Dr David Smyth
Science Officer
Room: 2nd floor, Marine Centre Wales Phone: +44 (0) 1248 388603
Email: d.smyth@bangor.ac.uk
Web: www.shellfish.wales
I graduated in Marine Biology from Queen’s University Belfast in 2002. After which I undertook a PhD in stock enhancement strategies for the native oyster Ostrea edulis at Queen’s Marine Laboratory Portaferry between 2003 and 2006. I remained at Queens in a post-doctoral position for a further three years managing a project which investigated restoration techniques for damaged Modiolus modiolus reefs. I then accepted a two post in 2010 as the Field Diving Officer with the British Antarctic Survey based at Rothera Research Station. After Antarctica I returned to Queen’s University and undertook a post-doc investigating the impact of marine renewable arrays on benthic community structure. I then moved to Qatar University as an Assistant Professor of Research managing a hawksbill turtle conservation programme and researching the impact of static fishing gear on pearl oyster beds from 2014-2017. I then returned once again to Queens where I investigated the rate of epibiotic successional recovery after sub-sea construction and associated kite energy harvesting activity.
I am a marine environmental ecologist with a keen interest in habitat restoration and enhancement through the use of bio-engineering bivalves primarily the European native oyster Ostrea edulis. Particular areas of interest in this field include the population dynamics of a recovering O. edulis stock and its associated flora and fauna. Identifying a restoration blueprint which will transform a functionally extinct O. edulis region into a self-sustaining recognised biotope is one of my major research components. I am also focused on developing an approach to O. edulis fishery management which will meet the environmental demands associated with an OSPAR and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species while accommodating the needs of the fishing community. I employ an empirical approach to my research using long-term in-situ monitoring, hatchery experimentation and field surveys.
Qualifications
- PhD: Stock enhancement strategies for the native oyster Ostrea edulis in a semi-enclosed sea Lough
Queen's University, Belfast, 2007 - BSc: Marine Biology
Queen's University, Belfast, 2002
Publications
2019
- PublishedThe fishing behaviour of Metopograpsus messor (Decapoda: Grapsidae) and the use of pneumatophore-borne vibrations for prey-localizing in an arid mangrove setting
Giraldes, B. W., Chatting, M. & Smyth, D., Sep 2019, In : Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 99, 6, p. 1353-1361
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedThe benthic sea-silk-thread displacement of a sessile bivalve, Pinctada imbricata radiata (Leach, 1819) in the Arabian-Persian Gulf
Giraldes, B. W., Leitao, A. & Smyth, D., 1 May 2019, In : PLoS ONE. 14, 5, e0215865.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedThe importance of population density and inter-individual distance in conserving the European oyster Ostrea edulis
Guy, C., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., May 2019, In : Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 99, 3, p. 587-593
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2018
- PublishedThe world is their oyster: Differences in epibiota on sympatric populations of native Ostrea edulis and non-native Crassostrea gigas ( Magallana gigas ) oysters
Guy, C., Blight, A., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., 1 Oct 2018, In : Journal of Sea Research. 140, p. 52-58
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedDecline in oyster populations in traditional fishing grounds; is habitat damage by static fishing gear a contributory factor in ecosystem degradation?
Al-Maslamani, I., David, S., Giraldes, B., Chatting, M., Al-Mohannadi, M. & Le Vay, L., Oct 2018, In : Journal of Sea Research. 140, p. 40-51 12 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedNesting ecology of hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, in an extreme environmental setting
Mark, C., Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Obbard, J., Al-Ansi, M., Hamza, S., Al-Mohanady, S. F., Al-Kuwari, A. J. & Marshall, C. D., 7 Sep 2018, In : PLoS ONE. 13, 9, e0203257.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedSettlement of Ostrea edulis is determined by the availability of hard substrata rather than its nature: implications for stock recovery and restoration of the European oyster
Smyth, D., Mahon, A. M., Roberts, D. & Kregting, L., Jun 2018, In : Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 28, 3, p. 662-671
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2017
- PublishedThe nocturnal zonation of decapods in the subtidal zone within the reef seascape—abiotic factors defining habitats
Giraldes, B. W., Filho, P. A. C., Smyth, D. M. & Coelho, P. A., Sep 2017, In : ICES Journal of Marine Science. 74, 8, p. 2180-2190
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedA new species of Leucosiid crab (Decapoda: Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the Arabian Gulf
Giraldes, B. W., Al-Maslamani, I. & Smyth, D., 6 Apr 2017, In : Zootaxa. 4250, 4, p. 389-395
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2016
- PublishedBenthic surveys of the historic pearl oyster beds of Qatar reveal a dramatic ecological change
Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Chatting, M. & Giraldes, B., 15 Dec 2016, In : Marine Pollution Bulletin. 113, p. 147-155
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedDo Changes in Current Flow as a Result of Arrays of Tidal Turbines Have an Effect on Benthic Communities?
Kregting, L., Elsaesser, B., Kennedy, R., Smyth, D., O'Carroll, J. & Savidge, G., 25 Aug 2016, In : PLoS ONE. 11, 8, e0161279.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedModern problems in marine biodiversity records – illustrated by the case of the Caribbean Pelia mutica (Gibbes, 1850) confirmed in Brazil
Giraldes, B. W., Smyth, D. & Chatting, M., 13 Jul 2016, In : Marine Biodiversity Records. 9, 54.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedRecognizing Panulirus meripurpuratus sp. nov. (Decapoda: Palinuridae) in Brazil—Systematic and biogeographic overview of Panulirus species in the Atlantic Ocean
Giraldes, B. W. & Smyth, D., 3 May 2016, In : Zootaxa. 4107, 3
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedAnthropogenic related variations in the epibiotic biodiversity and age structure of the “Pearl Oyster” Pinctada radiata within the eulittoral zone of Qatar
Smyth, D., Al-Maslamani, I., Giraldes, B. W., Chatting, M. & Le Vay, L., May 2016, In : Regional Studies in Marine Science. 5, p. 87-96 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedBasic assessment of Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) – A baseline for stock management in the Western Arabian Gulf
Giraldes, B. W., Al-Maslamani, I., Al-Ashwel, A., Chatting, M. & Smyth, D., Mar 2016, In : The Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research. 42, 1, p. 111-119
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedUsing particle dispersal models to assist in the conservation and recovery of the overexploited native oyster (Ostrea edulis) in an enclosed sea lough
Smyth, D., Kregting, L., Elsäßerb, B., Kennedy, R. & Roberts, D., Feb 2016, In : Journal of Sea Research. 108, p. 50-59
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2015
- PublishedArtisanal fishing of spiny lobsters with gillnets — A significant anthropic impact on tropical reef ecosystem
Giraldes, B., Zaracon Silva, A., Correa, F. M. & Smyth, D., 1 Jul 2015, In : Global Ecology and Conservation. 4, July, p. 572-580
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article - PublishedDecapod assemblages in subtidal and intertidal zones—Importance of scuba diving as a survey technique in tropical reefs, Brazil
Giraldes, B. W., Filho, P. A. C. & Smyth, D. M., Jan 2015, In : Global Ecology and Conservation. 3, p. 163-175
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2013
- PublishedCommunity convergence and recruitment of keystone species as performance indicators of artificial reefs
Farinas-Franco, J., Allcock, L., Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., 1 Apr 2013, In : Journal of Sea Research. 78, p. 59-74
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2010
- PublishedThe European oyster (Ostrea edulis) and its epibiotic succession
Smyth, D. & Roberts, D., Nov 2010, In : Hydrobiologia. 655, p. 25-36
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
2009
- PublishedImpacts of unregulated harvesting on a recovering stock of native oysters (Ostrea edulis)
Smyth, D., Roberts, D. & Brown, L., 1 Jun 2009, In : Marine Pollution Bulletin. 58, 6, p. 916-922
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article