Staff Profile of Dr Michael Knapp

Name

Dr Michael Knapp

Position

Senior Lecturer in Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Email

m.knapp@bangor.ac.uk

Phone

+44 (0) 1248 38 2326

Location

ECW Building, 3rd Floor, Room 302

As a biogeographer, I have worked on both plants and animals. I obtained a Diploma in Geography (Biogeography) from the University of the Saarland, Germany, with a dissertation on the ecology and population dynamics of the European brown hare (2002). I then moved to New Zealand to study the distribution of iconic New Zealand forest plants, such as southern beeches and Kauri, and the implications of these distributions for our understanding of Southern Hemisphere biogeography. On completion of my dissertation (2007), I was awarded a Max Planck Society Postdoctoral Fellowship and later also DFG funding to conduct a study on the biogeography and extinction of the Eurasian ice age megafauna, with a specific focus on mammoths and cave bears. Following my time at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, I was awarded an Allan Wilson Centre Postdoctoral Fellowship to return to New Zealand and investigate early human migration into the Pacific and the settlement of New Zealand (2009). At the completion of my fellowship (2013), I took up my current position as a Lecturer in Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Bangor University.

Research positions

05/2013 – present

Lecturer in Molecular Ecology and Evolution.
School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales.

Honorary Research Fellow.
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

05/2011 – 03/2013

Research Fellow.
Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

08/2009 – 04/2011

Postdoctoral Fellow in Paleogenetics (with Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith)
Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

02/2007 – 07/2009

Postdoctoral Fellow in Paleogenetics (with Professor Michael Hofreiter).
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

Education:

2007

Ph.D. in Plant Biology (with Professor Peter Lockhart).
Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Massey University, New Zealand.
Dissertation: “Discontinuous distributions of iconic New Zealand plant taxa and their implications for Southern Hemisphere biogeography”.

2002

Diploma in Biogeography (German equivalent to M.Sc.) (with Professor Paul Müller). University of the Saarland, Germany and University of Plymouth, UK.
Dissertation: “Development of a Wildlife Information System for GIS-based analysis using the example of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)”.

Current  Research

My research group focuses on how vertebrate species interact with their environment both on the molecular and on the population level. This interdisciplinary work aims at addressing key questions in Evolutionary Genetics and Molecular Ecology.

1) What is the genetic basis of evolutionary adaptation to new environments?

The rapid improvements in high-throughput sequencing technology now allow us to investigate the molecular processes underlying adaptation to new environments on a genome wide level. We are particularly interested in investigating the molecular changes that taxa go through when adapting to new niches in isolated habitats such as islands or high alpine regions. Under these circumstances, species may undergo pronounced phenotypic changes, such as the development of island gigantism and dwarfism. Understanding the molecular adaptations that underlie such phenotypic adaptations is an essential component of understanding evolutionary processes in general.

2) How did past environmental change and human migration shape our present day biodiversity?

We are using cutting edge next-generation sequencing and ancient DNA technology to reconstruct the population dynamics of humans as well as the animals they encountered on their ancient journey out of Africa and across the globe. Model species include extinct species such as cave bears and woolly mammoths as well as extant species such as various seal species.
Together with climate and vegetation data this information can be used to reconstruct how faunal communities responded to changing environments over the past 50,000 years. This data forms the basis for models predicting how global biodiversity will be affected by future environmental change.

Collaborations:

Prof. Lisa Matisoo-Smith (Otago University, New Zealand)
Prof. Jon Waters (Otago University, New Zealand)
Prof. Neil Gemmell (Otago University, New Zealand)
Prof. Michael Hofreiter (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Prof. Tom Gilbert (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Prof. Mike Bunce (Curtin University)
Dr. James Haile (Curtin University)
Assoc. Prof. Beth Shapiro (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA)
Dr. John Stewart (Bournemouth University, UK)
Dr. Paul Scofield (Canterbury Museum, New Zealand)
Dr. Mathias Stiller (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany and Clinic for Dermatology, Essen, Germany)

Publications

23) Collins, C.J.; Rawlence, N.J.; Prost, S.; Anderson, C.; Knapp, M.; Scofield, R.P.; Robertson, B.C., Smith, I.; Matisoo-Smith, E.A.; Chilvers, B.L.; Waters, J.M. (2014): Extinction and recolonization of coastal megafauna following human arrival in New Zealand. Proceeedings of the Royal Society B. 281: 20140097. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0097

22) Bohmann, K.; Evans, A.; Gilbert, M.T.P.; Carvalho, G.R.; Creer, S.; Knapp, M.; Yu, D.W.; de Bruyn, M. (2014): Environmental DNA for Wildlife Biology and Biodiversity Monitoring. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Early online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.003

21) Knapp, M.; Hofreiter, M. (2014): Ancient Human DNA: Phylogenetic Applications. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester. DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005143.pub3 

20) Goldberg, J.; Knapp, M.;, Emberson, R.M.; Townsend, J.I.; Trewick, S.A. (2014): Species Radiation of Carabid Beetles (Broscini: Mecodema) in New Zealand. PLoS ONE 9(1): e86185. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086185

19) Stiller, M.; Molak, M.; Prost, S.; Rabeder, G.; Baryshnikov, G.; Rosendahl, W.; Münzel, S.; Bocherens, H.; Grandal-d'Anglade, A.; Hilpert, B.; Germonpré, M.; Stasyk, O.; Pinhasi, R.; Tintori, A.; Rohland, N.; Mohandesan, E.; Ho, S.Y.W.; Hofreiter, M.; Knapp, M. (2013): Mitochondrial DNA diversity and evolution of the Pleistocene cave bear complex. Quaternary International. Early online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.09.023.

