Dr Andrew Wilby

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Primarily I am interested in the control of plant and invertebrate community structure and function in managed ecosystems. I have experience of a broad range of taxa in several ecosystems including hot deserts and tropical and temperate agro-ecosystems (Israel, Vietnam, Philippines, Côte D’Ivoire, Kenya, UK and Italy). Currently my research is focused on ecosystem service provision in agricultural ecosystems and how agricultural sustainability can be enhanced by biodiversity conservation. Currently, this research falls into several main themes:

experimental insect cages Understanding the mechanisms underlying species diversity effects in arthropod predator communities

Increasing species diversity can result in both positive and negative effects on the mortality of prey populations depending on the balance of positive (functional complementarity and synergy) and negative (intra-guild predation or interference) mechanisms. This work aims to identify these mechanisms and to elucidate how the ecological context (vegetation structure, alternative/supplementary food) mediates their expression.

Collaborators: Matt Thomas (Penn State University), Georgianne Griffiths (Imperial College London), Paolo Casula (Imperial College London and Sardinian Forest Management Agency)

Sardinian landscape The impact of agricultural management and landscape structure on arthropod community structure and ecosystem service provision

This work looks at how management of agriculture at landscape and field levels affects the functional and taxonomic composition of arthropod communities. The aim is to understand how ecosystem services (pest regulation, pollination) are affected by management and, ultimately, to develop management techniques which can enhance ecosystem service provision.

Collaborators: Mark Otieno, Khalid Asiry, Simon Potts, Alice Mauchline (University of Reading), Ben Woodcock (CEH), Paolo Casula (Imperial College London and Sardinian Forest Management Agency)

adalia Provision of supplementary resources to enhance of biological pest control

This research focuses on the role of pollen and nectar resources in shaping arthropod community structure, predator-prey and predator-predator interactions, and biological pest control.

Collaborators: Felix Wäckers (Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Lancaster University)

CURRENT POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS:

PUBLICATIONS

Wilby A, Thomas M (2007) Diversity and pest management in agroecosystems – some perspectives from ecology. In: Jarvis D, Padoch C, Cooper D (eds) Managing biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems. Columbia University Press, New York

Casula P, Wilby A, Thomas MB (2006) Understanding biodiversity effects on prey in multi-enemy systems. Ecology Letters 9:995-1004

Wilby A et al. (2006) Arthropod diversity and community structure in relation to land use in the Mekong delta, Vietnam. Ecosystems 9:538-549

Fraser RW, Cook DC, Mumford JD, Wilby A, Waage JK (2006) Managing outbreaks of invasive species: eradication vs. suppression. International Journal of Pest Management 52:261-268

Wilby A, Villareal S, Lan L, Heong K, Thomas M (2005) Functional benefits of predator species diversity depend on prey identity. Ecological Entomology 30:497-501

Waage JK, Mumford JD, Fraser RD, Wilby A, Cook DC (2005) Non-native pest species: changing patterns mean changing policy issues. In Proceedings of the BCPC International Congress – Crop Science and Technology 2005

Wilby A, Thomas MB (2005) Biodiversity and the functioning of selected terrestrial ecosystems: Agricultural systems, in Biodiversity: Structure and Function, from Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford ,UK, [http://www.eolss.net]

Diaz S et al. (2005) Biological regulation of ecosystem services. In Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Current State and Trends, Volume 1. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC, pp 297-329

Wilby A, Boeken B, Shachak M (2005) The impact of animals on species diversity in arid-land plant communities. In: Shachak M, Gosz JR, Pickett STA, Perevolotsky A (eds) Biodiversity in drylands: toward a unified framework. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 189-205

Waage JK, Fraser RW, Mumford JD, Cook DC and Wilby A (2005) A new agenda for biosecurity . DEFRA, London, UK

Wilby A, Shachak M (2004) Shrubs, granivores and annual plant community stability in an arid ecosystem. Oikos 106:209-216

Hector A, Wilby A, Latsch O, Brown V (2004) Phyto-activity of biocides used to manipulate herbivory: tests of three pesticides on fourteen plant species. Basic and Applied Ecology 5:313-320

Thomas M, Casula P, Wilby A (2004) Biological control and indirect effects. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19:61

Zaady E, Groffman P, Shachak M, Wilby A (2003) Consumption and release of nitrogen by the harvester termite Anacanthotermes ubachi navas in the northern Negev Desert, Israel. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 35:1299-1303

Wilby A (2002) Ecosystem engineering: a trivialized concept? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:307

Wilby A, Thomas MB (2002) Are the ecological concepts of assembly and function of biodiversity useful frameworks for understanding natural pest control? Agricultural and Forest Entomology 4:237-243

Wilby A, Thomas MB (2002) Natural enemy diversity and natural pest control: patterns of pest emergence with agricultural intensification. Ecology Letters 5:353-360

Hector A, Joshi J, Lawler S, Spehn E, Wilby A (2001) Conservation implications of the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Oecologia 129:624-628

Wilby A, Shachak M, Boeken B (2001) Integration of ecosystem engineering and trophic effects of herbivores. Oikos 92:436-444

Wilby A, Brown VK (2001) Herbivory, litter and soil disturbance as determinants of vegetation dynamics during early old-field succession under set-aside. Oecologia 127:259-265

Wilby A, Shachak M (2000) Harvester ant response to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in seed availability: pattern in the process of granivory. Oecologia 125:495-503

Wilby, A., Shachak, M. and Dixon, H. (1999) Harvester termites and organic matter flow in a semi-arid watershed: implications for ecosystem management. Ecology and Environment, 5:146-153

Shore RF, Myhill DG, Routledge EJ, Wilby A (1995) Impact of an Environmentally-Realistic Intake of Cadmium On Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphate-Metabolism in Bank Voles, Clethrionomys-Glareolus. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 29:180-186

Shore RF, Myhill DG, Routelegde EJ, Wilby A (1994) Chronic intake of cadmium on macroelement metabolism in wild small mammals. Human and Experimental Toxicology, 13:633

Franks NR, Wilby A, Silverman BW, Tofts C (1992) Self-Organizing Nest Construction in Ants - Sophisticated Building By Blind Bulldozing. Animal Behaviour 44:357-375