Domagoj Gajski- Doctor of Philosophy
- Researcher at Landscape Research Institute
Domagoj Gajski
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Researcher at Landscape Research Institute
Focused on predator-prey interactions and natural rewilding sites to answer ecological questions.
About
19
Publications
3,778
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110
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Introduction
I am a molecular biologist with experience in arachnological and ecological research who is working on topics related to applied food web ecology, forest ecology and biodiversity.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
March 2019 - April 2024
March 2018 - August 2018
December 2015 - October 2017
Position
- Internship
Description
- Molecular phylogeny research of Mediterranean cave spiders and their barcoding
Education
September 2016 - February 2019
Publications
Publications (19)
BACKGROUND
Modern pest control management systems are based on the support of naturally occurring arthropod predators, as it has been shown that such predators offer an important ecosystem service. However, most naturally occurring arthropod predators are generalists (euryphagous). Their role in the biological control of specific pests has been rec...
Psyllids are phloem‐feeding insects that can transmit plant pathogens such as phytoplasmas, intracellular bacteria causing numerous plant diseases worldwide. Their microbiomes are essential for insect physiology and may also influence the capacity of vectors to transmit pathogens. Using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we compared the microbiomes of th...
Modern agricultural pest management systems rely on naturally occurring generalist predators to promote pest suppression. Still, little research has been done to assess their overall effectiveness, especially over the winter period when their potential is high. In this study, we focused on three genera of winter-active spiders Clubiona, Philodromus...
Phylogenetic inference has become a standard technique in integrative taxonomy and systematics, as well as in biogeography and ecology. DNA barcodes are often used for phylogenetic inference, despite being strongly limited due to their low number of informative sites. Also, because current DNA barcodes are based on a fraction of a single, fast-evol...
Global arthropod decline demands effective biodiversity monitoring strategies. However, most current monitoring approaches do not provide an exhaustive picture of arthropod community structure. In particular, biotic interactions and temporal patterns of biodiversity change are still poorly understood due to a lack of suitable monitoring approaches....
Rewilding of abandoned agricultural lands could play a significant role in combating climate change by enhancing carbon (C) sequestration over time in a passive and cost-effective manner. After agricultural land is abandoned, natural regeneration processes, such as the regrowth of tree cover and increased microbial activity, typically restore soil...
Conservation biocontrol, the regulation of crop pests by naturally occurring biocontrol agents (e.g., predators and parasitoids), is predominantly monitored throughout periods of primary crop growth when pests exert the most observable impact on yields. Pest‐focused agricultural biomonitoring often overlooks post‐harvest, winter and even early‐seas...
The sub-Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems survive on isolated oceanic islands in the path of circum-polar currents and winds that have raged for over 30 million years, and are shaped by
climatic cycles that surpass the tolerance limits of many species. Surprisingly little is known about how these ecosystems assembled their native terrestrial fauna a...
1. Conservation biocontrol, the regulation of crop pests by naturally-occurring biocontrol agents (e.g., predators and parasitoids), is predominantly monitored throughout periods of primary crop growth when pests exert the most observable impact on yields. Pest-focused agricultural biomonitoring often overlooks post-harvest, winter and even early-s...
An analysis of the diets of reptiles is essential for understanding the role of reptiles in the ecosystem and the employment of successful conservation management plans. For this purpose, noninvasive and invasive methods to identify consumed prey have been used. Here, we investigated the diet of male and female European Green Lizards (Lacerta virid...
Spiders act as one of the major predators among arthropods in agroecosystems and are crucial to the control of pest densities. As they are almost exclusively predators, they have developed a number of hunting strategies, which have consequently impacted their complex trophic interactions. The development of molecular biology methods for environment...
Phylogenetic inference has become a standard technique in integrative taxonomy and systematics, as well as in biogeography and ecology. DNA barcodes are often used for phylogenetic inference, despite being strongly limited due to their low number of informative sites. Also, because current DNA barcodes are based on a fraction of a single, fast-evol...
The Mediterranean is characterised by high biodiversity and numerous endemic species. These species are not only present in natural habitats, but also inhabit areas under human influence, such as agricultural lands. In the biodiversity assessment of Mediterranean vineyards and olive orchards within Zadar County, in Croatia, we identified eight ende...
Although winter in the temperate zone is considered to be the period of arthropod quiescence, some pests and their natural enemies remain active and interact in simplified food-webs. Limited information exists about the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up processes regulating arthropod food-webs and their spatio-temporal dynamics during w...
Wolbachia is one of the most abundant intracellular symbionts of arthropods and has profound effects
on host biology. Wolbachia transmission and host phenotypes often depend on its density within
the host, which can be affected by multiple biotic and abiotic factors. However, very few studies
measured Wolbachia density in natural host populations....
Winter-active arthropod predators (like vegetation-dwelling spiders) significantly suppress pest populations during winter in pome fruit orchards in Central Europe. Clubiona spiders are very abundant in orchards and have been observed to be active during winter. Here, we performed laboratory experiments to assess the movement and predation activity...
Wolbachia is one of the most abundant intracellular symbionts of arthropods and has profound effects on host biology. Wolbachia transmission and host phenotypes often depend on its density within the host, which can be affected by multiple biotic and abiotic factors. However, very few studies measured Wolbachia density in natural host populations....
Predators should be selected to maximize their fitness by catching the most profitable prey. As predators grow in size, they often shift their preferences to larger prey during the course of development. Alike generalist predators, specialized predators should also shift to larger prey within the pool of focal prey. Here, we have studied the natura...
