Phenological changes · Integrating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of phenological change in a wild mammal system
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2013-03-11 → 2015-03-10
- EU contribution
- €231,283
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Integrating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of phenological change in a wild mammal system
Global climatic change is already having dramatic impacts on the biology of many plant and animal populations. Despite this, exactly how natural populations will respond to projected environmental change remains poorly understood. Environmental change will alter natural selection acting on plant and animal populations, with consequences for the distributions of phenotypic traits that influence fitness, and ultimately for population demography and persistence. The primary goal of the project was to develop and apply an integrative approach to understanding how phenotypic selection changes as a consequence of environmental variation, and what consequences these changes have for trait distributions, life history trade-offs and population dynamics. The study was integrative in the sense that 1) it combined behavioural ecology, life-history theory, population dynamic models and quantitative genetic theory; and 2) it addressed the whole phenotype – including morphology and life history, but also behaviour (anti-predatory vigilance, docility and sociality) and physiology (endocrine state, immune function). Such an integrative study of the consequences of climate-induced phenological change had not previously been done. The project focused mainly on 3 points: 1) How does multivariate selection change – qualitatively and quantitatively- with environmental conditions (i.e. spring climate, population density)?; 2) What is the genetic covariance structure underlying multivariate phenotypic distributions, and what role does GxE play in their determination?; 3) How will environmental-sensitivity of traits and their evolutionary parameters affect the fundamental trade-off between reproduction and survival? The study was carried out using data from a natural population of yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), Colorado, United States. This population has been followed for over 50 years which is the third longest individual-based study on mammals in the world. Five articles related to the project were published, two were invited for resubmission and 3 more will be submitted. The results of the project were also presented at six international conferences and 4 invited seminars. The main results show no changes in selection and no changes in heritability with the change in environment and no causal effect of the environment on the observed changes in fitness. In addition, strong changes in environmental effects and additive genetic variance were found across ontogeny. Despite using one of the longest dataset available on a wild mammal, none of the expected evolutionary changes due to environmental changes were found. This sheds a new light on the impact of environmental changes and their consequences for a wild population in both the short and long term. Scientist in charge Professor Jane Reid Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Aberdeen Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ United-Kingdom Tel:+(44) 01224 274224 Email:jane.reid@abdn.ac.uk Marie-Curie Fellow Dr. Julien Martin Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Aberdeen Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ United-Kingdom Tel:+(44) 01224 272399 Email:julienmartin@abdn.ac.uk
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In recent years an increasing number of studies have documented phenological responses to climate change in wild animals. However, while most studies have focussed on individual life history traits we know that natural selection acts on whole phenotypes and organismal impacts of environmental change are mediated by complex causal pathways among traits . Thus to understand the evolutionary and ecological consequences of environmental change we need multivariate modelling strategies that integrate across life-history, morphology, behaviour and physiology. This integration is essential to understand population level processes, and without it demographic predictions for wildlife management and conservation objectives will be flawed. The primary goal of the proposed research is to develop and apply such an integrative approach, quantifying the relationship between multivariate phenotypic selection and environmental parameters (e.g. spring temperature), and determining the consequences of environmental change for trait distributions, life history trade-offs and population dynamics. Using an exceptional long term dataset that spans more than 50 years of research on wild yellow bellied marmots, I will employ cutting-edge analytical methods to identify causal relationships among traits, decompose them into genetic and environmental components, and quantify their contributions to (genetic) variance in fitness. The project will be carried out in the group of Dr. Wilson (CEC, University of Exeter), where I will receive a thorough training in evolutionary quantitative genetics from one of the global leaders in this field. At the same time I will also bring new analytical skills and knowledge that directly benefit his research program, other scientists at the University of Exeter, and the wider European research community. This project should lead to strong publications and will serve to establish long-term collaborations between European and North-American researchers.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN · AberdeenCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union