Biosciences Seminar Speaker 07 November 2019

Biosciences Seminar Series - Autumn 2019
07 November 2019 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Small to medium scale spatial and temporal effects on insect–plant interactions

Dr Thomas Tscheulin

(University of the Aegean, Greece)

Male bees (Eucera sp.) sleeping on Anemone coronaria.
Photo © Laboratory of Biogeography & Ecology

Our Biosciences Seminar Series continues for the 2019 autumn term with a talk by Dr Thomas Tscheulin from the Department of Geography at the University of the Aegean, Greece Thomas is an Assistant Professor in Spatial Ecology and Biogeography. He joined the University of the Aegean after studies in Freiburg (Germany) and Imperial College (UK) and postdocs at the Centre of Agri-Environmental  Research (CAER) at the University of Reading (UK). Research in his lab, the Biogeography and Ecology Lab, focuses on understanding spatial patterns of ecological processes & biodiversity, especially of invertebrates, including drivers of species distributions and the Geography and Ecology of biological invasions, as well as Agricultural Entomology, in particular plant-insect interactions and Pollination Ecology.

Abstract

Drawing from my own research, this talk aims to emphasise the importance of space and scale in ecological research by looking at several examples of small to medium (and even to large) scale spatial and temporal effects on insects and insect–plant interactions. My presented research will focus mainly on pollinators and their respective flowering plant partners and how they are impacted in space and time by disturbances such as wildfires, species invasion, climate change and telecommunication antennas. I will conclude by highlighting the practical implications of spatial heterogeneity and suggest potential mitigation measures. 

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!


For the list of forthcoming seminars see here

Wallace Coffee Talks - 12 November 2019

Wallace Coffee Talks - Autumn 2019 

12 November - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Fancy a cup of coffee or tea and learning more about the researchers at Swansea university? Come join us at the Wallace coffee talks: an informal seminar series where students, staff and others related to Swansea university speak about their research or personal interests.

Matt Watkins (Swansea University, UK)

A Novel Application of Environmental DNA to Identify Historic Outbreaks of Forest Pests Within the Pacific Northwest of America

Current outbreaks of forest pests, notably Dendroctonus bark beetles, in the Pacific Northwest of America are widely regarded as unprecedented, with human induced climate change attributed as the primary driver of the increased scale and severity of these aggressive population expansions. The assumptions of historic outbreak dynamics are largely based on tree ring data, fossil pollen records, GIS and remote sensing, and the identification of well-preserved remains, however, each of these come with their own set of limitations. This talk aims to explore the effectiveness of a new detection tool - Environmental DNA (eDNA) - in directly identifying forest pest presence within sedimentary records, to reconstruct past dynamics, and determine whether these outbreaks are truly unprecedented. 

@iammattwatkins

Alex Dearden (Swansea University, UK)

How semiochemicals can be used to improve the monitoring and control of the Western flower thrips

The Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Peregande), are insect pests of Agriculture and Horticulture worldwide. It is estimated that WFT cause damage to over 500 marketable plant species and result in the annual loss of over £1 billion. Their small size (1-1.4 mm), cryptic nature and high fecundity pose a significant challenge to successful management of the pest. Control of WFT has mainly relied on pesticide application to the canopy regions of crops, targeting adult life stages. However, WFT have become resistant to a wide range of insecticide groups such as organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids. As a result, there is a growing urgency to peruse sustainable alternatives. Semiochemicals are behavioural altering substances that offer value to the monitoring and control of WFT and other insect pests. 

This short talk aims to summarise the threat posed by WFT to food and ornamentals production. Additionally, the applications and challenges of using semiochemicals within pest management will be discussed. 

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 24 October 2019

Biosciences Seminar Series - Autumn 2019
24 October 2019 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Multimodal foraging and intraspecific sensory variation in wild capuchin monkeys

Dr Amanda Melin

(University of Calgary, Canada)

Image from monkeyworlds.com

Our Biosciences Seminar Series continues for the 2019 autumn term with a talk by Dr Amanda Melin from the University of Calgary, in Alberta (Canada). Amanda is a behavioural ecologist and research in her lab involves questions concerning the behaviour, sensory ecology, and dietary outcomes of nonhuman and human primates. The broad questions tackled are about primate origins and evolution, and are adressed using an integrative approach, combining assessment of sensory systems with molecular ecology, microbiome analysis, metagenomics, and field observations of primates.

