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The evolutionary consequences of environmental change
The aim of our research is to investigate the interactions between environmental conditions, evolutionary forces and constraints in driving the evolution of reproductive traits such as sexual signals, mate preferences and parental care. By integrating sexual selection theory and life history theory, the project "The evolutionary consequences of environmental change" will investigate the short-term and long-term consequences of eutrophication for the viability and further evolution of a common fish, the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus.
The environment of the Baltic Sea is currently changing due to eutrophication. Increased input of nutrients enhances the growth of filamentous algae and phytoplankton, resulting in changed habitat structure and turbid water. These processes alter the species composition of the biotic communities, but the long-term effects are unknown. Recent research from 2003 and 2004 reveals that increased algae growth caused by eutrophication influences the costs and intensity of sexual selection, one of the selection forces that shape species and populations. This could influence the morphological, physiological and behavioural characteristics of the species and have further consequences for the interactions among species, the communities, and the whole ecosystem.
Little is known, however, about the effects of environmental change on the interplay between natural and sexual selection in determining population viability and evolution. The aim is to follow up on the present results and investigate: 1) Effects of eutrophication on sexual selection and juvenile viability. 2) Adaptive or non-adaptive changes in sexual selection in response to eutrophication? 3) Evolutionary changes or plastic responses to eutrophication? 4) Effects of eutrophication on inbreeding and population viability. The work will be realised through field monitoring and field and laboratory experiments (1), relocation of individuals (2), common garden experiments (3), and inbred selection lines (4).
 A component on "The evolution of parental care" attempts to make predictions on long term, major evolutionary changes in reproductive strategies that could result from drastic environmental changes. These changes are difficult to observe within the time scale of a short to medium term study, but it is possible to build a theoretical framework that allows predictions. To fully understand reproductive investment in a species with male care, we need to determine the relative importance of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of parental care. This project will empirically estimate the costs and benefits of parental care, and it will then use these parameters to model its evolution and stability under different environmental scenarios.
The results of the projects will be of both theoretical interests, in determining the interactions between ecological conditions, evolutionary forces and constraints in driving evolution and local adaptations, and of applied interest to conservation biology, in determining the short-term and long-term consequences of human induced changes for ecological systems.
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