Check out this paper from a collaboration between Jordan, David Labonte (Evolutionary Biomechanics Group, Imperial College London) and Fred Windsor (Freshwater Networks Lab, Cardiff University): Understanding trophic interactions in a warming world by bridging foraging ecology and biomechanics with network science
As average global temperatures increase, ecological processes are set to become increasingly disrupted and unpredictable. Temperature changes will have implications for both foraging ecology and biomechanical performance, and these will interact. Bite forces, for example, are dependent on body sizes which are likely to reduce in insects according to the temperature-size rule. This may reduce the number of species consumers can access, changing the potential for species invasions and ecosystem services like biocontrol of crop pests. To predict and understand these effects, we need a concerted push for interdisciplinary research at the interface of ecology and biomechanics, and network science has the potential to bridge these perfectly.
This paper will mark the beginning of an exciting interdisciplinary collaboration tackling some important questions across both fundamental and applied research! Stay tuned for more in the coming years!
Foraging Ecology Research Group 