NUAcT Fellow and Group Lead
Background
I am an ecological entomologist investigating the mechanisms driving trophic interactions using molecular techniques and nutritional analysis. I lead the Foraging Ecology Research Group which investigates trophic interactions, the behaviour and ecology that prelude them, and the biotic and abiotic constraints that determine them. I am particularly interested in improving our understanding of the mechanisms underlying trophic interactions using interdisciplinary approaches.
For more information, please visit my Twitter, ResearchGate, Google Scholar or LinkedIn.
Key publications
- Cuff, Tercel, Vaughan, Drake, Wilder, Bell, Müller, Orozco-terWengel & Symondson (2024). Prey nutrient content is associated with the trophic interactions of spiders and their prey selection under field conditions. Oikos, in press.
- Cuff, Kitson, Hemprich-Bennett, Tercel, Browett & Evans (2023). The predator problem and PCR primers in molecular dietary analysis: Swamped or silenced; depth or breadth? Molecular Ecology Resources, 23 (1): 41-51.
- Cuff, Evans, Vaughan, Wilder, Tercel & Windsor (2024). Networking nutrients: how nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks. Journal of Animal Ecology, 93 (8): 974-988.
- Cuff, Wilder, Tercel, Hunt, Oluwaseun, Morley, Badell-Grau, Vaughan, Bell, Orozco-terWengel, Symondson & Müller (2021). MEDI: Macronutrient Extraction and Determination from invertebrates, a rapid, cheap and streamlined protocol. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (4): 593-601.
- Cuff, Drake, Tercel, Stockdale, Orozco-terWengel, Bell, Vaughan, Müller & Symondson (2021). Money spider dietary choice in pre- and post-harvest cereal crops using metabarcoding. Ecological Entomology, 46 (2): 249-261.
Other activities
Editor-in-Chief, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2024-present)
UKEOF DNA Working Group Steering Committee (2024-present)
BBSRC People and Talent Strategy Advisory Panel Researcher Subgroup member (2022-present)
Royal Entomological Society Open Science Working Group (2024-present)
Royal Entomological Society Publications Committee (2023-present)
Newcastle University Developing Excellent Researchers Committee Co-chair (2023-present)
Newcastle University Cross-Faculty Researcher Network Networking Lead (2024-present)
Invertebrate Biodiversity Advisor, Frozen Ark (2019-present)
Royal Entomological Society Sustainable Agriculture Special Interest Group convenor (2023-2024)
Subject Editor, Bulletin of Entomological Research (2022-2024)
Newcastle University Cross-Faculty Researcher Network Co-founder and Lead (2022-2024)
Researchers Empowering Newcastle University conference organiser (2022-2024)
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Research Associate Committee Chair (2022-2023)
SNESFest (School of Natural and Environmental Sciences annual symposium) Planning Committee (2022 & 2023)
Associate Editor, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2023-2024)
Editorial Board, Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2021-2023)
British Arachnological Society Online Surveys Coordinator (2020)
Cardiff Science Café/Innovation in Isolation Coordinator (2016-2020)
Research
Foraging ecology is the study of how organisms search for, obtain, and use food resources in their natural environment. This encompasses trophic interactions, but also the factors that drive these interactions, and their consequences. By investigating these interactions, we can understand how organisms optimise their food intake and energy expenditure. These processes underpin the healthy functioning of every ecosystem, including our food systems. How systems respond to change affects our ability to feed the growing global population. Understanding these fundamental drivers of ecology enhances our understanding and appreciation of the complexity of life.
My research uses cutting-edge molecular methods and an interdisciplinary range of approaches to investigate the mechanisms driving interactions between organisms, particularly predator-prey interactions. I lead the Foraging Ecology Research Group which studies trophic interactions and wider ecological phenomena in natural and semi-natural systems.
Brief CV
2023-present: Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow, “Increasing efficacy of nature-based solutions for sustainable agriculture by unravelling the molecular mechanisms of prey choice”.
2021-2023: Newcastle University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, “Stacking of ecosystem services: mechanisms and interactions for optimal crop protection, pollination enhancement, and productivity (EcoStack)” with Prof Darren Evans, funded by EU H2020.
2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, “Metagenomic and metaviromic monitoring of SARS-CoV2 in wastewater” with Prof Peter Kille and Prof Andrew Weightman, funded by Ser Cymru.
