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Laboratory group - Examples of students & researchers who have completed projects in my laboratory group
The table below lists previous students or post-doctoral fellows who have worked with me on various projects. For a list of current researchers click here.
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Dr. Kirsti Abbott (Post-Doctoral Fellow)
Kirsti worked on applied and theoretical aspects of yellow crazy ant invasions. A Marsden grant funded theoretical aspects of her work including the role of mutualists and competitors in influencing invasion boundary movement. Simultaneously, she led a program on yellow crazy ant control in the Pacific. This work related to her PhD experience the control of these ants on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
E-mail Kirsti .
Abbott, Greaves, Ritchie & Lester (2007) Behaviourally and genetically distinct populations of an invasive ant provide insight into invasion history and impacts on a tropical ant community. Biological Invasions 9: 453-463. [PDF] |
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Dr. Stephen Hartley (Post-Doctoral Fellow)
Stephen worked with me on developing a model that predicts the spatial distribution 25 February, 2009 humile) as a model organism. The novelty of this project wat that the model predictions allow error estimation, enabling biodiversity managers to predict distributions with confidence levels. E-mail Stephen.
Hartly, S., Harris, R. & Lester, P.J. (2006) Quantifying uncertainty in the potential distribution of an invasive species: climate and the Argentine ant. Ecology Letters, 9, 1068-1079. [PDF] |
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Lloyd Stringer (M.Sc. student)
Lloyd finished a project examining the new invasive ant Monomorium sydneyense in Tauranga. This small ant species has not been recorded as problematic elsewhere, but seems to be a dominant ant in Tauranga. Despite its dominance, other ants co-exist with M. sydneyense. How? Is this co-existance a result of intra-specific agression? Lloyd found evidence that temperature fluctuations and poor foraging ability both contributed to the ability of other ant species to co-exist with M. sydneyense. E-mail Lloyd.
Stringer, L.D. & Lester, P.J. (2007) Foraging characteristics and intraspecific behaviour of the exotic species Monomorium sydneyense (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in New Zealand, with implications for its management. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 34: 25-34. [PDF] |
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Vaughn Bell (M.Sc. student)
It is known that plant composition can influence interactions at higher trophic levels. Vaughn examined the influence of plant composition, particularly the abundance of flowers, on biological control in apples. His results showed, among other things, that defining parasitoid movement is of considerable importance in the spatial allocation of parasitoid resources such as flowering plants. E-mail Vaughn .
Bell, V., Brightwell, R.J., Lester, P.J. (2006) Increasing vineyard floral resources may not enhance localised biological control of the leafroller Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) by Dolichogenidea spp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitoids. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 16, 1031-1042. [PDF] |
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Megan Sarty (B.Sc. Hons. student)
Megan examined methods for the coexistence of biological invaders and resident species. Specifically, she looked at the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) on the Tokelau Atolls. Does leg size, of invader abundance influence coexistence? Additionally, she looked at sublethal effects of invaders. How do invaders change the diet of resident species? E-mail Megan .
Sarty, Abbott & Lester (2006) Ant coexistence and the size grain hypothesis. Oecologia 149: 465-476. [PDF] |
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Steve Corrin (M.Sc. student) [See Steve's web page]
Steve has begun a project examining the genetic diversity and interactions between populations of Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) in New Zealand. Populations from a variety of cities around New Zealand are being examined for intraspecific aggression, and relatedness using a range of molecular techniques Michael is cosupervised by Dr Pete Ritchie. E-mail Steve.
Corin, Lester, Abbott & Ritchie (2007) Inferring historical introduction pathways with mitochondrial DNA: the case of introduced Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) into New Zealand. Diversity & Distributions 13: 510-518. [PDF] |
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Michael Dann (M.Sc. student)
Michael is examining the New Zealand Monomorium antarcticum ant species complex. How many species of ants are there in this complex? Where are they distributed? We are using morphological and molecular techniques including analysis of the mitochondrial gene CO1 to examine this question. Michael is cosupervised by Dr Pete Ritchie. E-mail Michael. |
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Rudi Schnitzler (Ph.D. student) [see Rudi's web page]
Rudi is studying the effects of habitat fragmentation on parasitism and parasitoid diversity of fragmented forest remnants in urban habitats. His study consists of two parts: examining parasitoid diversity in these fragments, and looking at parasitism rates of the Kawakawa moth. E-mail Rudi. |
For a list of current researchers click here.
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Recently published:
Lester, Abbott, Sarty & Burns (2009) Competitive assembly of South Pacific invasive ant communities. BMC Ecology 9: 3. [PDF]
Sagata & Lester (2009) Behavioural plasticity associated with propagule size, resources, and the invasion success... Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 19-27 [PDF] |
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