.

Trajectory

  • 2014-Present: Director of the Plankton Laboratory and Researcher-Lecturer at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, in Guayaquil Ecuador.
  • 2011-2014: Doctoral degree (Magna Cum Laude) at the GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel under the supervision of Dr. Ulf Riebesell and Dr. Monika Winder. Thesis: “Primary producers and future ocean scenarios: Effect of environmental variation on its macromolecular composition and consequences for higher trophic levels”.
  • 2008-2010: Master of Sciences, mention in Biological Oceanography at the GEOMAR|Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel. Thesis: “C:N:P ratios and fatty acids in diatoms and its influence on copepods development”
  • 2003-2006: Bachelor degree in Marine Biology; University of Concepción, Chile.
  • 2006-2007: Professional title in Marine Biology (Faculty Award for the best graduate student), University of Concepción, Chile. Thesis: “Primary productivity and autotrophic biomass in relation with inorganic nutrients and river inputs in the Concepción upwelling system, central Chile”.

Publications

-    Winder, M., Bouquet J. M., Bermúdez J. R., Berger S. A., Hansen T., Brandes J., Sazhin A. F., Nejstgaard J. N., Båmstedt U., Jakobsen H. H., Dutz J., Frischer M. E., Troedsson C. E., Thompson E. M. (2017) Increased appendicularian zooplankton alter carbon cycling under warmer more acidified ocean conditions. Limnology and Oceanography. doi: 10.1002/lno.10516

-    Schulz K.G., Bach L.T., Bellerby R., Bermúdez R., Buedenbender J., Boxhammer T., Czerny J., Engel A., Ludwig A., Meyerhoefer M., Larsen A., Paul A., Sswat M. and Riebesell U. (2017). Phytoplankton blooms at increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide: experimental evidence for negative effects on prymnesiophytes and positive on small picoeukaryotes. Frontiers in Maine Sciences 4:64. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00064

-    Riebesell U., Bach L.T., Bellerby R. G. J., Bermúdez J. R., Boxhammer T., Czerny J., Larsen A., Ludwig A., Schulz K.G. (2017) Competitive fitness of a predominant pelagic calcifier impaired by ocean acidification. Nature Geoscience 10, 19–23 doi:10.1038/ngeo2854

-    Spilling, K., Schulz, K. G., Paul, A. J., Boxhammer, T., Achterberg, E. P., Hornick, T., Lischka, S., Stuhr, A., Bermúdez, R., Czerny, J., Crawfurd, K., Brussaard, C. P. D., Grossart, H.-P., and Riebesell, U. (2016) Effects of ocean acidification on pelagic carbon fluxes in a mesocosm experiment, Biogeosciences, 13, 6081-6093, doi:10.5194/bg-13-6081-2016.

-    Spilling, K., Paul, A. J., Virkkala, N., Hastings, T., Lischka, S., Stuhr, A., Bermúdez, R., Czerny, J., Boxhammer, T., Schulz, K. G., Ludwig, A., and Riebesell, U. (2016) Ocean acidification decreases plankton respiration: evidence from a mesocosm experiment, Biogeosciences, 13, 4707-4719, doi:10.5194/bg-13-4707-2016.

-    Almén, A.-K., Vehmaa, A., Brutemark, A., Bach, L., Lischka, S., Stuhr, A., Furuhagen, S., Paul, A., Bermúdez, J. R., Riebesell, U., and Engström-Öst, J. (2016) Negligible effects of ocean acidification on Eurytemora affinis (Copepoda) offspring production, Biogeosciences, 13, 1037-1048, doi:10.5194/bg-13-1037-2016.

-    Bermúdez, J. R., Winder, M., Stuhr, A., Almén, A. K., Engström-Öst, J., and Riebesell, U. (2016). Effect of ocean acidification on the structure and fatty acid composition of a natural plankton community in the Baltic Sea, Biogeosciences, 13, 6625-6635, doi:10.5194/bg-13-6625-2016.

-    Bermúdez JR, Riebesell U, Larsen A, Winder M (2016). Ocean acidification reduces transfer of essential biomolecules in a natural plankton community. Scientific Reports, 6, 27749; doi: 10.1038/srep27749.

-    Bermúdez R, Feng Y, Roleda MY, Tatters AO, Hutchins DA, Larsen T, et al. (2015) Long-Term Conditioning to Elevated pCO2 and Warming Influences the Fatty and Amino Acid Composition of the Diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis. PLoS ONE 10 (5): e0123945. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123945

-    Rossoll D*, Bermúdez JR*, Hauss H, Schulz KG, Riebesell U, Sommer U, Winder M (2012). Ocean Acidification-Induced Food Quality Deterioration Constrains Trophic Transfer. PLoS ONE 7(4): e34737. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034737. (*Equal Contribution)

-    Iriarte JL, Vargas CA, Tapia FJ, Bermúdez JR, Urrutia RE (2012). Primary production and plankton carbon biomass in a river-influenced upwelling area off Concepción, Chile. Progress In Oceanography, 92: 97-109.