Mangrove Management Group

Frank Dehairs

Analytical Chemistry

Licenciaat (M.Sc.) in Zoological Sciences,
Free University of Brussels (VUB), 1972

Ph.D. in Sciences,
Free University of Brussels (VUB), 1979

Research Interests

1973- 1979: Involvement with research in the field of marine biogeochemistry in the framework of the GEOSECS programme. Contribution to the better understanding of the barium cycle in the ocean and demonstration of the importance of biological control upon this cycle.
From 1980 to 1985: Research on biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals in North Sea, Channel and Scheldt Estuary.
From 1986 onwards: Southern Ocean research. Biogeochemistry of barium as a tracer of carbon export production; Collaboration with other groups studying new and regenerated production, plankton community composition; modelling seasonal evolution of plankton growth.
1989 - 1997: Research on geochemical cycling of biogenic elements in the Channel and the Gulf of Biscay. Shelf, slope and open ocean interactions.
From 1989 onwards: Research on East-African and Indian (Bay of Bengal) mangrove ecology. Study of the carbon and nitrogen cycling in order to assess relative importance of mangrove litter to the lagoon and/or the coastal area and C & N transfer in the food chain. Anthropogenic impact : search for historical changes.
Since 1995: Terrestrial carbon and nitrogen input and transformation in a riverine system and adjoining wetlands: river Schelde. Food chain structure in riverine systems in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Since 1996: Food chain structure of benthic and pelagic communities from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic.

Related publications

Also see: http://www.vub.ac.be/calmar/dehairs.htm and http://www.vub.ac.be/ANCH/CV/steven.html

Bouillon S, Baeyens W, Koedam N, Satyanarayana B, & Dehairs F (in press) Selectivity of subtidal benthic invertebrate communities for local microalgal production in an estuarine mangrove ecosystem during post-monsoon. Journal of Sea Research, in press.

Bouillon S, Frankignoulle M, Dehairs F, Velimirov B, Eiler A, Abril G, Etcheber H, & Borges AV (2003) Inorganic and organic carbon biogeochemistry in the Gautami Godavari estuary (Andhra Pradesh, India) during pre-monsoon: the local impact of extensive mangrove forests. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17(4), 1114, doi:10.1029/2002GB002026

Bouillon S, Koedam N, Rao AVVS, Dahdouh-Guebas F, & Dehairs F (2003) Sources of organic carbon in mangrove sediments : variability and possible implications for ecosystem functioning. Hydrobiologia, 495 : 33-39.

Bouillon S, Raman AV, Dauby P, & Dehairs F, 2002. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of subtidal benthic invertebrates in an estuarine mangrove ecosystem (Andhra Pradesh, India). Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science 54: 901-913 Abstract.

Satyanarayana B, Raman AV, Dehairs F, Kalavati C, & Chandramohan P (2002) Mangrove floristic and zonation patterns of Coringa, Kakinada Bay, East coast of India. Wetlands Ecology and Management 10 : 25-39

Bouillon S, Koedam N, Raman AV, & Dehairs F (2001) Primary producers sustaining macro-invertebrate communities in intertidal mangrove forests. Oecologia 130: 441-448 Abstract

Gichuki, J., F. Dahdouh-Guebas, J. Mugo, C.O. Rabuor, L. Triest & F. Dehairs, 2001. Species inventory and the local uses of the plants and fishes of the Lower Sondu Miriu wetland of Lake Victoria, Kenya. In : Hydrobiologia 458 : Science and the Sustainable Management of Shallow Tropical Waters. D. Harper, R. Boar, M. Everard & P. Hickley (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: 99-106.

Dehairs, F., R. Rao, P. Chandra Mohan, A.V. Raman, S. Marguillier and L. Hellings, 2000. Tracing the carbon and nitrogen flow in the mangrove ecosystem of the Gautami - Godavari delta, Bay of Bengal (India). Hydrobiologia 431: 225-241.

Bouillon S., P. Chandra Mohan, N. Sreenivas and F. Dehairs, 2000. Sources of suspended organic matter and selective feeding by zooplankton in an estuarine mangrove ecosystem, as traced by stable isotopes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 208: 79-92. Abstract.

Bouillon S, & Dehairs F, 2000. Estimating spatial and seasonal phytoplankton d13C variations in an estuarine mangrove ecosystem. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 36 : 273-284 Abstract.

Chandra Mohan, P., R.G. Rao and F. Dehairs, 1997. Role of Godavari mangroves (India) in the production and survival of prawn larvae. Hydrobiologia 358: 317-320.

Marguillier, S., G. van der Velde, F. Dehairs, M.A. Hemminga and S. Rajagopal, 1997. Trophic relationships in an interlinked mangrove seagrass ecosystem as traced by 13C and 15N. Marine Ecology Progress Series 151: 115 - 121.

Woitchik AF, Ohawa B, Kazungu JM, Rao RG, Goeyens L, & Dehairs F (1997). Nitrogen enrichment during decomposition of mangrove litter in an east African coastal lagoon (Kenya) : relative importance of biological nitrogen fixation. Biogeochemistry 39: 15-35.

Rao, R., A.F. Woitchik, L. Goeyens, A. Van Riet, J. Kazungu, L. Goeyens and F. Dehairs, 1994. Carbon, nitrogen contents and stable carbon isotope abundance in mangrove leaves from an east African coastal lagoon (Kenya). Aquatic Botany 47: 175-183.

Contact Information

Frank Dehairs
Mangrove Management Group
Analytical Chemistry
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University Brussels)
Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
email: fdehairs@vub.ac.be
phone: ++ 32 2 629 32 60
fax: ++ 32 2 629 32 74