Ekologi och evolution av fenotypisk integrering

Variation is fundamental characteristic of life, and understanding this variation is a central question in biology. Phenotypic traits do not vary independently but are often correlated with one another, a concept known as ‘phenotypic integration’.

The extent to which correlations between disparate traits (behavioural, morphological, physiological) affect whole-organism fitness, bias the direction of evolutionary change, and how integrated trait networks evolve in natural populations of animals remains poorly understood. To shed light on these fascinating questions, I propose to join the vibrant and interdisciplinary lab of Prof. Brian R. Langerhans at North Carolina State University to work with the model system of the post-Pleistocene radiation of Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi). This system is ideally suited to investigate the role of one major environmental stressor, predation risk, in driving predictable complex phenotypic changes. This is because independent and replicate populations of mosquitofish have been isolated either in the presence or absence of their natural enemies for thousands of years. Using this unique model system and as a part of a highly productive and dynamic research group I will acquire a new skill set that will allow me to explore: (1) to what extent predation risk drives repeatable and predictable differentiation in the integration of complex phenotypes, (b) the degree to which trait correlation networks correspond between the phenotypic and genetic level, and (c) the fitness consequences of integrated anti-predator traits against predation risk. This integrative project that bridges research boundaries will open up a novel line of research in the nascent and exciting field of phenotypic integration and furnish me with practical training in a suite of cutting-edge laboratory, field and statistical skills. The knowledge I bring back to Europe and Sweden will provide me with the platform to begin a career as an independent scientist.