Skip to main content
  • Nederlands
  • English

Internet search

Menu
  • What's new
    • News
    • Press releases
    • Calendar
  • About us
    • Who we are
    • Our building
    • Our history
  • Research
    • Publications
    • Research themes
    • Datasets
    • Facilities
  • Departments
    • Animal Ecology
    • Aquatic Ecology
    • Microbial Ecology
    • Terrestrial Ecology
    • Other
  • Themes
    • Chemical ecology
    • Disease ecology
    • Eco-evolutionary dynamics
    • Ecological epigenetics
    • Global environmental change
    • Microbiomes
    • Restoration ecology
  • Society
    • Relevance to society
    • Citizen science projects
    • Educational information
  • Vacancies
  • Contact
    • Address & route
    • Staff

Visser Group

Seasonal timing of reproduction and growth

The research in the Visser Group focuses on seasonal timing of growth and reproduction. We aim to understand the causes of variation in timing and the consequences of this for fitness and population processes.

Seasonal timing is a key life-history trait with major fitness consequences. The Visser-group works mainly on avian timing of reproduction (in great tits, blue tits and pied flycatchers) but also on timing of growth (in winter moths). The research is closely linked to the impact of global climate change on timing and its consequences. The research spans the entire range of genes to populations with research in the wild, in climate controlled aviaries, the molecular laboratory and modeling. For more information see the project page Seasonal Timing. An important part of this research has funded by a NWO-VICI grant (2007-2013) and is curently funded by an ERC Advanced grant (2014-2019). 

The PhD project of Natalie van Dis on the genetic variation in the mechanisms underlying timing in winter moths is in collaboration with the Chronobiology group in Groningen where Marcel Visser is Professor on Seasonal Timing of Behaviour. The research on Avian Genomics, including the quest for the genes underlying seasonal timing, is done in close collaboration with the van Oers group and the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre group of Wageningen University where Marcel Visser is Professor of Ecological Genetics.

Within seasonal timing, photoperiod plays a key role as it is the main ‘zeitgeber’ for seasonal timing. Potentially, artificial light disrupts the seasonal timing by disturbing the perception of birds of the natural photoperiod. This is one of the aspects of artificial light that is studied in the project ‘The impact of artificial light on flora and fauna’, part of the Spoelstra junior-group.

Current group-members

Natalie van Dis's picture
Natalie van Dis

Marylou  Gudden-Aaldering's picture
Marylou Gudden...

Melanie  Lindner's picture
Melanie Lindner

Bart van Lith's picture
Bart van Lith

Christa  Mateman's picture
Christa Mateman

Agata  Pijl's picture
Agata Pijl

Barbara  Tomotani's picture
Barbara Tomotani

Marcel  Visser's picture
Marcel Visser

Ruben de Wit's picture
Ruben de Wit

Zuzana  Zajkova's picture
Zuzana Zajkova

In addition, there is one junior group within the Visser-group: the Spoelstra-junior group
 

Former group-members

Christiaan Both, Christel Mols, Margriet van Asch, Arild Husby, Ivan de la Hera, Francisco Pulido, Marjolein Lof, Nikkie van Bers, Luc te Marvelde, Sonja Schaper, Tom Reed, Samuel Caro, Davide Dominoni, Phillip Gienapp, Veronika Laine, Jip Ramakers, Irene Verhagen

  • KNAW
  • intranet
  • privacy statement
  • login

NIOO KNAW