Detection of Antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. in Dromedary Camels and Co-Grazing Sheep in Northern Kenya Using an Ehrlichia ruminantium Polyclonal Competitive ELISA (2022)
Journal Article
Collins, M., Ngetich, C., Owido, M., Getange, D., Harris, R., Bargul, J. L., …Bell-Sakyi, L. (2022). Detection of Antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. in Dromedary Camels and Co-Grazing Sheep in Northern Kenya Using an Ehrlichia ruminantium Polyclonal Competitive ELISA. Microorganisms, 10(5), Article ARTN 916. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050916

A disease with clinical and post-mortem presentation similar to those seen in heartwater, a tick-borne disease of domestic and wild ruminants caused by the intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia ruminantium, was first reported in dromedary camels in Kenya... Read More about Detection of Antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. in Dromedary Camels and Co-Grazing Sheep in Northern Kenya Using an Ehrlichia ruminantium Polyclonal Competitive ELISA.

Major Transitions in Cuticular Hydrocarbon Expression Coincide with Sexual Maturity in a Blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) (2020)
Journal Article
Drijfhout. (2020). Major Transitions in Cuticular Hydrocarbon Expression Coincide with Sexual Maturity in a Blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 610-618. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-020-01194-2

In many animals, there is a prolonged pre-reproductive period prior to sexual maturity. To avoid premature mating attempts, it is common for phenotypic changes to occur during this period that signal the onset of reproductive viability. Among the ins... Read More about Major Transitions in Cuticular Hydrocarbon Expression Coincide with Sexual Maturity in a Blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements (2020)
Journal Article
(2020). Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements. Conservation Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13495

Accurately quantifying species’ area requirements is a prerequisite for effective area-based conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting home-range analyses. Problematically, autocorrelati... Read More about Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements.

Application of the Random Encounter Model in citizen science projects to monitor animal densities (2020)
Journal Article
(2020). Application of the Random Encounter Model in citizen science projects to monitor animal densities. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.153

Abundance and density are vital metrics for assessing a species’ conservation status and for developing effective management strategies. Remote-sensing cameras are being used increasingly as part of citizen science projects to monitor wildlife, but c... Read More about Application of the Random Encounter Model in citizen science projects to monitor animal densities.

Genetic structure of regional water vole populations and footprints of reintroductions: a case study from southeast England (2020)
Journal Article
(2020). Genetic structure of regional water vole populations and footprints of reintroductions: a case study from southeast England. Conservation Genetics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01268-4

An important consideration when implementing species management is preserving genetic variation, which is fundamental to the long-term persistence of populations and adaptive potential of the species. The European water vole Arvicola amphibius is of... Read More about Genetic structure of regional water vole populations and footprints of reintroductions: a case study from southeast England.

Gene expression profile of Aedes aegypti females in courtship and mating. (2019)
Journal Article
(2019). Gene expression profile of Aedes aegypti females in courtship and mating. Scientific reports, 15492 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52268-5

Aedes aegypti is the most synanthropic and anthropophilic mosquito of Culicidae. This species always cohabits with humans and is extremely opportunistic. Vector dispersal is directly related to the ability of the females on successfully finding a mat... Read More about Gene expression profile of Aedes aegypti females in courtship and mating..

High-resolution transcriptional profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis reveals mechanisms of sex chromosome regulation (2019)
Journal Article
Taxiarchi, C., Kranjc, N., Kriezis, A., Kyrou, K., Bernardini, F., Russell, S., …Galizi, R. (2019). High-resolution transcriptional profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis reveals mechanisms of sex chromosome regulation. Scientific reports, 14841 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51181-1

Although of high priority for the development of genetic tools to control malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, only a few germline-specific regulatory regions have been characterised to date and the presence of global regulatory mechanisms, such as dosag... Read More about High-resolution transcriptional profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis reveals mechanisms of sex chromosome regulation.

The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata (2019)
Journal Article
Collings, A. J., Porro, L. B., Hill, C., & Richards, C. T. (2019). The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata. Royal Society Open Science, 6(5), Article 190060. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190060

Some frog species, such as Kassina maculata (red-legged running frog), use an asynchronous walking/running gait as their primary locomotor mode. Prior comparative anatomy work has suggested that lateral rotation of the pelvis improves walking perform... Read More about The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata.

Overwinter survival and post-release movements of translocated water voles: implications for current mitigation guidance (2018)
Journal Article
(2018). Overwinter survival and post-release movements of translocated water voles: implications for current mitigation guidance. European Journal of Wildlife Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-018-1216-8

Translocation is currently used as a last resort mitigation strategy for water voles (Arvicola amphibius) in the UK (Dean et al. 2016), where populations have undergone widespread declines during the past century. To increase the chances of success,... Read More about Overwinter survival and post-release movements of translocated water voles: implications for current mitigation guidance.

