Sabine Dittmann is an Australian-based

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies sp ...

and expert on the

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

tidal flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal f ...

. She is Associate Professor of Marine Biology at

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, and is President of the Australian Marine Sciences Association. Dittmann's research focuses on the community of organisms living in soft sediments that make up the

benthos Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone.North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and Australia, she studies the roles of

ecosystem engineer An ecosystem engineer is any species that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat. These organisms can have a large impact on species richness and landscape-level heterogeneity of an area. As a result, ecosystem enginee ...

s — such as mussel beds — and the impact on the ecosystem of human activities and invasive species. Dittmann and her team conduct regular monitoring of South Australia's Coorong, assessing the availability of food for migratory

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s and how

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

invertebrates respond to changes in the environment.

Career

Dittmann studied at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, where she earned her MSc (Diplom) in 1984 and her PhD in 1987, with a project on mussel bed communities and biodeposition. After further study in marine ecology at the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, i ...

, she undertook a three-year

post-doctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

researching species interactions in tropical tidal flats, at the

Australian Institute of Marine Science The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is a tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson in the locality of Cape Cleveland, City of Townsville Queensland, Australia. It is around from Townsville. Establishe ...

(AIMS) in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

, Australia. Dittmann returned to Germany and for seven years led an interdisciplinary project studying the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern cont ...

ecosystem. She was also affiliated with the Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

. In 2001 she obtained her Habilitation, ''venia legendi'' for Ecology, from the

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

. She returned to Australia in 2004, joining the South Australian state branch of the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) when it re-formed in 2007. She joined the AMSA National Council in 2007, became Vice-President in 2010 and President in 2012. Dittmann has been the Director of Flinders University's Lincoln Marine Science Centre in

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located ...

since 2009. She is also a member of the South Australian Marine Park Council and the National Committee for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal So ...

Research highlights

Dittmann's research at AIMS in Queensland showed that soldier crabs, ''Mictyris longicarpus'', prey on

meiofauna Meiobenthos, also called meiofauna, are small benthic invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term ''meiofauna'' loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrof ...

, demonstrating an example of species interaction on tidal flats: "At that time, it was doubted by the scientific community that species interactions would play a role in benthic communities of tropical tidal flats, as extreme environmental conditions appeared to be the prevailing factor. Yet, no one had investigated any interactions there." Her subsequent work with an interdisciplinary team examined living and non-living components of the ecosystem in the Wadden Sea — an extensive

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

that stretches along the coast from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, taking in many German estuaries. The team analysed the effect of both natural and experimentally induced disturbances, and how

stability Stability may refer to: Mathematics * Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems ** Asymptotic stability ** Linear stability ** Lyapunov stability ** Orbital stability ** Structural st ...

of the organisms depends on mechanisms like high functional diversity, reproductive output and mobility. Dittmann's monitoring work in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and

Murray Mouth Murray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth's location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time. At times of greater river flow ...

also uses experimental disturbances, relocating

benthic macroinvertebrates Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone.polychaete worms Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ma ...

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

and micro-bivalves to sites of different

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

and exposure. This study concluded that a reduction in salinity and increase in water levels is needed to recolonise mudflats.Alec Rolston and Sabine Dittmann
''The Distribution and Abundance of Macrobenthic Invertebrates in the Murray Mouth and Coorong Lagoons 2006 to 2008''
Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Report series, March 2009

References

External links

Profile page, Flinders University

Publications on Google Scholar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dittmann, Sabine Australian scientists Australian women scientists Australian marine biologists University of Göttingen alumni Women zoologists German emigrants to Australia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)