Summary
Dr Thomas Breithaupt has been studying the sensory ecology of aquatic and terrestrial animals for more than 25 years.
His research is driven by his fascination in the sensory world and behaviour of animals, and how animals extract and respond to information from their specific habitat.
Dr Breithaupt is most interested in how animals communicate by chemicals, and how they respond to chemical and mechanical (sound and vibration) stimuli from predators, prey and conspecifics.
As natural environments are threatened by chemical pollution, noise and vibrations, he believes we need to understand how animal senses and behaviours cope with these challenges.
Publications on catfish wake following behaviour, lobster chemical communication and visualisation of crayfish chemical signals have been highlighted in various international online and printed science news portals and blogs.
Book Chapter
Effect of Operational Wind-Turbine Vibration on Surface-Dwelling Invertebrates
Burgess, J., Thomas, S., Mazik, K., Al-Mudallal, S., Tang, S. K., & Breithaupt, T. (2023). Effect of Operational Wind-Turbine Vibration on Surface-Dwelling Invertebrates. In A. N. Popper, J. Sisneros, A. D. Hawkins, & F. Thomsen (Eds.), The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life : Principles and Practical Considerations (1-20). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_21-1
Journal Article
Using DNA metabarcoding to investigate diet and niche partitioning in the native European otter (Lutra lutra) and invasive American mink (Neovison vison)
Harper, L. R., Watson, H. V., Donnelly, R., Hampshire, R., Sayer, C. D., Breithaupt, T., & Hänfling, B. (2020). Using DNA metabarcoding to investigate diet and niche partitioning in the native European otter (Lutra lutra) and invasive American mink (Neovison vison). Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, 4, 113-133. https://doi.org/10.3897/MBMG.4.56087
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of pond water as a tool to survey conservation and management priority mammals
Ghazali, M., Harper, L. R., Lawson Handley, L., Carpenter, A. I., Murray-Dickson, G., Di Muri, C., Macgregor, C. J., Logan, T. W., Law, A., Breithaupt, T., Read, D. S., McDevitt, A. D., & Hänfling, B. (2019). Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of pond water as a tool to survey conservation and management priority mammals. Biological Conservation, 238(October 2019), Article 108225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108225
Fighting over burrows : the emergence of dominance hierarchies in the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus)
Sbragaglia, V., Leiva, D., Arias, A., Garcia, J. A., Aguzzi, J., & Breithaupt, T. (2017). Fighting over burrows : the emergence of dominance hierarchies in the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus). The journal of experimental biology, 220(24), 4624-4633. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.165969
Co-investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Towards enabling sustainable expansion of offshore wind while protecting marine benthic biodiversity and functioning (BEcoWIND)
Funder
NERC Natural Environment Research Council
Grant
£612,236.00
Started
1 April 2023
Status
Ongoing
Project
Acoustic Surveying of Bog Bush-crickets in Yorkshire
Funder
Yorkshire Naturalists Union
Grant
£1,257.00
Started
1 June 2024
Status
Ongoing
Postgraduate supervision
Dr Breithaupt welcomes MSc and PhD projects in areas that deal with sensory ecology, animal behaviour, ecophysiology, or animal personalities.
Completed PhDs
Dr Breithaupt has been first supervisor for 20 postgraduate studies including six PhD research projects
Current PhD supervisions
Tom Evans, Identification of feeding attractant for American lobsters Homarus americanus