School of Science, Engineering & Environment

Resource competition drives an invasion‐replacement event among shrew species on an island (2023)
Journal Article
Browett, S., Synnott, R., O'Meara, D., Antwis, R., Browett, S., Bown, K., …McDevitt, A. (2023). Resource competition drives an invasion‐replacement event among shrew species on an island. Journal of Animal Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13855

Invasive mammals are responsible for the majority of native species extinctions on islands. While most of these extinction events will be due to novel interactions between species (e.g. exotic predators and naive prey), it is more unusual to find inc... Read More about Resource competition drives an invasion‐replacement event among shrew species on an island.

Universal closed-tube barcoding for monitoring the shark and ray trade in megadiverse conservation hotspots (2022)
Journal Article
Prasetyo, A., Cusa, M., Murray, J., Agung, F., Muttaqin, E., Maraini, S., & McDevitt, A. (2022). Universal closed-tube barcoding for monitoring the shark and ray trade in megadiverse conservation hotspots. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.30.518468

Trade restrictions for many endangered elasmobranch species exist to disincentivise their exploitation and curb their declines. However, the variety of products and the complexity of import/export routes make trade monitoring challenging. We investig... Read More about Universal closed-tube barcoding for monitoring the shark and ray trade in megadiverse conservation hotspots.

UK DNA working group eDNA week, January 2022 (2022)
Journal Article
Handley, L. L., Blackwell, T., Broadhurst, H. A., Clark, K., Davison, P. I., England, J., …Creer, S. (2022). UK DNA working group eDNA week, January 2022. Environmental DNA, 5(1), 18-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.364

Here, we report on eDNA week, an international conference held online as a five‐day series of webinars from January 17, 2022, to January 21, 2022. The conference was organized by the UK DNA working group, which has witnessed considerable growth and a... Read More about UK DNA working group eDNA week, January 2022.

Molecular phylogeny and systematics of bald uakaris, genus Cacajao (Primates: Pitheciidae), with the description of a new species. (2022)
Journal Article
Ennes Silva, F., Valsecchi do Amaral, J., Roos, C., Bowler, M., Röhe, F., Sampaio, R., …Boubli, J. (2022). Molecular phylogeny and systematics of bald uakaris, genus Cacajao (Primates: Pitheciidae), with the description of a new species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 173, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107509

Bald uakaris, genus Cacajao, are Amazonian primates currently classified as one species and four subspecies based on the patterns of pelage coloration. In this study, we test if their current taxonomy is represented by the phylogenetic relationship o... Read More about Molecular phylogeny and systematics of bald uakaris, genus Cacajao (Primates: Pitheciidae), with the description of a new species..

Using eDNA to construct community assemblages of amphibians at sites infected with Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in the Netherlands. (2022)
Thesis
Davison, A. (2022). Using eDNA to construct community assemblages of amphibians at sites infected with Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in the Netherlands. (Dissertation). University of Salford

Amphibians worldwide are in decline with one of the main culprits being the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. This fungus affects the skin of amphibians, leading to excessive skin shedding or skin lesions which, in many cases, result in death. The rec... Read More about Using eDNA to construct community assemblages of amphibians at sites infected with Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in the Netherlands..

Environmental DNA metabarcoding and citizen science as a cost-effective and rapid tool for monitoring terrestrial mammalian species (2022)
Thesis
Lavin, J. Environmental DNA metabarcoding and citizen science as a cost-effective and rapid tool for monitoring terrestrial mammalian species. (Dissertation). University of Salford

The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become increasingly important as a surveying technique for monitoring rare, elusive and/or invasive species. eDNA metabarcoding (which targets multiple species simultaneously) has been frequently used to monito... Read More about Environmental DNA metabarcoding and citizen science as a cost-effective and rapid tool for monitoring terrestrial mammalian species.

Next‐generation phylogeography resolves post‐glacial colonization patterns in a widespread carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Europe (2021)
Journal Article
McDevitt, A., Coscia, I., Browett, S., Ruiz‐González, A., Statham, M., Ruczyńska, I., …Wójcik, J. (2022). Next‐generation phylogeography resolves post‐glacial colonization patterns in a widespread carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Europe. Molecular Ecology, 31(3), 993-1006. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16276

Carnivores tend to exhibit a lack of (or less pronounced) genetic structure at continental scales in both a geographic and temporal sense and this can confound the identification of post-glacial colonization patterns in this group. In this study we u... Read More about Next‐generation phylogeography resolves post‐glacial colonization patterns in a widespread carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Europe.

Mapping differences in mammalian distributions and diversity using environmental DNA from rivers (2021)
Journal Article
Broadhurst, H., Gregory, L., Bleakley, E., Perkins, J., Lavin, J., Bolton, P., …McDevitt, A. (2021). Mapping differences in mammalian distributions and diversity using environmental DNA from rivers. Science of the Total Environment, 801, 149724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149724

Finding more efficient ways to monitor and estimate the diversity of mammalian communities is a major step towards their management and conservation. Environmental DNA (eDNA) from river water has recently been shown to be a viable method for biomonit... Read More about Mapping differences in mammalian distributions and diversity using environmental DNA from rivers.

Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome (2021)
Journal Article
Harrison, X., McDevitt, A., Dunn, J., Grifftihs, S., Benvenuto, C., Birtles, R., …Antwis, R. (2021). Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1957), 20210552. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0552

Interactions between hosts and their resident microbial communities are a fundamental component of fitness for both agents. Though recent research has highlighted the importance of interactions between animals and their bacterial communities, compara... Read More about Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome.

Outputs (46)