UHI Inverness research on eDNA presented at Swedish conference

Researcher Dr Cristian Navarro Waggershauser from the Institute of Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation at UHI Inverness has presented his work on foraging ecology and trophic networks based on environmental DNA metabarcoding at the recent Nordic Oikos 2024 conference in Lund, Sweden.

His work emphasises the impact that the predatory behaviours of omnivores, such as red foxes and pine martens, have on ecosystem stability. He also considers the potential impacts of resource enrichment from the refuse of human activities, such as deer stalking and dog-walking.

The conference served as a networking platform for productive exchanges with leading researchers from Cambridge University, Land and Forest (Iceland) and researchers from University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

Dr Waggershauser said: “The conference was a very enriching experience; I had the chance to meet very relevant people in my field and learn about their work. I also received first-hand feedback for my own work on network and trophic ecology, which I will be able to apply going forward, and I appreciate the support from the UHI Research Office to attend.”