Mirta Teichberg

Associate Scientist and Director, Semester in Environmental Science

Mirta Teichberg Headshot
Contact Information
Education
Ph.D., Boston University Marine Program, 2007
M.A., Boston University Marine Program, 2006
B.A., St. Mary's College of Maryland, 1998
MBL Affiliation
Ecosystems Center
Research Area
Ecology
Ecosystems
Global Change
Marine Biology

My research focuses on the response of aquatic macrophytes to abiotic and biotic stressors in their environment. I use a combination of research methods, including field surveys along environmental gradients through space and time, controlled field and laboratory experiments under varying stressors, and trait-based approaches to develop a mechanistic understanding of responses at the organism, community, and ecosystem level. I am primarily focused on how local and global drivers, such as changes in land-derived nutrient inputs and temperature, influence community structure and function and have worked in temperate estuaries and tropical coral reef and seagrass ecosystems. Plant traits involved in light and nutrient acquisition, energy storage, and defense are among the traits measured to scale up from individual plant responses to ecosystem-level processes. These studies provide scientific knowledge for coastal and aquatic nutrient management decisions at the local level as well as large scale patterns in macrophyte response and distribution ranges at the global scale under future environmental scenarios. I am also interested in applying knowledge of ecological functions of macrophytes for use in climate and nutrient mitigation and the role ecosystem restoration can play in applying nature-based solutions to these problems.

News and Research Highlights
Selected Publications

Moreno HD, Reuter H, Kase A, Teichberg M. 2021. Impacts of off-bottom seaweed farming and wastewater on seagrass meadows in the region of Rote Island, Indonesia. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107635

Moreira-Saporiti A, Bejarano S, Viana I, Belshe F, Mtolera M, Teichberg M. 2021 Local victory: Assessing interspecific competition in seagrass from a trait-based perspective. Front Plant Sci. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.709257

Helber SB, Procaccini G, Belshe EF, Santillan AR, Cardini U, Bröhl S, Schmid M, Reuter H, Teichberg M. 2021. Unusually warm summer temperatures exacerbate population and plant level response of Posidonia oceanica to anthropogenic nutrient stress. Front Plant Sci. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.662682

Helber SB, Winters G, Stuhr M, Belshe EF, Bröhl S, Schmid M, Reuter H, Teichberg M. 2021. Nutrient history affects the response and resilience of the tropical seagrass Halophila stipulacea to further enrichment in its native habitat. Front Plant Sci. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.678341

Fricke A, Nguyen XV, Stuhr M, Hoang TD, Tran MD, Pham TS, Le HC, Le MH, Pham QL, Schmidt, M, Kunzmann A, Gärdes A, von Hagen J, Teichberg M. 2021. Subtidal macrophyte diversity and potentials in the Nha Trang Bay - baseline data for the monitoring of a rising natural resource. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 259:107460. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107460

Moriera-Saporiti A, Hoeijmakers D, Msuya F, Reuter H, Teichberg M. 2021. Seagrass and benthic macroalgae response to shading and trampling under seaweed farming pressure. Reg Environ Change. doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01742-2 

Beca-Carretero P, Teichberg M, Winters G, Procaccini G, Reuter H. 2020. Projected habitat expansion of subtropical seagrass species in the Mediterranean Sea as climate change progresses. Front Plant Sci. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.555376

Viana I, Moreira-Saporiti A, Teichberg M. 2020. Species-specific trait responses of three tropical seagrasses to multiple stressors: the case of increasing temperature and nutrient enrichment. Front Plant Sci, doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.571363

Artika SR, Ambo-Rappe R, Teichberg M, Saporiti AM, Viana IG. 2020. Morphological and physiological responses of Enhalus acoroides seedlings under varying temperature and nutrient treatment. Front Mar Sci. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00325

Marino M, Breckwoldt A, Teichberg M, Kase A, Reuter H. 2019. Livelihood aspects of seaweed farming in Rote Island, Indonesia. Marine Policy 107:103600

Viana IG, Arturo Saavedra Hortua D*, Mtolera M, Teichberg M. 2019. Different strategies of nitrogen acquisition in two tropical seagrasses under nitrogen enrichment. New Phytologist. doi.org/10.1111/nph.15885

Belshe EF, Hoeijmakers D*, Herran N, Mtolera M, and Teichberg M. 2018. Seagrass community-level controls over organic carbon storage are constrained by geophysical attributes within meadows of Zanzibar, Tanzania. Biogeosciences 15: 4609-4626. doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4609-2018

Teichberg M, Wild C, Bednarz VN, Kegler H, Lukman M, Gärdes A, Heiden J, Weiand L, Abu N, Nasir A, Minarro S, Ferse SCA, Reuter H, Plass-Johnson J. 2018. Spatio- temporal patterns in coral reef communities of the Spermonde Archipelago, 2012-2014, I: Comprehensive reef monitoring of water and benthic indicators reflect changes in reef health. Front Mar Sci 5:33. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00033

Plass-Johnson JG, Teichberg M, Bednarz VN, Gärdes A, Heiden J, Lukman M, Minarro S, Kegler H, Weiand L, Wild C, Reuter H, and Ferse SCA. 2018. Spatio-temporal patterns in coral reef communities of the Spermonde Archipelago, 2012-2014, II: Fish assemblages display structured variation related to benthic condition. Front Mar Sci 5:36. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00036