mardi 26 janvier 2010

How does urbanization affect the abundance and diversity of species?

This project will focus on the influence of human behaviour on the dynamics and behaviour of species in urban and suburban settings. By altering the environment (e.g. through the formation of gardens, presence of water-butts) or their behaviour (e.g. providing food for wildlife, pet ownership), people can alter the abundance and diversity of species of conservation (e.g. loss of bird diversity in the UK) and potential pest status (e.g. insect vectors of disease in the tropics). As we now live in a world where the majority of people live in such environments, the potential for conflict is growing, and as a result the importance of urban ecology is now increasingly recognised. This project will allow utilise an appropriate group of organisms to allow us to understand and to develop proposals to help mitigate the conflict between urban development and biodiversity. This project can be performed in Reading, or if appropriate, in another urban setting outside of the UK.

The supervisor is Head of Environmental Biology at the University of Reading, has published extensively on interactions between species, and currently supervises three PhD students working on topics including urban conservation and management.

Some of my recent publications are listed below. I have more recently begun working with birds and mammals.

Hazell, S.P. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2009 Clonal variation affects the structure of the natural enemy assemblage attacking an insect herbivore. Ecological Entomology 34, 34-42.

Printes, L. B., Fellowes, M.D.E. & Callaghan, A. 2008 Clonal variation in acetylcholinesterase biomarkers and life history traits following OP exposure in Daphnia magna. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 71, 519-526.

Hazell, S.P., Vel, T. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2008 The role of exotic plants in the invasion of Seychelles by the polyphagous insect Aleurodicus disperses: a phylogenetically controlled analysis. Biological Invasions 10, 169-175

Libbrecht, R, Gwynn, D.M. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2007 Aphidius ervi preferentially attacks the green morph of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Journal of Insect Behavior 20, 25-32.

Hazell, S.P., McClintock, I.A.D. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2006 Intraspecific heritable variation in life-history traits can alter the outcome of interspecific competition among insect herbivores. Basic and Applied Ecology 7, 215-223.

Gwynn, D.M., Callaghan, A., Gorham, J., Walters, K.F.A. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2005 Resistance is costly: trade-offs between immunity, fecundity and survival in the pea aphid. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 272, 1803-1808.

Hazell, S.P., Wenlock, C., Bachel, S. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2005 The costs and consequences of parasitoid attack for the predatory hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus. Evolutionary Ecology Research 7, 669-679.

Hazell, S.P., Gwynn, D.M., Ceccarelli, S. & Fellowes, M.D.E. 2005 Competition and dispersal in the pea aphid: clonal variation and correlations across traits. Ecological Entomology 30, 293-298.

Müller, C.B., Fellowes, M.D.E. & Godfray, H.C.J. 2005 Relative importance of fertilizer addition and exclusion of predators for aphid growth in the field. Oecologia 139, 419-427.

Fellowes, M.D.E., van Alphen, J.J.M. & Jervis, M. 2005 The foraging behaviour of insect natural enemies. In (Pp. 1-71) Insects as Natural Enemies: A Practical Perspective 2nd Edition (Ed. M. Jervis). Kluwer: Dordrecht.

Fellowes, M.D.E., Holloway, G.J. & Rolff, J. (Eds.) 2005 Insect Evolutionary Ecology. CABI Publishing, Wallingford.

More informations?