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Pete Brown

Position

PhD Student and Project Officer

Organisation

Anglia Ruskin University

Ladybird research keywords

population ecology, community ecology, biological recording, intraguild interactions, Harmonia axyridis, non-native species, public engagement

Description of work

My PhD research is focused on understanding the invasion process of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. I am studying both the spread and distribution of this species and its impacts on native ladybirds using the data collected through the national on-line survey and field studies.

Volunteer engagement, principally through public outreach, has been critical to the success of the harlequin ladybird project. Over 25,000 harlequin ladybird records (many of multiple individuals) have been logged since the survey was launched in March 2005. The harlequin ladybird has benefited from considerable attention but is only one of the many Invasive Alien Species (IAS) that threaten native biodiversity. I am developing strategies, based on the Harlequin Ladybird Survey as a model system, for public outreach and engagement for a range of other non-native species.

Key publications

Brown, P.M.J., Roy, H.E., Rothery, P., Roy, D.B., Ware, R.L. & Majerus, M.E.N. (2008) Harmonia axyridis in Great Britain: analysis of the spread and distribution of a non-native coccinellid. BioControl 53: 55-68.

Brown, P.M.J., Adriaens, T., Bathon, H., Cuppen, J., Goldarazena, A., Hagg, T., Kenis, M., Klausnitzer, B.E.M., Kovar, I., Loomans, A.J., Majerus, M.E.N., Nedved, O., Pedersen, J. Rabitsch, W., Roy, H.E., Ternois, V., Zakharov, I. & Roy, D.B. (2008) Harmonia axyridis in Europe: spread and distribution of a non-native coccinellid. BioControl 53: 5-22.

Roy, H.E., Brown, P.M.J., Rothery, P., Ware, R.L. & Majerus, M.E.N. (2008) Interactions between the fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana and three species of ladybird: Harmonia axyridis, Coccinella septempunctata and Adalia bipunctata. BioControl 53: 265-276.

Brown, P.M.J., James, T., Stewart, A. & Roy, H.E. (2008) Mapping insect distributions in the 21st Century: a role for the Royal Entomological Society in partnership with the Biological Records Centre and the National Biodiversity Network. Antenna 32: 149-151

Brown, P.M.J., Roy, H.E. & Majerus, M.E.N. (2007) The spread of the harlequin ladybird in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Nature in Cambridgeshire 49: 55-57.