Abstract

Senses serve as the interface between animals and their environment and play a critical role in food detection and evaluation. Color and/or scent changes during ripening may attract frugivores and inform their investigation behaviors. While numerous studies have assessed the impact of color on fruit selection, comparatively little is known about fruit scent, and how olfactory and visual data are integrated during foraging.

We combine behavioral data on white-faced capuchins, black-handed spider monkeys, and mantled howler monkeys with measurements of fruit reflectance spectra (color) and plant volatile organic compounds (scents) from 18 dietary plant species at different ripeness stages. We show that the frequency of sniffing behaviors – a proxy for reliance on the sense of smell – is positively correlated with increases in the volume of fruit odorants during ripening. Additionally, monkeys with red-green colorblindness (dichromacy) sniffed fruits more often, indicating that increased reliance on olfaction may be a general behavioral strategy that mitigates decreased capacity to detect red-green chromatic contrast. These results demonstrate a complex interaction among fruit traits, sensory capacities and foraging strategies. By examining fruit traits and sensory investigation of seed dispersing mammals, we help elucidate the evolutionary relationships between plants and frugivores and explain variation in primate behavior.

  

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!


For the list of forthcoming seminars see here

Wallace Coffee Talks - 29 October 2019

Wallace Coffee Talks - Autumn 2019 

29 October- 1pm - Zoology Museum

Sayali Pawar (Swansea University, UK)

Creating global river obstruction inventories using a citizen science approach.

River obstructions in the form of dams, locks, and other such barriers, are a globally important impact that humans have had on the movement of water, sediment, organisms, and nutrients from land to sea. Despite existing datasets of the world’s largest dams like GRanD, there is not a global inventory of obstructions to rivers. Hence, the goal of this project is to identify and categorise human-built river barriers for rivers wider than ~30 meters across the globe. By using Google Earth Engine and the Global River Widths from Landsat (GRWL) dataset, I am trying to create a global inventory for categorised obstructions on rivers across the globe. 

@PawarSayali20

Konstans Wells (Swansea University, UK)

The devil (survival) is in the detail – scrutinising the evidence for biological extinction risks

Informed management of threatened wildlife species often requires more than just identifying the source of threat. This is because the adverse effects of environmental stressors on wildlife performance may unfold differently over time and space or affect individuals to different extents. But how can we establish the evidence of which particular biological processes drive wildlife extinction risk and how can we use such insights for more targeted conservation efforts and better forecasting? 

This short talk invites discussion over a cuppa about the use of individual-based models and model evaluation techniques for exploring extinction dynamics if ‘landscapes of danger’ are heterogeneous or if individuals are prone to different treats, using Tasmanian devils and their Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease burden as a case study.

@KonsWells

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 10 October 2019

Biosciences Seminar Series - Autumn 2019
10 October 2019 - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Rebuilding the reptile communities of Mauritius

Dr Nik Cole

(Durrell Conservation Trust, UK & Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Mauritius)

Our Biosciences Seminar Series resumes for the 2019 autumn term with a talk by Dr Nik Cole from the Durrell Conservation Trust, UK and the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Mauritius. Nik is a world expert in island restoration and reptile conservation, having saved several species from extinction and is restoring native ecosystems on several Mauritian islands. Further conservation work routinely takes him also to other islands across the Indian ocean and the Caribbean. A particularly interesting aspect of his conservation work is the drive to rebuild stable communities, building up one trophic level after the others.

Abstract

The island of Mauritius has suffered from extensive habitat degradation and species invasion since the 16th Century, resulting in multiple reptile extinctions and extirpations. Several endemic reptile species became restricted to single islet populations, threatened by the presence of introduced mammalian herbivores and predators. Between 1979 and 1998, introduced mammals were removed from the northern islets with the aim to prevent further reptile extinctions. These actions permitted the rebuilding of the reptile communities on the islets through species reintroductions to reduce future extinction risks. Only four small reptile species survived the presence of rats on the northern islet, Gunner’s Quoin (0.70 km2). Having been freed from invasive terrestrial predators and competitors, maintaining suitable habitat structure and closed to public access, Gunner’s Quoin was selected as a suitable recipient islet to rebuild its lost reptile community. 

