Topics

If you don’t yet have a topic for your PhD or MSc and you want to get some practical experience with keywords, then you have come to the right place. Each topic below contains three references that I consider are key in developing the understanding of that topic. Note that these are all subjects that I am interested in, so I haven’t picked them randomly. Pick the one that most appeals to you and use the links to find the papers. Once you have the papers, you can return to our instructions on the keywords exercise.

Topic 1

Vences, M., Lyra, M.L., Kueneman, J.G., Bletz, M.C., Archer, H.M., Canitz, J., Handreck, S., Randrianiaina, R.-D., Struck, U., Bhuju, S., Jarek, M., Geffers, R., McKenzie, V.J., Tebbe, C.C., Haddad, C.F.B., Glos, J., 2016. Gut bacterial communities across tadpole ecomorphs in two diverse tropical anuran faunas. Sci Nat 103, 25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1348-1

Fontaine, S.S., Kohl, K.D., 2020. Gut microbiota of invasive bullfrog tadpoles responds more rapidly to temperature than a noninvasive congener. Molecular Ecology 29, 2449–2462. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15487

Zhao, N., Ma, Z., Jiang, Y., Shi, Y., Xie, Y., Wang, Y., Wu, S., Liu, S., Wang, S., 2022. Geographical patterns of Fejervarya limnocharis gut microbiota by latitude along mainland China’s coastline. Front. Microbiol. 13, 1062302. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1062302

Bletz, M.C., Goedbloed, D.J., Sanchez, E., Reinhardt, T., Tebbe, C.C., Bhuju, S., Geffers, R., Jarek, M., Vences, M., Steinfartz, S., 2016. Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions. Nat Commun 7, 13699. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13699

Chai, L., Dong, Z., Chen, A., Wang, H., 2018. Changes in intestinal microbiota of Bufo gargarizans and its association with body weight during metamorphosis. Arch Microbiol 200, 1087–1099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-018-1523-1

Topic 2

Sakata, M.K., Kawata, M.U., Kurabayashi, A., Kurita, T., Nakamura, M., Shirako, T., Kakehashi, R., Nishikawa, K., Hossman, M.Y., Nishijima, T., Kabamoto, J., Miya, M., Minamoto, T., 2022. Development and evaluation of PCR primers for environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of Amphibia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 6, e76534. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.6.76534

Fediajevaite, J., Priestley, V., Arnold, R., Savolainen, V., 2021. Meta-analysis shows that environmental DNA outperforms traditional surveys, but warrants better reporting standards. Ecol. Evol. 11, 4803–4815. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7382

Pilliod, D.S., Goldberg, C.S., Arkle, R.S., Waits, L.P., 2013. Estimating occupancy and abundance of stream amphibians using environmental DNA from filtered water samples. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 70, 1123–1130. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2013-0047

Dejean, T., Valentini, A., Miquel, C., Taberlet, P., Bellemain, E., Miaud, C., 2012. Improved detection of an alien invasive species through environmental DNA barcoding: The example of the American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus. Journal of Applied Ecology 49, 953–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02171.x

Smart, A.S., Tingley, R., Weeks, A.R., Van Rooyen, A.R., McCarthy, M.A., 2015. Environmental DNA sampling is more sensitive than a traditional survey technique for detecting an aquatic invader. Ecological Applications 25, 1944–1952. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1751.1

Topic 3

Lorrain-Soligon, L., Cavin, T., Villain, A.S., Perez, E.C., Kelley, D.B., Secondi, J., 2021. Effects of conspecific lures, call playbacks, and moonlight on the capture rate of Xenopus laevis, a major invasive amphibian. Manag. Biol. Invasion 12, 716–726. https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2021.12.3.13

Vimercati, G., Labadesse, M., Secondi, J., 2020. Assessing the effect of landscape features on pond colonisation by an elusive amphibian invader using environmental DNA. Freshwater Biology 65, 502–513. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13446

Courant, J., Secondi, J., Vollette, J., Herrel, A., Thirion, J.-M., 2018. Assessing the impacts of the invasive frog, Xenopus laevis, on amphibians in western France. Amphibia-Reptilia 39, 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-17000153

Lillo, F., Faraone, F.P., Lo Valvo, M., 2011. Can the introduction of Xenopus laevis affect native amphibian populations? Reduction of reproductive occurrence in presence of the invasive species. Biol Invasions 13, 1533–1541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9911-8

Louppe, V., Courant, J., Herrel, A., 2017. Differences in mobility at the range edge of an expanding invasive population of Xenopus laevis in the west of France. Journal of Experimental Biology 220, 278–283. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.146589