A5073405293- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Plant and animal studies
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Animal and Plant Science Education
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Insect Utilization and Effects
- Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy
- Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Insect Pheromone Research and Control
- Ecology and biodiversity studies
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
University of Exeter
2016-2025
University of Georgia
2014
The University of Sydney
1999-2002
Ectotherms make up the majority of terrestrial biodiversity, so it is important to understand their potential responses climate change. Often, models aiming achieve this understanding correlate species distributions with ambient air temperature. However, assumes a constant relationship between temperature and body temperature, which determines an ectotherm's thermal performance. To test assumption, we develop validate method for retrospective estimation ectotherm using heat exchange...
Temporal or spatial variation in selection has the potential to explain long standing evolutionary problems such as stasis and maintenance of genetic variation. Long-term field studies plants wild vertebrates have provided some insights, but multigenerational measures invertebrates remain scarce. Short-lived ectothermic animals are likely experience more pronounced environmental across generations than longer-lived endothermic species. As a result, may be particularly significant these...
The disposable soma theory of ageing predicts that when organisms invest in reproduction they do so by reducing their investment body maintenance, inducing a trade-off between and survival. Experiments on invertebrates the lab provide support for demonstrating predicted responses to manipulation reproductive effort or lifespan. However, experimental studies birds evidence from observational (nonmanipulative) nature not consistently reveal trade-offs. Most species studied previously wild are...
Good early nutritional conditions may confer a lasting fitness advantage over individuals suffering poor (a ‘silver spoon’ effect). Alternatively, if predict the likely adult environment, adaptive plastic responses might maximize individual performance when developmental and match (environmental-matching Here, we test for silver spoon environmental-matching effects by manipulating environment of Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetles. We manipulated nutrition during two specific windows:...
Summary Food availability can be unpredictable. When food becomes more abundant following a period of low availability, developing larvae or juveniles often allocate resources preferentially towards increasing growth. This has important long‐term effects on adult phenotypes and longevity. Despite the importance strategic resource allocation during early development, few studies have examined how changes in other windows development affect reproductive strategies fitness independent We...
Declines in survival and performance with advancing age (senescence) have been widely documented natural populations, but whether patterns of senescence across traits reflect a common underlying process biological ageing remains unclear. Senescence is typically characterized via assessments the rate change mortality (actuarial senescence) or phenotypic (phenotypic senescence). Although both phenomena are considered indicative declines somatic integrity, actuarial rates actually correlated...
Many organisms are capable of growing faster than they do. Restrained growth rate has functionally been explained by negative effects on lifespan accelerated growth. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Telomere attrition proposed as a causal agent and mostly studied in endothermic vertebrates. We established that telomeres exist chromosomal-ends model insect, field cricket Gryllus campestris, using terminal restriction fragment Bal 31 methods. Telomeres comprised TTAGGn...
1. In burying beetles ( N icrophorinae), body size is known to provide both a fecundity advantage (in females) and successful resource defence males females). Despite this, considerable variation in sizes observed natural populations. 2. A possible explanation for the maintenance of this variation, even with intra‐ inter‐specific competition, that individuals might assort according on different‐sized breeding resources. 3. We tested prediction ‘bigger always better’, wild laboratory, by...
Life-history theories of senescence are based on the existence a trade-off in resource allocation between body maintenance and reproduction. This putative means that environmental demographic factors affecting costs reproduction should be associated with changes patterns senescence. In many species, competition among males is major component male reproductive investment, hence variation sex ratio expected to affect rates We test this prediction using nine years behavioural data from wild...
Abstract High population density should drive individuals to more frequently share space and interact, producing better-connected spatial social networks. Despite this widely-held assumption, it remains unconfirmed how local generally drives individuals’ positions within wild animal We analysed 34 datasets of simultaneous behaviour in >55,000 individual animals, spanning 28 species fish, reptiles, birds, mammals, insects. >80% systems exhibited strongly positive relationships between...
The age of potential mates has been proposed to be an important target for mate choice by females. Alternative hypotheses predict preferences in either direction. Females might expected prefer older males because such have demonstrated their capacity survive. Alternatively, they younger that not accumulated deleterious mutations. Preferences both directions observed laboratory experiments, suggesting this is issue needs understood within its ecological context. We measured individual...
Behaviour has the potential to retard evolutionary adaptation by equipping animals with capacity radically change their interactions environment without evolving. Despite this for plasticity, laboratory studies frequently identify among-population differences in responses identical stimuli, suggesting that genetic adaption often reduces behavioural flexibility. However, environments are typically far removed from nature, so relevance variation we might expect see wild (either among or as a...
Male and female genital morphology varies widely across many taxa, even among populations.Disentangling potential sources of selection on is problematic because each sex predicted to respond adaptations in the other due reproductive conflicts interest.To test how variation this sexual conflict trait relates we used our previously developed artificial lines for high low repeated mating rates.We selected rates using monogamous pairings eliminate contemporaneous choice male-male...
Abstract Male parents face a choice: should they invest more in caring for offspring or attempting to mate with other females? The most profitable course depends on the intensity of competition mates, which is likely vary population sex ratio. However, balance pay‐offs may among individual males depending their competitive prowess attractiveness. We tested prediction that ratio and size resource holding male provide cues regarding level mating prior breeding therefore influence duration...
Understanding how species can thrive in a range of environments is central challenge for evolutionary ecology. There strong evidence local adaptation along large-scale ecological clines insects. However, potential among neighbouring populations differing their environment has been studied much less. We used RAD sequencing to quantify genetic divergence and clustering ten the field cricket Gryllus campestris Cantabrian Mountains northern Spain, an outgroup on inland plain. Our were chosen...
Abstract Many organisms are capable of growing faster than they do. Restrained growth rate has functionally been explained by negative effects on lifespan accelerated growth. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Telomere attrition proposed as a causal agent and studied in endothermic vertebrates. We established that telomeres exist chromosomal-ends model insect, field cricket, using terminal restriction fragment Bal 31 methods. Telomeres comprised TTAGGn repeats 38kb average,...
The role of female choice in sexual selection is well established, including the recognition that females choose their mates based on multiple cues. These cues may include intrinsic aspects a male's phenotype as environment associated with male. spatial location potential mate has been studied territorial vertebrates. However, despite laboratory models for studies selection, insects to basis scarcely studied. We natural population individually tagged crickets (Gryllus campestris) meadow...
Sexual conflict occurs when selection to maximize fitness in one sex does so at the expense of other sex. In burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides , repeated mating provides assurance paternity a direct cost female reproductive productivity. To reduce this cost, females could choose males with low rates or smaller, servile males. We tested by offering dichotomous choice between from lines selected for high rate. Each was then allocated her preferred non-preferred male breed. Females showed...
A questionnaire, sent to scientists and wildlife attendants/carers known have extensive experience handling quolls Dasyurus spp., was designed assess those attributes end requirements of which may affect their suitability as pets. Twenty people contributed. Overall, it appeared that essential dietary components were readily available, housing simple, rarely demanding on time, mostly healthy stressed. Specialist attention (e.g., veterinary) only required occasionally no adverse human health...