2020-2021: Cardiff University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, “Defining a standard operating procedure for portable molecular ecological analyses using nanopore sequencing” with Prof Peter Kille, funded by Global Challenges Research Fund.
2016-2020: Cardiff University, PhD, “Nutrient-specific foraging and the role of spiders as biocontrol agents” with Prof William Symondson, Dr Carsten Muller, Dr Ian Vaughan, Dr James Bell and Dr Pablo Orozco-terWengel, funded by BBSRC SWBio DTP.
2017-2018: National Museum Wales, Biodiversity Collections Assistant, with Dr Ben Rowson.
2015-2016: Cardiff University, MRes Biosciences, “Invertebrate communities of wood decay in beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunks” with Dr Hefin Jones and Prof Lynne Boddy.
2011-2014: Cardiff University, BSc Biology.
Publications
2024:
- Cuff, Tercel, Vaughan, Drake, Wilder, Bell, Müller, Orozco-terWengel & Symondson (2024). Prey nutrient content is associated with the trophic interactions of spiders and their prey selection under field conditions. Oikos, in press.
- Cuff, Evans, Vaughan, Wilder, Tercel & Windsor (2024). Networking nutrients: how nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks. Journal of Animal Ecology, 93 (8): 974-988.
- Cuff, Labonte & Windsor (2024). Understanding trophic interactions in a warming world by bridging foraging ecology and biomechanics with network science. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 64 (2): 306-321.
- Tercel, Cuff, Vaughan, Symondson, Goder, Matadeen, Tatayah, Cole (2024). Ecology, natural history, and conservation status of Scolopendra abnormis, a threatened centipede endemic to Mauritius. Endangered Species Research, 54: 181-189.
- Cuff, Gajski, Michalko, Košulič & Pekár (2024). Biomonitoring of biocontrol across the full annual cycle in temperate climates: post-harvest, winter and early-season interaction data and methodological considerations for its collection. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, in press.
- Hawthorne, Cuff, Collins & Evans (2024). Metabarcoding advances agricultural invertebrate biomonitoring by enhancing resolution, increasing throughput, and facilitating network inference. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, in press.
- Petsopoulos, Cuff, Bell, Kitson, Collins, Boonham, Morales-Hojas, Evans (2024). Identifying archived insect bulk samples using DNA metabarcoding: a case study using the long-term Rothamsted Insect Survey. Environmental DNA, 6(3): e542.
- Cuff, Barrett, Gray, Fox, Watt & Aimé (2024). The case for open research in entomology: reducing harm, refining reproducibility and advancing insect science. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 26 (3): 285-295.
- Cuff, Tercel, Windsor, Hawthorne, Hambäck, Bell, Symondson & Vaughan (2024). Sources of prey availability data alter interpretation of outputs from prey choice null networks. Ecological Entomology, 49 (3): 418-432.
2023:
- Cuff et al. (2023). Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 using infoveillance, national reporting data and wastewater in Wales, UK. JMIR Infodemiology, 3: e43891.
- Tercel, Cuff, Symondson & Vaughan (2023). Non-native ants drive dramatic declines in animal community diversity: A meta-analysis. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 16 (6): 733-744.
- Cuff, Dopson*, Hawthorne*, Howells*, Kitson*, Miller*, Suresh*, Xin*, Evans (2023). A roadmap for biomonitoring in the 21st century: merging methods into metrics via ecological networks. Advances in Ecological Research, 68: 1-34.
- Cuff, Windsor, Tercel, Bell, Symondson & Vaughan (2023). Temporal variation in spider trophic interactions is explained by the influence of weather on prey communities, web building and prey choice. Ecography, 2023 (7): e06737.
- Drake, Cuff, Bedmar, McDonald, Symondson & Chadwick (2023). Otterly delicious: Spatiotemporal variation in the diet of a recovering population of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) revealed through DNA metabarcoding and morphological analysis of prey remains. Ecology and Evolution, 13 (5): e10038.
- Cuff, Kitson, Hemprich-Bennett, Tercel, Browett & Evans (2023). The predator problem and PCR primers in molecular dietary analysis: Swamped or silenced; depth or breadth? Molecular Ecology Resources, 23 (1): 41-51.
2022:
- Tercel* & Cuff* (2022). The complex epistemological challenge of data curation in dietary metabarcoding: Comment on Littleford-Colquhoun et al. (2022). Molecular Ecology, 31 (22): 5653-5659.