The dynamic role of the ilio-sacral joint in jumping frogs. (2018)
Journal Article
Collings, A. (2018). The dynamic role of the ilio-sacral joint in jumping frogs. Biology Letters, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0367

A striking feature among jumping frogs is a sharp pelvic bend about the ilio-sacral (IS) joint, unique to anurans. Although this sagittal plane hinge has been interpreted as crucial for the evolution of jumping, its mechanical contribution has not be... Read More about The dynamic role of the ilio-sacral joint in jumping frogs..

The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation (2018)
Journal Article
Heaton. (2018). The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation. The Canadian Entomologist, 326 - 333. https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2018.9

Dipteran larvae from a number of families feed in aggregations. Rotation of blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae within an aggregation has been reported anecdotally many times. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on such larval movement... Read More about The movement of fly (Diptera) larvae within a feeding aggregation.

A citizen science based survey method for estimating the density of urban carnivores. (2018)
Journal Article
(2018). A citizen science based survey method for estimating the density of urban carnivores. PloS one, e0197445 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197445

Globally there are many examples of synanthropic carnivores exploiting growth in urbanisation. As carnivores can come into conflict with humans and are potential vectors of zoonotic disease, assessing densities in suburban areas and identifying facto... Read More about A citizen science based survey method for estimating the density of urban carnivores..

Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife. (2018)
Journal Article
(2018). Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife. PloS one, e0193993 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193993

Children nowadays, particularly in urban areas, are more disconnected from nature than ever before, leading to a large-scale "extinction of experience" with the natural world. Yet there are many potential benefits from children interacting with natur... Read More about Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife..

Factors affecting the prey preferences of jackals (Canidae) (2017)
Journal Article
(2017). Factors affecting the prey preferences of jackals (Canidae). Mammalian Biology, 70 - 82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2017.02.005

Prey selection by carnivores can be affected by top-down and bottom-up factors. For example, large carnivores may facilitate food resources for mesocarnivores by providing carcasses to scavenge, however mesocarnivores may hunt large prey themselves,... Read More about Factors affecting the prey preferences of jackals (Canidae).

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project. (2016)
Journal Article
(2016). The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project. Ecology and Evolution, 145 - 188. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2579

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multipl... Read More about The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project..

Food availability and population structure: How do clumped and abundant sources of carrion affect the genetic diversity of the black-backed jackal? (2016)
Journal Article
(2016). Food availability and population structure: How do clumped and abundant sources of carrion affect the genetic diversity of the black-backed jackal?. Journal of Zoology, 184 - 192. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12407

Carnivores frequently come into conflict with humans in agricultural and livestock-producing areas around the world. Understanding their fidelity and dispersal patterns in response to food availability is therefore important given the effort invested... Read More about Food availability and population structure: How do clumped and abundant sources of carrion affect the genetic diversity of the black-backed jackal?.

Effects of temporary captivity on ranging behaviour in urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) (2016)
Journal Article
(2016). Effects of temporary captivity on ranging behaviour in urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 182 - 190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.05.004

Temporary removal of wild animals from a resident territory has the potential to markedly impact subsequent ranging behaviour, and may negatively affect post-release welfare and survival. Admission of sick or injured wildlife into temporary captivity... Read More about Effects of temporary captivity on ranging behaviour in urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

Bumblebee pupae contain high levels of aluminium (2015)
Journal Article
(2015). Bumblebee pupae contain high levels of aluminium. PloS one, e0127665 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.+pone.0127665

The causes of declines in bees and other pollinators remains an on-going debate. While recent attention has focussed upon pesticides, other environmental pollutants have largely been ignored. Aluminium is the most significant environmental contaminan... Read More about Bumblebee pupae contain high levels of aluminium.

Identification of the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips, Thrips palmi (2014)
Journal Article
(2014). Identification of the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips, Thrips palmi. PloS one, e103315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103315

The objective of this study was to identify the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips Thrips palmi, a major pest of vegetable and ornamental plants around the world. The species causes damage both through feeding activities and as a vector of tos... Read More about Identification of the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips, Thrips palmi.

Changes in the distribution of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban areas in Great Britain: findings and limitations of a media-driven nationwide survey. (2014)
Journal Article
(2014). Changes in the distribution of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban areas in Great Britain: findings and limitations of a media-driven nationwide survey. PloS one, e99059 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099059

Urbanization is one of the major forms of habitat alteration occurring at the present time. Although this is typically deleterious to biodiversity, some species flourish within these human-modified landscapes, potentially leading to negative and/or p... Read More about Changes in the distribution of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban areas in Great Britain: findings and limitations of a media-driven nationwide survey..