The project aims at developing a mechanistic framework that improves our ability to predict climate-induced changes across levels of organization, and generalizations of how species with different life-histories respond to climate change.
2) Pair bonds beyond the breeding season
In this project, Dr. Antica Culina uses data on multiple populations of Great tit to study causes and consequences of divorce and pair fidelity.
3) EVOCLIM – Phenotypic selection and population demography in fluctuating environments
4) Why do tits (Paridae) cover their eggs before incubation? The roles of temperature, nest predators and information parasites
Dr. Olli Loukola uses data on multiple tit populations to investigate variation in great and blue tits' egg covering behaviour across different populations in Europe and variables that may explain the geographical variation.
5) Quantifying intra-specific variation in sensitivity to climate change
This project uses sliding window analyses to study how phenological sensitivity to temperature varies among European populations of great and blue tits. The project then seeks to understand how such variation may be driven by differences in the biotic and abiotic environment experienced by each population.
6) Can we use multivariate autoregressive state-space models to quantify species interactions from time series data?
In this project Dr. Emily Simmonds and Prof. Bob O’Hara use Bayesian hierarchical models, including observation error, to try and quantify the strength of competitive interactions. This work predominantly uses simulated data to test model performance, but also uses multiple populations of great tits and blue tits as a case study illustration.