- Cuff, Evans, Porteous, Quiñonez & Evans (2022). Candy-striped spider leaf and habitat preferences for egg deposition. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 24 (3): 422-431.
- Cuff, Windsor, Tercel, Kitson & Evans (2022). Overcoming the pitfalls of merging dietary metabarcoding into ecological networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13 (3): 545-559.
- Tercel, Moorhouse-Gann, Cuff, Drake, Cole, Goder, Mootoocurpen & Symondson (2022). DNA metabarcoding reveals introduced species predominate in the diet of a threatened endemic omnivore, Telfair’s skink (Leiolopisma telfairii). Ecology and Evolution, 12 (1): e8484.
- Cuff, Tercel, Drake, Vaughan, Bell, Orozco-terWengel, Müller & Symondson (2022). Density-independent prey choice, taxonomy, life history, and web characteristics determine the diet and biocontrol potential of spiders (Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) in cereal crops. Environmental DNA, 4 (3): 549-564.
- Drake, Cuff, Young, Marchbank, Chadwick & Symondson (2022). An assessment of minimum sequence copy thresholds for identifying and reducing the prevalence of artefacts in dietary metabarcoding data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13 (3): 694-710.
2021:
- Cuff, Aharon, Steinpress, Seifan, Lubin & Gavish-Regev (2021). It’s all about the zone: spider assemblages in different ecological zones of Levantine caves. Diversity, 13 (11): 576.
- Cuff*, Windsor*, Gilmartin, Boddy & Jones (2021). Influence of European beech (Fagales: Fagaceae) rot hole habitat characteristics on invertebrate community structure and diversity. Journal of Insect Science, 21 (5): 7.
- Tercel, Symondson & Cuff (2021). The problem of omnivory: A synthesis on omnivory and DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology, 30 (10): 2199-2206.
- Cuff, Wilder, Tercel, Hunt, Oluwaseun, Morley, Badell-Grau, Vaughan, Bell, Orozco-terWengel, Symondson & Müller (2021). MEDI: Macronutrient Extraction and Determination from invertebrates, a rapid, cheap and streamlined protocol. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (4): 593-601.
- Cuff, Drake, Tercel, Stockdale, Orozco-terWengel, Bell, Vaughan, Müller & Symondson (2021). Money spider dietary choice in pre- and post-harvest cereal crops using metabarcoding. Ecological Entomology, 46 (2): 249-261.
2020:
- Badell-Grau*, Cuff*, Kelly, Waller-Evans, Lloyd-Evans (2020). Investigating the prevalence of reactive online searching in the COVID-19 pandemic: infoveillance study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22 (10): e19791.
- Cuff, Müller, Gilmartin, Boddy & Jones (2020). Home is where the heart rot is: violet click beetle, Limoniscus violaceus (Müller, 1821), habitat attributes and volatiles. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 14 (1): 155-162.
- Ammann, Moorhouse-Gann, Cuff, Bertrand, Mestre, Hidalgo, Ellison, Herzog, Entling, Albrecht & Symondson (2020). Insights into aphid prey consumption by ladybirds: optimising field sampling methods and primer design for high throughput sequencing. Plos One, 15 (7): e0235054.
- Telfer, Cuff, Spelda & Owen (2020). Neobisium simile (L. Koch, 1873) (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae): a species new to Britain. Arachnology, 18 (5): 490-496.
- Lafage, Elbrecht, Cuff, Steinke, Hambäck, Erlandsson (2020). A new primer for metabarcoding of spider gut contents. Environmental DNA, 2 (2): 234-243.
2019:
Bajwa, Cuff, Imran, Islam, Mansha, Ashraf, Khan, Rashid, Zahoor, Khan, Rehman, Nadeem, Orozco-terWengel & Shehzad (2019). Assessment of nematodes in Punjab Urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) population in Kalabagh Game Reserve: development of a DNA barcode approach. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 65: 63.
Teaching
My teaching contributions focus on foraging ecology, entomology, sustainable agriculture, molecular ecology and field ecology.
Newcastle University modules I currently contribute to:
- Field-based Ecology: designing experiments, and residential field course (NES2312)
- Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation (NES2305)
- Current Research in Ecology (NES3302)
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
British Arachnological Society
British Ecological Society
Genetics Society
Verrall Association of Entomologists
Foraging Ecology Research Group 