Research Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology
Despite widespread concern about declines in pollination services, little is known about the patterns of change in most pollinator assemblages. By studying bees and hoverflies in Britain and the Netherlands, Koos Biesmeijer and colleagues have found a causal connection between local extinctions of plant and pollinator species.
Ecology and Evolution Group
This is the largest research group within the Institute for Integrative and Comparative Biology and one of the largest groupings of its kind in the UK. We study evolution in the widest sense, with research themes spanning the entire spectrum of whole-organism-centred research from genes to ecosystems, via research in evolutionary genetics, behavioural ecology and functional design, the evolution of life-histories and population dynamics, and ecosystem-level effects of interactions among species.
Our research straddles the interface between pure and applied genetics and ecology, includes a wide range of organisms and techniques, and encompasses diverse ecosystems throughout the globe. We play a prominent role in the Earth and Biosphere Institute at Leeds, giving us strong research links with staff in Geography, Earth Sciences and Environmental Biology tackling broader questions in the arena of Earth Systems Science. We are a founding partner of the UK Population Biology Network (UKPopNet). We host two Marie Curie European Centres of Excellence for research and teaching; one in Advanced Genetic Analyses and the other in Biodiversity and Conservation.
Group members have also been successful in the commercial development of their research and in Knowledge Transfer, for example through the commercial development of a sonic walking stick based on principles of echo-location in bats and through the recently-established National Pig Development Centre at Leeds, which is the largest facility of its kind in the country.
Bill Kunin, Group Leader