Dr. ir. Kamiel Spoelstra
ResearcherAnimal Ecology |
Research expertiseBehavioural ecology Circadian biology Experimental field studies Temporal analysis
Page last updated: 09-03-2020
Dr. Ir. Kamiel Spoelstra works on the presence and activity of species: what is our influence on how species organize their activity? And how do animals change the organization of their activity as a result of human disturbance – do species occupy different niches, in time and place? How do possible changes affect species’ populations, and how do they interact? His drive is to visualize the invisible in ecosystems: hidden effects, latent processes, secretive behaviour by inconspicuous species.
He graduated at the University of Groningen in 2005, and continued there with a post-doc position (2005-2007), followed by post-docs at Princeton University (2007-2009), Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (2009-2010), and Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KANW, 2011-2019). He currently has a research position there.
Currently, his main project is about the impact of light pollution for which he maintains a large-scale setup with experimental illumination of forest-edge habitat, studying the impact of the spectral composition of light, and light intensity on several species groups. For more information on this project, please check www.lichtopnatuur.org.
- Dominoni, D. M., Kjellberg Jensen, J., de Jong, M., Visser, M. E., & Spoelstra, K. (2019). Artificial light at night, in interaction with spring temperature, modulates timing of reproduction in a passerine bird. Ecological Applications, Online. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2062
- Vazquez, C., Rowcliffe, J. M., Spoelstra, K., & Jansen, P. A. (2019). Comparing diel activity patterns of wildlife across latitudes and seasons: Time transformations using day length. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(12), 2057-2066. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13290
- Laine, V. N., Atema, E., Vlaming, P., Verhagen, I., Mateman, C., Ramakers, J. J. C.,... Visser, M. E. (2019). The Genomics of Circadian Timing in a Wild Bird, the Great Tit (Parus major). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7, [e00152]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00152
- Ulgezen, Z. N., Käpylä, T., Meerlo, P., Spoelstra, K., Visser, M. E., & Dominoni, D. M. (2019). The preference and costs of sleeping under light at night in forest and urban great tits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 286(1905), [20190872]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0872
- Spoelstra, K., Verhagen, I. C., Meijer, D., & Visser, M. E. (2018). Artificial light at night shifts daily activity patterns but not the internal clock in the great tit (Parus major). Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 285(1875), [2751]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2751
- de Jong, M., Lamers, K. P., Eugster, M., Ouyang, J. Q., Da Silva, A., Mateman, A. C.,... Spoelstra, K. (2018). Effects of experimental light at night on extra-pair paternity in a songbird. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 329(8-9), 441-448. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2193
- Spoelstra, K., Ramakers, J. J. C., van Dis, N. E., & Visser, M. E. (2018). No effect of artificial light of different colors on commuting Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) in a choice experiment. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology, 329(8-9), 506-510. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2178
- de Jong, M., Van den Eertwegh, L., Beskers, R., De Vries, P. P., Spoelstra, K., & Visser, M. E. (2018). Timing of avian breeding in an urbanized world. Ardea, 106(1), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v106i1.a4
- Welbers, A., van Dis, N., Kolvoort, A., Ouyang, J. Q., Visser, M. E., Spoelstra, K., & Dominoni, D. M. (2017). Artificial Light at Night Reduces Daily Energy Expenditure in Breeding Great Tits (Parus major). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, [2017.00055]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00055
- de Jong, M., Caro, S. P., Gienapp, P., Spoelstra, K., & Visser, M. E. (2017). Early Birds by Light at Night: Effects of Light Color and Intensity on Daily Activity Patterns in Blue Tits. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 32(4), 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730417719168
- Da Silva, A., de Jong, M., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Visser, M. E., Kempenaers, B., & Spoelstra, K. (2017). Experimental illumination of a forest: no effects of lights of different colours on the onset of the dawn chorus in songbirds. Royal Society Open Science, 4(1), [160638]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160638
- Dominoni, D. M., Akesson, S., Klaassen, R. H. G., Spoelstra, K., & Bulla, M. (2017). Methods in field chronobiology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1734), [0247]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0247
- Spoelstra, K., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Ramakers, J. J. C., Ferguson, K. B., Raap, T., Donners, M.,... Visser, M. E. (2017). Response of bats to light with different spectra: light-shy and agile bat presence is affected by white and green, but not red light. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 284(1855), [0075]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0075
- Ouyang, J. Q., de Jong, M., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Matson, K. D., Haussmann, M. F., Meerlo, P.,... Spoelstra, K. (2017). Restless roosts: Light pollution affects behavior, sleep, and physiology in a free-living songbird. Global Change Biology, 23(11), 4987-4994. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13756
- Ouyang, J. Q., de Jong, M., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Matson, K. D., Haussmann, M. F., Meerlo, P.,... Spoelstra, K. (2017). What type of rigorous experiments are needed to investigate the impact of artificial light at night on individuals and populations? Response to editor. Global Change Biology, 23(12), e9-e10. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13894
- De Jong, M., Jeninga, L., Ouyang, J., van Oers, K., Spoelstra, K., & Visser, M. E. (2016). Dose-dependent responses of avian daily rhythms to artificial light at night. Physiology & Behavior, 155(1), 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.12.012
- De Jong, M., Ouyang, J., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Visser, M. E., & Spoelstra, K. (2016). Do wild great tits avoid exposure to light at night? PLoS One, 11(6), [0157357]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157357
- Spoelstra, K., Wikelski, M., Daan, S., Loudon, A., & Hau, M. (2016). Natural selection against a circadian clock gene mutation in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(3), 686-691. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1516442113
- Swaddle, J. P., Francis, C. D., Barber, J. R., Cooper, C. B., Kyba, C. C. M., Dominoni, D.,... Longcore, T. (2015). A framework to assess evolutionary responses to anthropogenic light and sound. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(9), 550-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.009
- De Jong, M., Ouyang, J. Q., Da Silva, A., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Kempenaers, B., Visser, M. E., & Spoelstra, K. (2015). Effects of nocturnal illumination on life-history decisions and fitness in two wild songbird species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 370(1667), [20140128]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0128
- Spoelstra, K., van Grunsven, R. H. A., Donners, M., Gienapp, P., Huigens, M. E., Slaterus, R.,... Veenendaal, E. (2015). Experimental illumination of natural habitat—an experimental set-up to assess the direct and indirect ecological consequences of artificial light of different spectral composition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1667), [2014.0129]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0129
- Ouyang, J. Q., de Jong, M., Hau, M., Visser, M. E., van Grunsven, R. H. A., & Spoelstra, K. (2015). Stressful colours: corticosterone concentrations in a free-living songbird vary with the spectral composition of experimental illumination. Biology Letters, 11(8), [20150517]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0517
- Spoelstra, K., Comas, M., & Daan, S. (2014). Compression of daily activity time in mice lacking functional Per or Cry genes. Annual Review of Chronopharmacology, 31(5), 645-654. https://doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2014.885529
- Spoelstra, K., & Visser, M. E. (2013). The impact of artificial light on avian ecology. In D. Gils, & H. Brumm [Eds.], Avian Urban Ecology (Vol. Part 1: Chap 2, pp. 21-28). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Steiger, S., Valcu, M., Spoelstra, K., Helm, B., Wikelski, M., & Kempenaers, B. (2013). When the sun never sets: Diverse activity rhythms under continuous daylight in free-living arctic-breeding birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 280. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1016
- Titulaer, M., Spoelstra, K., Lange, C., & Visser, M. E. (2012). Activity patterns during food provisioning are affected by artificial light in free living great tits (Parus major). PLoS One, 7(5), [e37377]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037377
- Lehmann, M., Spoelstra, K., Visser, M. E., & Helm, B. (2012). Effects of temperature on circadian clock and chronotype: an experimental study in a passerine bird. Annual Review of Chronopharmacology, 29(8), 1062-1071. https://doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2012.707159
- Daan, S., Spoelstra, K., Albrecht, U., Schmutz, I., Daan, M., Daan, B.,... Lipp, H. P. (2011). Lab mice in the field: unorthodox daily activity and effects of a dysfunctional circadian clock allele. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 26(2), 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730410397645
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- Spoelstra, K. (2019). Vleermuizen nader belicht: Onderzoek naar effect van lichtkleur. Zoogdier, 30(1), 3.
- Spoelstra, K., & Limpens, H. (2018). Wintertijd verstoort nachtdieren in de zomer. Nature Today.
