Dr Thomas Merckx

Position: Post-doctoral Researcher on moth conservation, in partnership with Butterfly Conservation, and funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Trust.

Within the WildCRU I am undertaking research relating to the ecology and conservation of moth populations on farmland in the Upper Thames catchment area. The work uses moth-trapping to study effects of agricultural practices and habitat management on diversity and abundance of moths. Fieldwork also includes detailed ecological surveys of nationally declining species and broader ecological surveys to assess habitat quality. This research is part of the Upper Thames Project, in which several researchers work together with farmers to restore biodiversity to the UK at a landscape scale. More about this project on moth conservation

I joined WildCRU in 2005, shortly after finishing my PhD at the University of Antwerp on the impact of habitat fragmentation on movement behaviour in a butterfly species. Before that, I studied movements and habitat-use of two grassland butterfly species for a Masters thesis at the Catholic University of Leuven.

My academic interests are evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology and conservation biology of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera).

 

Selected publications (publications can also be found here)

Townsend, M.C. and Merckx, T. 2007. Pale Shining Brown Polia bombycina Hufnagel (Lep.: Noctuidae) re-discovered in Oxfordshire – a significant population of a BAP Priority Species. The Entomologists Record and Journal of Variation.

Merckx, T. and Van Dyck, H. 2007. Habitat fragmentation affects habitat-finding ability of the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria L.). Animal Behaviour 74: 1029-1037.

Merckx, T., Van Dongen, S., Matthysen, E. and Van Dyck, H. 2007. Thermal flight budget of a woodland butterfly in woodland versus agricultural landscapes: an experimental assessment. Basic and Applied Ecology (in press).

Merckx, T. 2006. Moth-friendly farming studied by Oxford team. Butterfly, 93: 20.

Merckx, T., Karlsson, B. and Van Dyck, H. 2006. Sex- and landscape-related differences in flight ability under suboptimal temperatures in a woodland butterfly. Functional Ecology 20: 436-441.

Merckx, T. and Van Dyck, H. 2006. Landscape structure and phenotypic plasticity in flight morphology in the butterfly Pararge aegeria. Oikos 113: 226-232.

Merckx, T. and Van Dyck, H. 2005. Mate location behaviour of the butterfly Pararge aegeria in woodland and fragmented landscapes. Animal Behaviour 70: 411-416.

Merckx, T. 2005. Habitat fragmentation and evolutionary ecology of movement behaviour in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria L.). Ph D thesis, University of Antwerp.

Merckx, T., Van Dyck, H., Karlsson, B. and Leimar, O. 2003. The evolution of movements and behaviour at boundaries in different landscapes: a common arena experiment with butterflies. Proceedings of The Royal Society of London Series B 270: 1815-1821.

Merckx, T. and Van Dyck, H. 2002. Interrelations among habitat use, behavior, and flight-related morphology in two cooccurring satyrine butterflies, Maniola jurtina and Pyronia tithonus. Journal of Insect Behavior 15: 541-561.