School of Biosciences

My interest is in the dynamics of predator-prey interactions involving generalist predators. The choices made by such predators are complex and the result of interactions between a range of spatial and temporal biotic and abiotic factors. Given the limitations of laboratory-based prey choice experiments we concentrate instead on developing techniques for measuring the strengths of trophic interactions directly in the field. Previously this involved prey-specific monoclonal antibodies and these continue to be valuable. However, we were amongst the first to realise the potential of PCR to amplify prey DNA from field-caught predators and are at the forefront of developments in this field. First we led the way by developing multiplex systems to analyse each predator for multiple prey targets in a single PCR step. Later we started using next generation sequencing (NGS - 454 and Ion Torrent) to look at complete diets. Current and recent projects include (amongst many others):

• Examining the responses of carabid predators to many prey simultaneously using molecular gut analyses plus spatial network analyses (with Rothamsted Reasearch - project finished but papers still being published).
• A phylogenetic analysis of common earthworm species revealing extraordinary levels of cryptic diversity, plus development of molecular markers for different lineages/species of earthworm to track predation on them by invertebrate and vertebrate predators.
• Analysis of interception by predators of vibrational sexual communication signals between planthoppers and confirmation of predation in the field using molecular diagnostics (with the National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana).
• Competition between an alien shrew and a rare skink in Mauritius analysed using NGS (with Durrell Wildlife).
• Analysis of the diets of bats in European and tropical habitats using NGS.
• Analysis of food webs in farmland: a) in rivers running through intensive vs. extensive farming systems; b) exploitation of patchy landscapes by farmland birds (with BTO).

I have a particular interest in slugs and their natural enemies. Advice on slug control in the garden.

Current Staff

Postdocs

• Dr Victoria San Andres (Spanish Government Fellowship, working on intraguild predation)
• Dr Meta Virant-Doberlet (from the National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, working on interception and exploitation of intraspecific vibrational communication between insects by generalist predators and on possible hybrid speciation in Aphrodes leafhoppers)
• Prof Josep Pinol (on sabbatical from the University of Barcelona, working here on analysis of predation by spiders and carabids in cereal fields using next generation sequencing)
• Dr Elizabeth Clare (funded by a Canadian fellowship, working here on developing next generation sequencing of prey DNA in tropical bat faeces)

PhD students

• Ms Azniza Mahyudin (“Analysis of the population genetics and diets of cave-roosting bats in Sabah”)
• Ms Caitlin Pearson (“Impacts of agricultural land use or river ecosystem functioning, as mediated through trophic interactions”)
• Ms Silke Waap (“DNA barcoding in a remote marine environment”, analysing the diets of sea birds using next generation sequencing)
• Ms Frauke Krueger (visitor from University of Kiel, working on the diets of Myotis bats in Germany)
• Ms Jennifer Stockdale (Using environmental genomics to track habitat use by birds exploiting heterogeneous landscapes)

Grant Awarding Bodies

Current funding:

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Natural Environment Research Council

Spanish Government

Malaysian Government

German Government

Portuguese Government

British Trust for Ornithology

Funding for other recent research:

Croatian Government

Environment Agency

Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Countryside Council for Wales

Current and Recent Collaborations

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

Centre for Genomics Research, Liverpool University

National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia

University of Bergen, Norway

University of Technology Darmstadt, Germany

University of Barcelona, Spain

University of Kiel, Germany

Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA), Braunschweig, Germany

University of Kentucky

United States Department of Agriculture

National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

University of Bristol

Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust

Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted