After months of planning and build-up, we just held the first Dietary Interactions in Ecology Through Sequencing (DIETS) Symposium! Mia and Jordan co-ran the symposium with Andreanna Welch and Beth Jetson from Durham University – a dream team! It went incredibly well and we had an absolute blast. Read below for some of our thoughts,ContinueContinue reading “FERG co-hosts the first DIETS Symposium at Durham University!”
Category Archives: Outputs
New preprint: Local and biogeographical determinants of the diversity and structure of invertebrate communities in rot holes of ash, Fraxinus excelsior
Check out this new preprint, now live on bioRxiv, led by Will as an output from his previous work at Cardiff University! Will’s research at Cardiff University was based on rot-hole invertebrates, much like Jordan’s was before he started his PhD. What a small world! Local and biogeographical determinants of the diversity and structure ofContinueContinue reading “New preprint: Local and biogeographical determinants of the diversity and structure of invertebrate communities in rot holes of ash, Fraxinus excelsior”
NEW PAPER: Intraguild interactions drive the dynamics of a complex community of globally invasive ant species
Check out this new paper, led by long-time FERG-friend Max Tercel, now published in Molecular Ecology! Intraguild interactions drive the dynamics of a complex community of globally invasive ant species Intraguild trophic interactions showing consumers (left) and dietary taxa (right). Invasive species adversely affect biodiversity, but little is known about how ecologically similar invaders interact.ContinueContinue reading “NEW PAPER: Intraguild interactions drive the dynamics of a complex community of globally invasive ant species”
New preprint: Insects as agents of national security: entomological biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse in agriculture and forestry threaten geopolitical stability
Check out this new preprint, now live on EcoEvoRxiv, co-led by Mia and Ben alongside seven other members of FERG (Will, Rosy, Rebecca, Jack, Bethan, Lucy and Jordan): Insects as agents of national security: entomological biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse in agriculture and forestry threaten geopolitical stability A summary of five key drivers of long-termContinueContinue reading “New preprint: Insects as agents of national security: entomological biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse in agriculture and forestry threaten geopolitical stability”
New preprint: Bridging nutritional geometry and network ecology to quantify the robustness of nutritional networks
Check out this new preprint, now live on EcoEvoRxiv, led by Jordan alongside an all-star team of network ecologists, nutritional geometrists and trophic ecologists: Bridging nutritional geometry and network ecology to quantify the robustness of nutritional networks A proposed workflow for quantifying nutritional network robustness. Understanding the robustness and resilience of ecological networks is keyContinueContinue reading “New preprint: Bridging nutritional geometry and network ecology to quantify the robustness of nutritional networks”
FERG at the European Congress of Entomology 2026 in Tours, France!
A few of us recently took to the European Congress of Entomology in Tours, France to present our work, meet some exceptional entomologists from around the world and enjoy the atmosphere of a thriving hub of international research! Read below for some of the highlights! Ben, Mia, Rebecca and Jordan arriving for a week ofContinueContinue reading “FERG at the European Congress of Entomology 2026 in Tours, France!”
New preprint: Urbanization effects are trait-specific and city-dependent across a widespread spider’s global range
Check out this new preprint, now live on bioRxiv, led by Bram Vanthournout as part of a massive intercontinental investigation of urbanisation effects on spider ecology and morphology: Urbanization effects are trait-specific and city-dependent across a widespread spider’s global range Graphical representation of the measured phenotypic traits: spider body length (a), abdomen surface area (b,ContinueContinue reading “New preprint: Urbanization effects are trait-specific and city-dependent across a widespread spider’s global range”
NEW PAPER: Arthropod predator nutrient content changes with wheat sowing period but is not driven by prey availability
Check out this new paper, led collaboratively by Rosy and Rebecca, now published in Bulletin of Entomological Research! Arthropod predator nutrient content changes with crop sowing period with implications for biocontrol The paper shows that the sowing time of crops can have important nutritional consequences for their arthropod communities, with the macronutrient contents of arthropodContinueContinue reading “NEW PAPER: Arthropod predator nutrient content changes with wheat sowing period but is not driven by prey availability”
New preprint: Evaluating the potential of molecular dietary analysis of predators for the detection of emerging plant pests
Check out this new preprint, now live on EcoEvoRxiv, from a Scottish Government-commissioned collaboration across Forest Research, Fera Science Ltd. and Newcastle University, led by Kyle Miller: Evaluating the potential of molecular dietary analysis of predators for the detection of emerging plant pests Monitoring plant pests is crucial for maximising yields across agricultural and forestContinueContinue reading “New preprint: Evaluating the potential of molecular dietary analysis of predators for the detection of emerging plant pests”
NEW PAPER: Dietary RNA: integration of RNA data offers a potential paradigm shift for molecular dietary analyses
Check out this new paper that Jordan led with an incredible team of researchers across Newcastle University (including our very own Ben Hawthorne) and the University of Innsbruck, now published in Molecular Ecology Resources! Dietary RNA: integration of RNA data offers a potential paradigm shift for molecular dietary analyses It’s been just over two decadesContinueContinue reading “NEW PAPER: Dietary RNA: integration of RNA data offers a potential paradigm shift for molecular dietary analyses”
Foraging Ecology Research Group 