Allison Truhlar
Email: at569@cam.ac.uk
Research Interests
My MPhil research concerned Dikerogammarus villosus, an amphipod native to Eastern Europe that was found in Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom in 2010. The species is highly invasive in much of Europe, with its spread aided by human-mediated pathways such as shipping and the construction of canals. D. villosus, also known as the “killer shrimp,” is perhaps most well known for its omnivorous and opportunistic feeding strategy, which can rapidly alter the macroinvertebrate community composition of invaded areas.
There is much that remains unknown remain regarding the invasion ecology of D. villosus, suchas what kind of ecological impacts, other than predation on native species, D. villosus will have on invaded areas; how the behaviour of individuals from a population compares to that of native amphipod individuals from the same community and to the behaviour of D. villosus individuals from other populations; and whether a viable control method exists.
To address these questions, the specific aims of my research programme were to:
- Quantify the potential for the impact of D. villosus on leaf processing in invaded areas, with an emphasis on the impact under extreme environmental conditions.
- Compare the behaviour of D. villosus to that of the amphipod Gammarus pulex,a UK native, and compare the behaviour of D. villosus individuals from a recently established population to that of individuals from a longer established population.
- Determine the efficacy of a new technology involving microencapsulated toxins in controlling D. villosus populations.