The keel-scaled boa and Telfair’s skink were present on Gunner’s Quoin until rats invaded in the mid-1800s, but survived on the rat-free Round Island (2.19 km2). Smaller reptile species, such as the orange-tailed skink that became restricted to Flat Island (2.53 km2), were also once part of the wider reptile community on the northern islets. In this presentation, I will summarise the process of reintroducing the Telfair’s skink and keel-scaled boa, and the emergency translocation of orange-tailed skinks to Gunner’s Quoin, which prevented their extinction. Frequent monitoring of the reptile populations has shown the resident species have remained abundant and healthy, that the translocated skinks are established and the boa population size is increasing.

  

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!


For the list of forthcoming seminars see here

Wallace Coffee Talks - 8 October 2019

Wallace Coffee Talks - Autumn 2019 

8 October- 1pm - Zoology Museum

Jess Ware (Swansea University, UK)

The assessment of artificial floating islands as a method of habitat creation in marine environments.

Eco-engineering and the installation of urban green infrastructure such as artificial floating islands (AFIs) are novel methods used to add complexity and support biodiversity on localised scales in terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. AFIs have primarily been used in freshwater ecosystems including reservoirs, ponds and river systems for water quality improvement and habitat creation. In order to assess the potential application of AFIs in marine environments, this comparative study focused on bird, fish and macroinvertebrate species interactions with three AFIs installed in Swansea Marina and Swansea Docks; sites that have both been heavily modified for commercial and recreational activities. The successful growth of five halophytes was also investigated both in a laboratory experiment and in the field. In addition to ecological monitoring of the islands, a social study was conducted to gain information on the public’s understanding of AFIs, aesthetic preferences and concerns about their installation in marine environments. By addressing gaps in current research on habitat creation using AFIs, this study aimed to support future projects that seek to mitigate the loss of coastal wetlands or provide an alternative habitat within inshore marine habitats such as marinas and docks.

@JessWare2

Kasper Brandt (Swansea University, UK)

Finding an optimal location for a seaweed farm using publicly available data: a case study in the Milford Haven waterway.

The Milford Haven Waterway is a natural harbour in Pembrokeshire wales. The waterway and the Daugleddau estuary it is connected to have a lot of potential for aquaculture activities such as a seaweed farm. However, the fluctuations in nutrients, salinity and various physical parameters (e.g. tides) make it a challenge to choose where to place these kinds of aquaculture facilities. By combining publicly available datasets with a growth model and some experimental results I am trying to find the optimal location for a seaweed farm. In this coffee talk I will discuss how I am approaching this problem and show some preliminary results. 

@KMFBrandt

Wallace Coffee Talks - 24 September 2019

Wallace Coffee Talks - Autumn 2019 

24 September - 1pm - Zoology Museum

Sam Holmes (Swansea University, UK)

Harboring aliens: Ports as habitats for non-native species.

Invasive non-native species (INNS) can pose a significant threat to native ecosystems, altering ecosystem services and having a wider impact economically. Ports are frequently at the center of research into aquatic INNS and are often described as ‘hotspots’ for INNS due to links to the global maritime trade industry. Environmental conditions can, however, differ greatly between ports, including ports that are local to one another, meaning communities will often be highly varied from port to port. Continued efforts to monitor port communities are therefore paramount in documenting the introduction, spread and overall distribution of INNS within Wales. The main aim of the current research project, working closely with Associated British Ports (ABP), is to develop an understanding of fouling communities present within five ports in the South Wales region (Newport, Cardiff, Barry, Port Talbot and Swansea), paying particular interest to any INNS present. This presentation will cover some of the reasons why this PhD research project is so important, some of the progress made so far in field surveys as well as a few preliminary findings, focusing on non-native species.

Fraser Hartley (Swansea University, UK)

The multiple dimensions of biodiversity – human interest relationships

Activities involving observation of wild organisms (e.g. wildlife watching, tidepooling) can provide recreational and learning opportunities, with biologically diverse animal assemblages expected to be more stimulating to humans. Here we explore whether having more animals in an ecosystem that we can view really does drive more human interest, and if so what is it about more diverse communities that we find so interesting?

@Nasolituratus

Evie Furness (Swansea University, UK and Project Seagrass, UK)

The multiple dimensions of biodiversity – human interest relationships

Activities involving observation of wild organisms (e.g. wildlife watching, tidepooling) can provide recreational and learning opportunities, with biologically diverse animal assemblages expected to be more stimulating to humans. Here we explore whether having more animals in an ecosystem that we can view really does drive more human interest, and if so what is it about more diverse communities that we find so interesting?

@ProjectSeagrass on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram