Dr. Gerard J.J. Driessen

Curriculum Vitae & Publications

Research interests

My scientific intererests are in the fields of the evolution of thermal plasticity of life-history traits in ectothermal organisms. In this context I study the genetic variation of reaction norms of life-histry traits such as growth and developmental rate, correlations between slopes of reaction norms, phenotypic costs associated with temperature fluctuation and the constraints on the evolution of thermal plasticity imposed by genetic architecture.
Secondly, I am particularly interested in the effect of climate change on species interactions within the framework of single food webs. I study the behavioural and developmental changes in relation to temperature in parasitoid species of Drosophila and the implications these have for the competitive outcome of their interaction. Furthermore, I study the variation in temperature sensitivity of predator, prey and detritivore species in the relatively imple food webs of the green beach and salt march at Schiermonikoog. Differences in thermal sensitivity between different trophic levels are indicative for the stability of the food web.
I am lecturer at the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences and  coordinator of the masters’ programme in Ecology  that is organised by the Department of Ecological Sciences.

Selected Publications

 
G. Driessen and J. Ellers (2011). The costs of phenotypic adaptation to repeatedly fluctuating temperatures in a soil arthropod. Journal of Thermal Biology, doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2011.09.003.

M. Berg, E.T. Kiers, G. Driessen, M. van der Heiden, B.W. Kooi, F. Kuenen, M. Liefting, H.A. Verhoef and J. Ellers (2010). Adapt or disperse: understanding species persistence in a changing world. Global Change Biology, 16: 587-598, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02014.x.

J.J.M. van Alphen, C. Bernstein and G. Driessen (2003) Patch time allocation in insect parasitoids. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18: 81-87.

J. Ellers, J.G. Sevenster and G. Driessen (2000) Egg load evolution in parasitoids. Am. Nat. 156: 650-665.

G. Driessen and C. Bernstein (1999) Patch departure mechanisms and optimal host exploitation in an insect parasitoid. J. Anim. Ecol. 68: 445-459.