Moritz Mercker
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View article: Identification of Suitable Habitats for Threatened Elasmobranch Species in the OSPAR Maritime Area
Identification of Suitable Habitats for Threatened Elasmobranch Species in the OSPAR Maritime Area Open
Protecting threatened elasmobranch species despite limited data on their distribution and abundance is a critical challenge, particularly in the context of increasing human impacts on marine ecosystems. In the northeastern Atlantic, specie…
View article: Mechanochemical patterning localizes the organizer of a luminal epithelium
Mechanochemical patterning localizes the organizer of a luminal epithelium Open
The spontaneous emergence of tissue patterns is often attributed to biochemical reaction-diffusion systems. In Hydra tissue regeneration, the formation of a Wnt signaling center exemplifies this process. However, a strictly biochemical mec…
View article: Bird Collisions with an Unmarked Extra-High Voltage Transmission Line in an Average Riverine Landscape: An Appeal to Take a Closer Look
Bird Collisions with an Unmarked Extra-High Voltage Transmission Line in an Average Riverine Landscape: An Appeal to Take a Closer Look Open
Anthropogenic structures such as overhead powerlines pose potentially high collision risks to flying animals, particularly birds, leading to millions of fatalities each year. Studies of bird collisions with powerlines to date, however, hav…
View article: Notch signaling mediates between two pattern-forming processes during head regeneration in<i>Hydra</i>
Notch signaling mediates between two pattern-forming processes during head regeneration in<i>Hydra</i> Open
Hydra head regeneration consists of hypostome/organizer and tentacle development, and involves Notch and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Notch inhibition blocks hypostome/organizer regeneration, but not the appearance of the tentacle tissue. β-Ca…
View article: Mechanochemical Patterning Localizes the Organizer of a Luminal Epithelium
Mechanochemical Patterning Localizes the Organizer of a Luminal Epithelium Open
The spontaneous emergence of tissue patterns is often attributed to biochemical reaction-diffusion systems. In Hydra tissue regeneration, the formation of a Wnt signaling center serves as a well-known example of such a process. However, de…
View article: Loss or redistribution? A better way of estimating regional changes in animal distribution and numbers caused by increased human activities
Loss or redistribution? A better way of estimating regional changes in animal distribution and numbers caused by increased human activities Open
A differentiated understanding of how regional human activities affect the spatial distribution and numbers of animals within specific areas of interest is of great ecological importance. Estimating these effects from empirical data is cha…
View article: Identification of Key Habitats of Bowhead and Blue Whales in the OSPAR Area of the North-East Atlantic—A Modelling Approach towards Effective Conservation
Identification of Key Habitats of Bowhead and Blue Whales in the OSPAR Area of the North-East Atlantic—A Modelling Approach towards Effective Conservation Open
Effective protection of highly mobile and data-poor species constitutes a great challenge amid growing ocean exploitation and use. Blue whales and bowhead whales in the North-East Atlantic face several threats, such as climate change, ship…
View article: Genetic interference with HvNotch provides new insights into the role of the Notch-signalling pathway for developmental pattern formation in Hydra
Genetic interference with HvNotch provides new insights into the role of the Notch-signalling pathway for developmental pattern formation in Hydra Open
The Notch-signalling pathway plays an important role in pattern formation in Hydra . Using pharmacological Notch inhibitors (DAPT and SAHM1), it has been demonstrated that HvNotch is required for head regeneration and tentacle patterning i…
View article: Notch-signaling is required for mediating between two pattern forming processes during head regeneration in<i>Hydra</i>polyps
Notch-signaling is required for mediating between two pattern forming processes during head regeneration in<i>Hydra</i>polyps Open
Hydra polyps regenerate lost body parts, including the head. In addition, Hydra head tissue has organizer properties thus being able to recruit body column tissue from a host polyp to produce ectopic hydranths after transplantation. These …
View article: Cumulative effects of offshore wind farms on common guillemots (Uria aalge) in the southern North Sea - climate versus biodiversity?
