Our research
Zoology is the study of the form and function of animals in the broadest senses of those words. It considers the many roles of animals within the natural world. The department has a diverse array of active researchers addressing a wide range of Zoological questions. Our research can be broadly separated into organismal biology and molecular/cellular biology.
Our investigation of these subjects uses innovative techniques and methodologies such as immunology, stable isotopes, genetics, analytical chemistry, proteomics and numerical computation. In particular, our strengths lie in ecosystem ecology & biodiversity, evolution of behaviour and developmental biology.
We currently house 9 principal investigators, a host of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers and are supported by a team of skilled technical staff. Much of our research is collaborative and we continue to maintain productive links with both academic and non-academic institutions at home and abroad.
Recent research highlight: Biodiversity loss and ecosystem stability
Understanding how species extinctions affect the stability of ecosystems is fundamental to the prediction of future biodiversity loss and to ensuring the reliable provision of ecosystem services. Led by Dr Ian Donohue of the Department of Zoology, a team of researchers from the Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research including principle investigator Dr Andrew Jackson, together with collaborators from Northern Ireland, Spain and Switzerland, found that the destabilising effect of biodiversity loss is likely to be considerably greater than thought previously. In their paper published in the leading ecology journal Ecology Letters, Dr. Donohue and colleagues demonstrate for the first time that different species contribute in different ways to the maintenance of stability in ecosystems. Their research indicates that we currently underestimate significantly the overall destabilizing effect of biodiversity loss and thus the true scale of the global extinction crisis that we face.
Recent research highlight: Primates and novel human diseases
Many devastating human infectious diseases, including HIV and malaria, originated in wild primates. New research by Dr Natalie Cooper of the School of Natural Sciences and the Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research and her collaborators at Harvard aims to use information on how parasites are shared among primate species to determine which diseases may emerge in humans in the future. In a paper published in the top ecology journal Ecology Letters, Dr Cooper and colleagues showed that closely-related primate species tended to share the most parasites, but also that factors such as contact rates were important in determining how parasites were shared. They also found that viruses were far less specific in the types of primates they infected. This research implies that although novel human diseases are likely to originate in our close relatives, novel viruses may be transmitted by any species we have regular contact with, including domesticated animals and pests.