Ecology and behavioural biology

Within this group are two major research themes of international significance: aquatic ecosystems and behavioural/evolutionary ecology, particularly of social animals. Together, these themes give a distinctive and strong coverage of modern ecosystem and organismal ecology. Included within the aquatic ecosystems theme is one of the strongest freshwater ecology research groups in any British University. Research by the group includes population and community ecology, empirical and theoretical aspects of food web structure and function, the application of stable isotopes to aquatic ecology, biogeochemical processes, including the production of greenhouse gases from rivers and wetlands, and studies of acidification and eutrophication. We also have leading experts in the biogeochemistry and ecology of estuaries, coastal margins and salt marshes. Included in the behavioural ecology of social animals theme, we have world-leading research on the foraging biology of bees, on the social organisation and mating systems of communally roosting bats, and on the (eu)sociality of the mole rats. We also have excellence in the behaviour, ecology, management and conservation of wild mammals, on the role of termites in the productivity and sustainability of tropical agriculture, and on the role of pathogens and parasites in sexual selection and behaviour in insects.

Members

Please see the group members' individual web pages for recent publications and research interests.