Cumulative effects of offshore wind farms on common guillemots (Uria aalge) in the southern North Sea - climate versus biodiversity? Open
Governments are under increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and large-scale wind farms are being developed in marine environments worldwide. However, top predators are strongly affected by environmental change and anthrop…
View article: Genetic interference with HvNotch provides new insights into the role of the Notch-signalling pathway for developmental pattern formation in<i>Hydra</i>
Genetic interference with HvNotch provides new insights into the role of the Notch-signalling pathway for developmental pattern formation in<i>Hydra</i> Open
The Notch-signalling pathway plays an important role in pattern formation in Hydra . Using pharmacological Notch inhibitors (DAPT and SAHM1), it has been demonstrated that HvNotch is required for head regeneration and tentacle patterning i…
View article: Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm with Adaptive Parameter Space Dimension: A Promising Tool for Geophysical Electromagnetic Induction Inversion
Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm with Adaptive Parameter Space Dimension: A Promising Tool for Geophysical Electromagnetic Induction Inversion Open
Frequency-domain electromagnetic induction (FDEMI) methods are frequently used in non-invasive, area-wise mapping of the subsurface electromagnetic soil properties. A crucial part of data analysis is the geophysical inversion of the data, …
View article: Behavioral responses to offshore windfarms during migration of a declining shorebird species revealed by GPS-telemetry
Behavioral responses to offshore windfarms during migration of a declining shorebird species revealed by GPS-telemetry Open
EU member countries and the UK are currently installing numerous offshore windfarms (OWFs) in the Baltic and North Seas to achieve decarbonization of their energy systems. OWFs may have adverse effects on birds; however, estimates of colli…
View article: Large-scale effects of offshore wind farms on seabirds of high conservation concern
Large-scale effects of offshore wind farms on seabirds of high conservation concern Open
The North Sea is a key area worldwide for the installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs). We analysed data from multiple sources to quantify the effects of OWFs on seabirds from the family Gaviidae (loons) in the German North Sea. The dist…
View article: Assessing potential conflicts between offshore wind farms and migration patterns of a threatened shorebird species
Assessing potential conflicts between offshore wind farms and migration patterns of a threatened shorebird species Open
Installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs) is becoming increasingly important to ensure a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; however, OWFs also pose a threat to migrating birds and other wildlife. Informed marine spatial planning is th…
View article: Injury-induced MAPK activation triggers body axis formation in <i>Hydra</i> by default Wnt signaling
Injury-induced MAPK activation triggers body axis formation in <i>Hydra</i> by default Wnt signaling Open
Hydra ’s almost unlimited regenerative potential is based on Wnt signaling, but so far it is unknown how the injury stimulus is transmitted to discrete patterning fates in head and foot regenerates. We previously identified mitogen-activat…
View article: Bird migration in space and time: chain migration by Eurasian curlew <i>Numenius arquata arquata</i> along the East Atlantic Flyway
Bird migration in space and time: chain migration by Eurasian curlew <i>Numenius arquata arquata</i> along the East Atlantic Flyway Open
Migration patterns in birds vary in space and time. Spatial patterns include chain, leapfrog and telescopic migration. Temporal patterns such as migration duration, number, and duration of stopovers may vary according to breeding latitude,…
View article: Beyond BACI: Offsetting carcass numbers with flight intensity to improve risk assessments of bird collisions with power lines
Beyond BACI: Offsetting carcass numbers with flight intensity to improve risk assessments of bird collisions with power lines Open
The continuing global expansion of electricity networks increases the risk of bird collisions with power lines. Several field studies have demonstrated that this risk can be reduced by marking lines with flight diverters. A before‐after co…
View article: Mutual Inhibition Model of pattern formation: The role of Wnt-Dickkopf interactions in driving <i>Hydra</i> body axis formation
Mutual Inhibition Model of pattern formation: The role of Wnt-Dickkopf interactions in driving <i>Hydra</i> body axis formation Open
The antagonistic interplay between canonical Wnt signalling and Dickkopf (Dkk) proteins is fundamental to tissue organisation, including stem cell differentiation and body-axis formation. Disruptions in this interaction are linked to vario…
View article: A flexible point and variance estimator to assess bird/bat fatality from carcass searches
A flexible point and variance estimator to assess bird/bat fatality from carcass searches Open
Estimation of bird and bat fatalities due to collision with anthropogenic structures (such as power lines or wind turbines) is an important ecological issue. However, searching for collision victims usually only detects a proportion of the…
View article: Suitability of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) as indicators for detecting intertidal bivalve beds in the Wadden Sea
Suitability of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) as indicators for detecting intertidal bivalve beds in the Wadden Sea Open
Germany is an EU member state and is thus obliged to monitor and protect its marine and coastal areas in the context of international treaties (e.g. EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, EU Natura2000 directives, Trilateral Monitoring an…
View article: Correction to: Analysis of local habitat selection and large-scale attraction/avoidance based on animal tracking data: is there a single best method?
Correction to: Analysis of local habitat selection and large-scale attraction/avoidance based on animal tracking data: is there a single best method? Open
of the 'Interplay between method and tracking-data properties' section, due to a typesetting mistake.
View article: The Wnt-specific astacin proteinase HAS-7 restricts head organizer formation in Hydra
The Wnt-specific astacin proteinase HAS-7 restricts head organizer formation in Hydra Open
Background The Hydra head organizer acts as a signaling center that initiates and maintains the primary body axis in steady state polyps and during budding or regeneration. Wnt/beta-Catenin signaling functions as a primary cue controlling …
View article: An Integrated Framework to Estimate Seabird Population Numbers and Trends
An Integrated Framework to Estimate Seabird Population Numbers and Trends Open
Generating trend and population estimates from bird count data is challenging and a variety of factors have to be taken into account. We present an integrative statistical approach for estimating population numbers and trends for seabirds …
View article: Beyond Turing:<i>Far-from-equilibrium</i>patterns and mechano-chemical feedback
Beyond Turing:<i>Far-from-equilibrium</i>patterns and mechano-chemical feedback Open
Turing patterns are commonly understood as specific instabilities of a spatially homogeneous steady state, resulting from activator-inhibitor interaction destabilised by diffusion. We argue that this view is restrictive and its agreement w…