Professor GUÉNARD, Benoit

Teaching Areas

• Terrestrial Ecology
• Insect Ecology
• Field and Methods in Ecology
• Ecosystem Services
• Public Outreach

Research Interests

• Biogeography
• Biological Invasions
• Community Ecology
• Entomology
• Foraging Ecology
• Functional Ecology
• Insect Conservation
• Macroecology and Macroevolution
• Taxonomy

Current Research 

• Overall our research focuses on the patterns of diversity in insects, the mechanisms that structure them, and how human activities modify these patterns. We use multiple approaches including behaviour, thermo-physiology, functional ecology and taxonomy to understand how communities are assembled from local to global scales. 
• Our studies in tropical Asia allow us to work with a rich and diverse fauna, many of which is still undescribed. In order to contribute to a better understanding of local and global diversity patterns and their conservation, we are taking an active role in describing some of these new species.
• I manage one of the first and largest global database on arthropod distribution having a particular focus on ants. The Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI) Project compiles most of the information available on the distribution of >15,000 ant species and higher taxonomic level globally.
• Biological invasions represent of the hallmark of the Anthropocene. Our research focuses on the impacts of invasive species and on the mechanisms responsible for their success in Asia and globally.
• Our work attempts to describe and characterize global patterns of ant diversity, their similarities and differences with other taxonomic groups.
• We also evaluate threats on insect species and their status for conservation. Finally, our work focuses on the understanding of conservation approaches and trends over time.

Research Team

Graduate students:

Mr. Roger LEE (PhD)

Mr. Danny LEONG (PhD)

Mr. Brett MORGAN (Mphil)

Mr. Runxi WANG (Mphil)

Mr. Mark WONG (PhD, in co-supervision with Prof. Owen Lewis, Oxford University)

Research Assistants:

Mr. Roy Shun Chi CHEUNG

Dr. Christopher TAYLOR

Fellowships

• Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao (HK$ 450,000)
• Early Career Scheme of the Research Grant Council HK (HK$ 1,127,469)
• Environment and Conservation Fund HK (HK$ 499,820)
• Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (HK$ 397,000)
• National Geographic Research Grant (HK$ 119,400)
• Hong Kong International Airport Environmental Fund (HK$ 790,305)

Publications and News

• Barlow J, F França, TA Gardner, CC Hicks, GD Lennox, E Berenguer, L Castello, EP Economo, J Ferreira, B Guénard, CG Leal, V Isaac, AC Lees, CL Parr, SK Wilson, PJ Young, & NAJ Graham. 2018. The future of hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems. Nature 559, 517–526.
• Economo EP, N Narula, NF Friedman, MD Weiser, & B Guénard. 2018. Macroecology and macroevolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in ants. Nature Communications 9, 1778.
• Economo EP, JP Huang, G Fischer, EM Sarnat, N Narula, M Janda, B Guénard, JT Longino, & LL Knowles. 2018. Evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole. Global Ecology and Biogeography (Accepted).
• Eyer PA, K Matsuura, EL Vargo, K Kobayashi, Y Yashiro, W Suehiro, C Himuro, T Yokoi, B Guénard, RR Dunn, & K Tsuji. 2018. Inbreeding tolerance as a pre-adapted trait for invasion success in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis. Molecular Ecology (in press).
• Guénard B, F Dumont, B Fréchette, A Francoeur & E Lucas. 2018. May furtive predation provide enemy free space in ant-tended aphid colonies? PlosONE 0204019. 
• Guénard B, MD Weiser, K Gomez, N Narula, & EP Economo. 2017. The Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI) database: synthesizing data on ant species geographic distribution. Myrmecological News 24, 83–89.
• Guénard B, JK Wetterer & JA MacGown. 2018. Global and temporal spread of a taxonomically challenging invasive ant: the Asian needle ant, Brachyponera chinensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist (in press). 
• Jaitrong W, W Tasen & B Guénard. 2018. The ant genus Myopias Roger 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) in Thailand, with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa (accepted).
• Moser D, B Lenzner, P Weigelt, W Dawson, H Kreft, J Pergl, P Pyšek, M van Kleunen, M Winter, C Capinha, P Cassey, S Dullinger, EP Economo, P García-Diaz, B Guénard, F Hofhansl, T Mang, H Seebens, & F Essl. 2018. Remoteness promotes biological invasions on islands worldwide. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences doi.org/10.1073/pnas. 1804179115.
• Seebens H, TM Blackburn, EE Dyer, P Genovesi, PE Hulme, JM Jeschke, S Pagad, P Pyšek, M van Kleunen, M Winter, M Arianoutsou, S Bacher, B Blasius, G Brundu, C Capinha, L Celesti-Grapow, C Causton, W Dawson, S Dullinger, E Economo, N Fuentes, B Guénard, H Jäger, J Kartesz, M Kenis, I Kühn, B Lenzner, A Liebhold, A Mosena, D Moser, W Nentwig, M Nishino, D Pearman, J Pergl, W Rabitsch, J Rojas-Sandoval, A Roques, S Rorke, S Rossinelli, HE Roy, R Scalera, S Schindler, K Štajerová, B Tokarska-Guzik, K Walker, T Yamanaka, & F Essl. 2018. The global rise in emerging alien species results from increased accessibility of new source pools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 2264–2273.