Department of Animal Ecology
The department of Animal Ecology studies how the life-history of birds is shaped by evolution: from personalities to seasonal timing, and from genes to populations.
AnE has a long-standing tradition of studies on hole-breeding passerines (1955-present; including great tits, blue tits and pied flycatchers) and water birds (Bewick swans, geese and ducks). Long-term studies - We do measurements on individually known animals making it possible to measure fitness and to obtain pedigrees that are used in quantitative genetic analysis. We use GPS tracking to document flyways and the timing of migration, radio tracking to look at movements of animals and we carry out energetic measurements using double labelled water.
Experimental manipulations - We look at causal relationships between trait values and fitness. These include a wide range of techniques, including play back experiments, brood size manipulations and manipulation of avian diseases.
Captive animals - In recent years, our work on free-living birds has been complemented with detailed studies of captive birds (often on birds from our long-term study sites) in our excellent aviary and water bird facilities. In these facilities we can study birds under controlled conditions and do measurements such as personality testing or energetic measurements (using our respirometer set up).
Molecular work - Furthermore, we have recently started, together with national and international partners, genomics work on wild birds, which complements our ongoing molecular work of molecular sexing of individuals and determining extra-pair paternities.
Modelling - Our experimental work is complemented with modelling, often in close interaction with each other. We do optimality models of life history traits as well as models on population dynamics, often linked to the individual level.
Database - Finally, all our data, be it from the field, kept birds or from the laboratory, are stored in a relational data ware house. This enables the linking of data on all levels, from genes to populations.
Together, these facilities form AnE’s unique triangle of long-term populations in the wild, amenities for studying animals under controlled conditions, and avian genomics tools set within a theoretical framework and integrated using a unique database
