ReseaRch Quality assuRance foR the futuRe a ... - Lund University

Panel 12 – science bio/geo
ecology and genetic approaches. The work also contains a conservation
biology aspect. This represents solid work in its own area, combining the
strong natural history background with population and quantitative genetics.
More recently, an exciting small scale study in moss sperm movement
by soil arthropods has received much attention. Rating is good to very good.
Soil microbial ecology has a long standing strong tradition in this area,
including very well cited studies relating e.g. to assessing growth and
activity of micro-organisms. The effects of anthropogenic changes have
also been addressed. On this tradition, the division has built programs
reaching into genomic ecology, where it now has a very good international
standing. They were important partners in sequencing the Laccaria
genome, and coordinate the Paxillus sequencing. Importantly, the
division also has recruited expertise in bioinformatics. They are a well
known group with their own strong profile. Excellent to outstanding.
Chemical ecology and ecotoxicology are two rather distinct areas. The
well established insect pheromone work examines chemical communication
and speciation. The recent papers seem to be published in rather
specialist insect ecology journals, and a strong connection to the theoretical
issues is not evident. The other group works on soil invertebrate
ecology and communities: they have a rather applied direction and are
involved in European collaboration. Publication is in good and very good
specialist journals. Good to very good.
Limnology has a high diversity of topics, connected by the aquatic
environment. The areas range from dissolved organic carbon to speciation
issues, predator-prey-environment interactions, origin of dissolved
organic matter. There is a strong component of environmental issues.
Important collaboration on terrestrial sources of carbon to lakes (with
leading US partners) resulted in a Science paper. Publication is mostly in
general ecology or in aquatic ecology journals. The group has produced a
research-based educational textbook by Oxford University Press. Productivity
and quality overall are rated very good to excellent.
Animal Ecology lists among its prominent research groupings:
Avian immunology and parasites (malaria). The key studies here are on
avian malaria. The Department is certainly a player on the world stage
but given the potential of this subject the impression is that the level of
output should have been higher. An important research paper appears
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