Doctorate
Title: Decomposer biodiversity and decomposition processes: the functional consequences of conventional anthelmintics and alternaive cattle feed supplements
Funding: Professor Sir Richard Southwood Scholarsip in Insect Ecology
Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
University: Jesus College, University of Oxford
Supervisor: Dr Owen Lewis
Research Group: Oxford University Ecology Research Group
Additional Contributors: Paddocks Farm Ltd (product), Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society Student Bursary 2008, Animax Veterinary Technology (product), Natural Feeds and Fertilisers (product), Ellen Collinson Herbal Products (product), International Animal Health Products (product), Blue Merle (product), FECPAK International (loaning FECPAK faecal egg counting kit), Innovis Ltd (FECPAK training).
Background:
"Without dung beetles, we would be up to our necks in dung."
"The dung from 5 cows will cover an acre of pasture in one year if it were not for dung beetles."
We all produce dung. Not just cattle, sheep and horses, but all animals. Luckily, to some organisms, dung provides a warm, moist food-rich home and by making it their home they also do the planet a great service: they break it down.
We often forget the importance of these organisms, because most are so tiny that we do not see them. Also, most people (apart from keen entomologists) don't tend to go digging around in dung hunting for these creatures. If you did, you would realise that dung is a vibrant habitat.
In Britain, dung beetles, ranging in size from a few millimetres to more than 2cm. Some tunnel, feed and breed within the pat itself, whilst others bury the dung deep in the soil, creating feeding and brrod chambers. Beetles lay their eggs in these brood chambers, where larvae develop, feeding on the rich nutrient source, which has been effectively hidden from competitors.
British dung beetles range in colour from metallic blue to green, yellow and pillar-box red. In fact, a dung pat is quite a colourful, bustling place! Fungi that have passed through the animals digestive system germinate and produce multi-coloured fruiting bodies, whilst numerous species of metallic fly lay their eggs deep in the pat. Predatory beetles patrol the dung, feasting on any stray parasite eggs and larvae, whilst water beetles swim through the pat, their legs acting like paddles. All this activity aerates the dung, allowing earthworms to enter and break it down further. On a damp night, even slugs come and join the fun, munching through any un-digested plant fibres. The final decomposers are the fungi and bacteria, which may be transported from pat to pat by the aforementioned invertebrates.
However, we are slowly killing off this community. We worm our animals to remove internal nematode parasites, but these chemical worming products can also be highly toxic to non-target insects in dung. Thus we see dung form hard crusts and remain on the surface for up to a year. This, along with problems of parasite resistance to wormers, and the fact that organic farmers are unable to use many chemical products has lead to increased research on alternative wormers. These alternatives are not classified as veterinary medicines and therefore require no efficacy or environmental safety testing! However, just because a product is 'natural', there is no reason for it to have less of an environmental impact.
Project Overview and More Information:
Please follow this link to the Project Overview
News Updates:
New publications
Beynon, S.A. (2012)
Potential environmental consequences of administration of anthelmintics
to sheep, Veterinary Parasitology, doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.03.040.
Beynon, S.A. (2012)
Potential environmental consequences of administration of
ectoparasiticides to sheep, Veterinary Parasitology,
doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.03.041.
If you are not able to access these articles online, please email me for pdf's.
Please follow this link to old news updates
Radio interview for BBC Radio Oxford
Interview
for BBC Radio Oxford. The interview covered all aspects of my research
and recent filming for Channel 4's 'Hippo: Nature's Wild Feast'. Please
follow the links below to listen to the interview.
Listen here to:
Part one Part two Part three
New publication - first to come out of doctoral research
*Wall, R. & Beynon, S. (2012) Area-wide impacts of macrocyclic parasiticides in cattle dung. Medical & Veterinary Entomology 26, 1-8.
*article is available online. Please follow this link to the online version of the article.
Relevant Links:
Please follow this link to see relevant website links
References:
Please follow this link to a list of useful references
Publications:
Wall, R and Beynon, S. (2012) Area-wide impact of macrocyclic lactone parasiticides in cattle dung. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 26, 1-8. pdf
Beynon, S.A. (2012)
Potential environmental consequences of administration of anthelmintics
to sheep, Veterinary Parasitology, doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.03.040.
Beynon, S.A. (2012)
Potential environmental consequences of administration of
ectoparasiticides to sheep, Veterinary Parasitology,
doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.03.041.
If you are not able to access these articles online, please email me for pdf's.