Overview
I'm an entomologist using DNA metabarcoding techniques to reveal how invasive ants fit into ecological communities. We can use these powerful molecular methods as tools to inform conservation and show fundamental ecological and evolutionary principles working in reality.
Though I've studied and worked on many different invertebrate groups, I specialise in ants. These social insects are integral to tropical ecosystems, have a vast diversity of forms, and the most complex societies of any organism other than humans. Not only that, but they fulfill a myriad of different ecological roles, from soil-movers, to predators, parasites, granivores and fungus-farmers.
I earned my BSc (Hons.) in Zoology from Bangor University and then went on to study for my MSc in Entomology at Harper Adams University.
Research
Thesis
ALIEN ANTS: INVADERS OF A TROPICAL ISLAND FOOD WEB IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
The main aim of my PhD project is to determine the diet and invasion ecology of introduced ants on Round Island, Mauritius. By using dietary DNA metabarcoding, we can show how invasive ants fit into the native community of Round Island - a site of global significance to biodiversity conservation. Ants are often ecologically dominant social insects, interacting with a vast array of species, and introduced ants can be highly damaging. My thesis aims to answer a range of questions relating to the ecology of introduced ants as well as the wider Round Island ecosystem.
Funding source
NERC GW4+ and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Supervisors
Publications
2023
- Luke, S. H. et al. 2023. Grand challenges in entomology: Priorities for action in the coming decades. Insect Conservation and Diversity 16(2), pp. 173-189. (10.1111/icad.12637)
- Cuff, J. P., Kitson, J. J. N., Hemprich‐Bennett, D., Tercel, M. P. T. G., Browett, S. S. and Evans, D. M. 2023. The predator problem and PCR primers in molecular dietary analysis: Swamped or silenced; depth or breadth?. Molecular Ecology Resources 23(1), pp. 41-51. (10.1111/1755-0998.13705)
2022
- Cuff, J. P. et al. 2022. Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops. Environmental DNA 4(3), pp. 549-564. (10.1002/edn3.272)
- Cuff, J. P., Windsor, F. M., Tercel, M. P. T. G., Kitson, J. J. N. and Evans, D. M. 2022. Overcoming the pitfalls of merging dietary metabarcoding into ecological networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 13(3), pp. 545-559. (10.1111/2041-210X.13796)
2021
- Tercel, M. P. T. G. et al. 2021. DNA metabarcoding reveals introduced species predominate in the diet of a threatened endemic omnivore, Telfair’s skink (Leiolopisma telfairii). Ecology and Evolution 12(1), article number: e8484. (10.1002/ece3.8484)
- Tercel, M. P., Symondson, W. O. and Cuff, J. P. 2021. The problem of omnivory: a synthesis on omnivory and DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology 30(10), pp. 2199-2206. (10.1111/mec.15903)
- Cuff, J. P. et al. 2021. Money spider dietary choice in pre- and post-harvest cereal crops using metabarcoding. Ecological Entomology 46(2), pp. 249-261. (10.1111/een.12957)
- Cuff, J. P. et al. 2021. MEDI: Macronutrient Extraction and Determination from Invertebrates, a rapid, cheap and streamlined protocol. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12(4), pp. 593-601. (10.1111/2041-210X.13551)
2018
- Tercel, M. P. T. G., Veronesi, F. and Pope, T. W. 2018. Phylogenetic clustering of wingbeat frequency and flight-associated morphometrics across insect orders. Physiological Entomology 43(2), pp. 149-157. (10.1111/phen.12240)