Eco-evolutionary dynamics
Evolution has traditionally been considered a slow process. In recent years, however, examples of rapid evolution have begun accumulating, suggesting that evolutionary dynamics (genotype frequency changes) can occur at comparable time scales to ecological dynamics (population size changes), and that both processes can affect each other in so-called “eco-evolutionary dynamics”.
A challenge in studying eco-evolutionary dynamics is identifying the conditions under which evolutionary responses will versus will not impact population dynamics (and vice versa). The gap in our understanding of when selection will or will not drive patterns of eco-evolutionary dynamics hinders our ability to predict whether and how populations will adapt to the rapid environmental change currently faced by many organisms. My current primary research focuses on understanding the links between natural selection, micro-evolution and population demography, and their interaction with environmental conditions.
I am mainly studying these questions using data from a natural population of common terns (Sterna hirundo) located at the Banter See (Germany). However, I aim at expanding my research work to other model systems and testing for eco-evolutionary dynamics by means of artifical selection and experimental evolution studies.
A challenge in studying eco-evolutionary dynamics is identifying the conditions under which evolutionary responses will versus will not impact population dynamics (and vice versa). The gap in our understanding of when selection will or will not drive patterns of eco-evolutionary dynamics hinders our ability to predict whether and how populations will adapt to the rapid environmental change currently faced by many organisms. My current primary research focuses on understanding the links between natural selection, micro-evolution and population demography, and their interaction with environmental conditions.
I am mainly studying these questions using data from a natural population of common terns (Sterna hirundo) located at the Banter See (Germany). However, I aim at expanding my research work to other model systems and testing for eco-evolutionary dynamics by means of artifical selection and experimental evolution studies.