Biografi

Evolusjonær økolog med bakgrunn i livshistoriens evolusjon og aldring. Mitt forskningsfokus er å forstå virkningene av miljøvariasjoner, inkludert menneskeskapte forstyrrelser, som infrastrukturutvikling, på dyrepopulasjoner og biologisk mangfold generelt. Jeg har jobbet med en rekke studiesystemer, inkludert insekter, planter, pattedyr og fugler, og min spesielle kompetanse ligger hos sciurids.

Grader:

Ph.D. i økologi ved University of Aberdeen (2017)

B.Sc. (Hons) i dyrebiologi ved University of Stirling (2013)

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Sammendrag

Studies in natural populations are essential to understand the evolutionary ecology of senescence and terminal allocation. While there are an increasing number of studies investigating late-life variation in different life-history traits of wild populations, little is known about these patterns in social behaviour. We used long-term individual based data on yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) to quantify how affiliative social behaviours and different life-history traits vary with age and in the last year of life, and how patterns compare between the two. We found that some social behaviours and all life-history traits varied with age, whereas terminal last year of life effects were only observed in life-history traits. Our results imply that affiliative social behaviours do not act as a mechanism to adjust allocation among traits when close to death, and highlight the importance of adopting an integrative approach, studying late-life variation and senescence across multiple different traits, to allow the identification of potential trade-offs. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?’