Natalie van Dis MSc

Many anthropogenic changes to the environment impact ecosystems, and understanding how ecosystems and species therein respond to these changes is essential for conservation efforts. Within the topic of global change, I have worked on the effects of light pollution on animal behavior and the effects of forest fragmentation on bird biodiversity patterns.

Since September 2018, I study the eco-evolutionary dynamics in the Winter moth under climate change. Winter moths are rapidly adapting to a changing environment. Climate change changes the timing of oak bud burst and Winter moth egg hatching, such that asynchrony occurs between this critical food source for Winter moth larvae and Winter moth egg hatching. In response, Winter moth egg development has genetically changed and seems to have become less sensitive to temperature resulting in a better match with oak bud burst.

In my PhD, I aim to uncover the mechanism of adaptation underlying the observed changes in the timing of Winter moth egg hatching. We work in close collaboration with the Evolutionary genetics and Chronobiology groups at Groningen University (RUG). The question of how the Winter moth adapts to climate change is intriguing, because it is a fundamental question looking into the mechanism of evolution, while addressing the contemporary issue of global warming. Answering this question will require an interdisciplinary, holistic approach, linking different levels of biology into a bigger picture. In my PhD, I will link ecological dynamics to functional genomics in the context of a changing environment.

At NIOO, Winter moths have been sampled yearly since 1994. Using this long-term database and additional fieldwork and experiments, I will use three approaches to uncover the mechanism of adaptation in Winter moths:

1. Population dynamics and genetics: has mistiming in Winter moths resulted in population bottlenecks?
2. Embryology and transcriptomics: when and how during egg development does temperature act?
3. Genomics: which genomic regions have been the target of selection during adaptation to climate change?