At the end of 2018, I moved to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, hosted in the laboratory of Profs. Yael Lubin and Michal Segoli for a one-year postdoc. My main task was to investigate how the accidental oil spill that occurred in December 2014 affected ecosystem processes provided by arthropods in the Evrona Nature Reserve. This was undoubtedly the most beautiful, exciting, and challenging ecosystem where I have ever worked. If you want to read more about the Evrona Nature Reserve and hyper-arid desert ecosystems check this link: 

https://marcoferrante.wixsite.com/marcoferrante/post/evrona-nature-reserve-israel

I have used the artificial caterpillar technique I contributed to develop during my PhD in Denmark, and showed that invertebrates are the main predators in desert ecosystems, that predation rates on Vachellia (formerly Acacia) trees average12.9% per day, and that oil pollution has no effects on predation (Ferrante et al. 2021, Ecol Evol). The relatively high predation rates recorded in a hyper-arid desert indicate that biotic interactions should not be neglected also in extreme ecosystems.

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During this stay, I have expanded my interest to another ecological process: seed predation. I  quantified predation by bruchid beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on Vachellia tree pods before and after they fell on the ground. We found no straightforward negative effect of the oil spill on seed predation, high seed predation rates up to 84%, and higher seed predation rates on fallen pods than hanging ones (Ferrante et al. 2020, Insects).

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We have also assessed the effect of oil pollution on one-year-old seedlings and adult Vachellia trees in a semi-field experiment. We found that oil pollution had a stronger effect on one-year-old seedlings than on adult trees, reducing the levels of amino acids, sugars, and organic acids. While adult trees are mildly affected by oil pollution, the effects on young seedlings can cause a long-term reduction in the population of these keystone desert trees, ultimately threatening this entire ecosystem (Ferrante et al. 2021, Sustainability).

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I have always been interested in non-lethal techniques to study arthropods, and in Israel, I had the opportunity to test the use of cardboard refugia to monitor the tree trunk arthropod fauna. I have co-authored (co-first author) the description of a non-lethal method and showed its suitability in two ecosystems (Salman et al. 2020, J Insect Sci). I used this technique in Evrona Nature Reserve and collected 13 arthropod orders. The most abundant taxa were Araneae (40.2%) and other arachnids (10.9%), followed by Lepidoptera (21.0%, of which >95% were caterpillars and 5% pupae), Coleoptera (15.2%), and other insect orders combined (Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Zygentoma, Collembola). On this page, you can see two beautiful species that were found in the trunk refugia: the Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae Zamarada torrida (above) and the Hymenoptera: Megachilidae Heriades sp. (below). Both were collected before the adult stage.

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I ​have also co-authored one article where we examined the effects of oil pollution on the parasitoid community associated with Vachellia trees (Möller D et al. 2020; Environ Entomol), another assessing the effects of weed management on the parasitoid community in vineyards (Möller G et al. 2021; Biology), and another evaluating the diversity of ground-active spiders in different habitats of the Negev desert (Lubin et al. 2020; J Arid Environ).