18) Dabney, J.; Knapp, M.; Glocke, I.; Gansauge, M-T.; Weihmann, A.; Nickel, B.; Valdiosera, C.; Garcia, N.;  Pääbo, S.; Arsuaga, J-L.; Meyer, M. (2013): A complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Middle Pleistocene cave bear reconstructed from ultra-short DNA fragments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. Early online, doi:10.1073/pnas.1314445110.

17) Collins, C.J.; Rawlence, N.J.; Worthy, T.H.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Smith, I.; Knapp, M.; Waters, J.M. (2013): Pre-human New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) rookeries on mainland New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Early online. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2013.828761.

16) Knapp, M.; Horsburgh, A.; Prost, S.; Stanton, J.; Buckley, H.; Walter, R.; Matisoo-Smith, E. (2012): Complete mitochondrial genome sequences from the first New Zealanders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.109, 18350-18354.

15) Knapp, M.; Clarke, A.; Horsburgh, K.A.; Matisoo-Smith, E. (2012): Setting the stage – Building and working in an ancient DNA laboratory. Annals of Anatomy 194, 3-6.

14) Knapp, M.; Stiller, M.; Meyer, M. (2012): Generating Barcoded Libraries for Multiplex High-Throughput Sequencing. In Beth Shapiro and Michael Hofreiter (eds.), Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 840, 155-170. DOI 10.1007/978-1-61779-516-9_19, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

13) Knapp, M. (2011): The next generation of genetic investigations into the Black Death. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.108, 15669-15670.

12) Lippold, S.; Knapp, M.; Kuznetsova, T.; Leonard, J.A.; Benecke, N.; Ludwig, A.; Rasmussen, M.; Cooper, A.; Weinstock, J.; Willerslev, E.; Shapiro, B.; Hofreiter, M. (2011): Discovery of lost diversity of paternal horse lineages using ancient DNA. Nature Communications 2, Doi:10.1038/ncomms1447.

11) Stiller, M.; Baryshnikov, G.; Bocherens, H.; Grandal d’Anglade, A.; Hilpert, B.; Münzel, S.C.; Pinhasi, R.; Rabeder, G.; Rosendahl, W.; Trinkaus, E.; Hofreiter, M.; Knapp, M. (2010): Withering away - 25,000 years of genetic decline preceded cave bear extinction. Molecular Biology and Evolution 27, 975-978.

10) Prost, S.*; Knapp, M.*; Flemming, J.; Hufthammer, A.K.; Kosintev, P.; Stiller, M.; Hofreiter, M. (2010): A phantom extinction? New insights into extinction dynamics of the Don-hare Lepus tanaiticus. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23, 2022-2029. * these authors contributed equally to this work.

9) Knapp, M. and Hofreiter, M. (2010): Next generation sequencing of ancient DNA: requirements, strategies and perspectives. Genes 1, 227-243.

8) Prost, S.; Smirnov, N.; Fedorov, V.B.; Sommer, R.S.; Stiller, M.; Nagel, D.; Knapp, M.; Hofreiter, M. (2010): Influence of Climate Warming on Arctic Mammals? New Insights from Ancient DNA Studies of the Collared Lemming Dicrostonyx torquatus. PLoS ONE 5, e10447.

7) Knapp, M.; Finstermeier, K.; Horn, S.; Stiller, M.; Hofreiter, M. (2010): Neue PCR-Technologien für alte DNA. Biospektrum 05.10, 531-535.

6) Stiller, M.; Knapp, M.; Stenzel, U.; Hofreiter, M.; Meyer, M. (2009): Direct multiplex sequencing (DMPS) - a novel method for targeted high-throughput sequencing of ancient and highly degraded DNA. Genome Research 19, 1843-1848.

5) Knapp, M.*; Rohland, N.*; Weinstock, J.; Baryshnikov, G.; Sher, A.; Nagel, D.; Rabeder, G.; Pinhasi, R.; Schmidt, H.A.; Hofreiter, M. (2009): First DNA sequences from Asian cave bear fossils reveal deep divergences and complex phylogeographic patterns. Molecular Ecology 18, 1225-1238. * these authors contributed equally to this work.

4) Knapp, M.; Vigilant, L.; Hofreiter, M. (2008): Ancient DNA: Phylogenetic Applications. In Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.

3) Knapp, M.; Mudaliar, R.; Havell, D.; Wagstaff, S.J.; Lockhart, P.J. (2007): The Drowning of New Zealand and the Problem of Agathis. Systematic Biology 56, 862-870.

2) Knapp, M. (2007): New Zealand plant phylogeography: the riddle of the "beech gaps". New Zealand Journal of Botany 45, 297.

1) Knapp, M.; Stöckler, K.; Havell, D.; Delsuc, F.; Sebastiani, F.; Lockhart, P.J. (2005): Relaxed molecular clock provides evidence for long-distance dispersal of Nothofagus (Southern Beech). PLoS Biology 3, e14.