Bertelsmeier Group News, from new publications, public outreach, press, to new members
The RTS radio show hosts 4 comedians and a guest who has to play a guessing game – and can also tell stories themselves. So, naturally there are a lot of jokes, anecdotes and stories about ants. The five episodes have been on air on March 15-19 2021.
click here to listen to “les Dicodeurs” with Cleo.
“Globalization and the anthropogenic spread of invasive social insects” has been published in Current Opinion in Insect Science.
Social insects are among the worst invasive species and a better understanding of their anthropogenic spread is needed. Here, I highlight recent research demonstrating that social insects have been dispersed since the early beginnings of globalized trade and in particular after the Industrial Revolution, following two waves of globalization. Many species have complex invasion histories, with multiple independent introduction events and frequent secondary spread. The major source and recipient regions differ markedly across ants, wasps, termites and bees, probably linked to their different introduction pathways. At a more local scale, anthropogenic factors such as irrigation, urbanization or the presence of railways facilitate invasions. In the future, social insect invasions could further accelerate due to intensifying global trade and novel introduction pathways.
The full paper can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214574521000079
[ssba-buttons]We are looking for a postdoc in Biostatistics/ Macro-ecology to join us in Lausanne (CH). Ideally you are a creative and passionate person and good team player with excellent communication skills who likes to discuss and exchange ideas. You should have (or be expected to obtain in the near future) a PhD in biostatistics, macroecology or a related field, knowledge of statistics and programming, willingness for interdisciplinary collaboration and interest in economics and trade.You will be working with a young and dynamic team of invasion biologists, global change ecologists and ant lovers (to be found on this webpage). Here you can find out more about the position: https://bit.ly/2Y76Po1
If you have questions, you can contact Cleo directly (cleo.bertelsmeier@unil.ch)
[ssba-buttons]Congratulations to Jelena Bujan who just published in JAE
The paper shows that accompanied by a thermal niche shift to colder climates, introduced populations of the invasive ant species Tapinoma magnum has an increased acclimation ability to lower temperatures. Such thermal plasticity might explain why invasive populations are able expand into novel niches.
Bujan, J., Charavel, E., Bates, O.K., Gippet, J., Darras, H., Lebas, C. and Bertelsmeier, C., 2020. Increased acclimation ability accompanies a thermal niche shift of a recent invasion. Journal of Animal Ecology.
[ssba-buttons]Our recent publication by Bates at al., 2020 – see publications and our recent post about it (New Paper) – has been reported in several news sites in Switzerland! Check them out here (in French):
24 heures:https://www.24heures.ch/les-especes-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanieres-759600897829
Swissinfohttps://www.swissinfo.ch/fre/les-espèces-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanières/46099598
Radio neuchâteloise:https://www.rtn.ch/rtn/Actualite/Suisse/Les-especes-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanieres.html
Otherhttps://www.rjb.ch/rjb/Actualite/Suisse/Les-especes-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanieres.html
https://www.rfj.ch/rfj/Actualite/Suisse/Les-especes-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanieres.html
https://www.bluewin.ch/fr/infos/suisse/des-especes-invasives-mais-casanieres-450031.html
https://www.agirinfo.com/actualites/agrinews/detail/ttnews/les-especes-invasives-les-plus-dangereuses-sont-les-plus-casanieres/