Coen Westerduin

My PhD research in Oulu uses extensive DNA barcode reference libraries for local arthropods to disentangle a complex food web featuring insectivorous songbirds (the crested tit Lophophanes cristatus, willow tit Poecile montanus, blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, great tit Parus major, and pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca) and their numerous prey in boreal forests. This seasonal system is affected by climate change and habitat fragmentation, and features several species currently on the Finnish Red List. Molecular methods are for the first time allowing us to describe and follow species-level interactions in this rich, dynamic and complex community.

In addition, I work at the University of Eastern Finland (Entomology Joensuu), with further research on (tropical) insectivore food webs, and developing molecular species identification methods.