Direct and indirect effects of food availability on reproduction in the great tit

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Project objective

Research objectives and content Food availability and its temporal pattern play a central role in explaining the variation in reproduction. The Great tit Parus major, an insectivorous passerine, has been one of the most important model species for investigating the causes and consequences of variation in reproduction. This proposal comprises a series of experiments to elucidate the role of temporal patterns in food availability. The suggestion that the birds are able to adjust reproductive effort in response to predictions of future food availability will be of particular interest. In this proposal a number of sub-projects will be possible only because of cooperation with other ongoing research projects at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. Although experiments providing additional food either in the laying period or in the nestling phase have been carried out many times, a combination of such experiments has not yet been performed. It is to be expected that there are important interactions between food availability in the laying and in the nestling phase that can be demonstrated by combining these two types of experiments. Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact) This project is expected to be the main part of a PhD project by the applicant. Training will include: (a) processing large databases of bird population that are the subject of long term studies and (b) lab work with innovative molecular techniques that allow to know the sex of organisms at a very early stage of development (note on Nature 1996), (c) use of selection lines for behavioural syndromes in a bird species. The Netherlands Institute of Ecology provide the following facilities: (i) study areas where most birds are individually marked; (ii) molecular lab where to perform DNA analysis for sexing birds; (iii) aviaries and selection lines of great tits. Very few places in the world can provide all these at the same time.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE · HETERENCoordinatorNetherlands
• Not availableCity levelItaly

Links

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