Dr Cedric van den Berg
Research Fellow & Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Biological Sciences
Researcher biography
My research focuses on the study of the function, design and evolution of animal colouration. I am specifically investigating colour pattern geometry and function in nudibranch molluscs. To do that I am combining state-of-the-art underwater photography, behavioural data, imaging software and colour pattern analysis in an attempt to create a comprehensive approach towards the quantification and qualification of animal colour pattern design, function and evolution. This research is enabled by an international team of experts in visual ecology.
Journal Articles
Winters, Anne E., Chan, Weili, White, Andrew M., van den Berg, Cedric P., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2021). Weapons or deterrents? Nudibranch molluscs use distinct ecological modes of chemical defence against predators. Journal of Animal Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13643
Chan, Weili, Shaughnessy, Abigail E. P., van den Berg, Cedric P., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2021). The validity of brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) toxicity assays to assess the ecological function of marine natural products. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 47 (10-11), 834-846. doi: 10.1007/s10886-021-01264-z
van den Berg, Cedric P., Hollenkamp, Michelle, Mitchell, Laurie J., Watson, Erin J., Green, Naomi F., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). More than noise: context-dependant luminance contrast discrimination in a coral reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). The Journal of Experimental Biology, 223 (21) jeb232090, jeb.232090. doi: 10.1242/jeb.232090
da Silva, Carmen R. B., van den Berg, Cedric P., Condon, Nicholas D., Riginos, Cynthia, Wilson, Robbie S. and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). Intertidal gobies acclimate rate of luminance change for background matching with shifts in seasonal temperature. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89 (7), 1735-1746. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13226
Grol, Monique G. G., Vercelloni, Julie, Kenyon, Tania M., Bayraktarov, Elisa, van den Berg, Cedric P., Harris, Daniel, Loder, Jennifer A., Mihaljević, Morana, Rowland, Phebe I. and Roelfsema, Chris M. (2020). Conservation value of a subtropical reef in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, highlighted by citizen-science efforts. Marine and Freshwater Research, 72 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1071/mf19170
van den Berg, Cedric P., Troscianko, Jolyon, Endler, John A., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2019). Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA): A comprehensive framework for the analysis of colour patterns in nature. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11 (2) 2041-210X.13328, 316-332. doi: 10.1111/2041-210x.13328
Green, Naomi F., Urquhart, Holly H., van den Berg, Cedric P., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L (2018). Pattern edges improve predator learning of aposematic signals. Behavioral Ecology, 29 (6), 1481-1486. doi: 10.1093/beheco/ary089
Winters, Anne E., Wilson, Nerida G., van den Berg, Cedric P., How, Martin J., Endler, John A., Marshall, N. Justin, White, Andrew M., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2018). Toxicity and taste: unequal chemical defences in a mimicry ring. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285 (1880) 20180457, 20180457. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0457
Thesis
van den Berg, Cedric (2020). Investigating Defensive Colouration in Nudibranch Molluscs using a Novel Analytical Framework for the Study of Animal Colour Patterns. PhD Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.930
Data Collections
Cortesi, Fabio, Dunn, Simon, Cheney, Karen, Powell, Samuel, Tettamanti, Valerio, Mitchell, Laurie, Luehrmann, Martin, van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi and Mailer, Chelsea (2021). Gene-editing in anemonefish. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/ddf0baa
Anne E. Winters, Weili Chan, Andrew M. White, Cedric van den Berg, Mary J. Garson and Karen L. Cheney (2021). Data from: Weapons or deterrents? Nudibranch molluscs use distinct ecological modes of chemical defence against predators. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/088a9c5
Cortesi, Fabio, Dunn, Simon, Cheney, Karen, Powell, Samuel, Tettamanti, Valerio, Mitchell, Laurie, Luehrmann, Martin, van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi and Mailer, Chelsea (2021). GBE anemonefish visual gene supporting data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/673b710
van den Berg, Cedric P (2020). More than noise: Context-dependant luminance contrast discrimination in a coral reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). UQ eSpace. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.993