Date : 18/03/10

Laboratory

Laboratoire Ecologie & Evolution UMR 7625 (UMPC/ENS/AgroParisTech/CNRS)
Université Pierre et Marie Curie,
7 quai Saint-Bernard, case 237
75252 Paris
Director : Minus van Baalen

PhD Supervisor

David Laloi (Supervisor 1)
email : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
phone : +33 33144272735

Subjects / Tools-Methodologies

1 : Evolution/Integrative ecology
2 : Mating and dispersal/Models and experiments
3 : Individual strategies/Behaviour and physiology

Summary of lab's interests

The laboratory Ecology & Evolution is affiliated to University Paris 6, ENS, AgroParisTech and CNRS. It is located in several sites, mainly in Paris. The projects of the laboratory belong to ecology in general, with a strong focus on evolutionary approaches. Main axes of research, which translate into research teams, are evolutionary microbiology and immunology, evolution of sociality, integrative ecology (including behavioural ecology and eco-physiology), mathematics and modelling in ecology. The laboratory has interdisciplinary collaborations in the fields of conservation biology, biodiversity management and human health. It has also a strong partnership with the Research centre in experimental and predictive ecology (CEREEP) of Foljuif.

Summary of project

The relationship between mating and dispersal behaviours has generally been studied at the population and species levels. It has hardly ever been investigated at the individual level, by studying variations of mating and dispersal strategies between individuals. We have shown a novel link between female mating strategy and offspring dispersal, which challenges important parts of our understanding on the evolution of these behaviours, the respective and interacting influences of these processes in population functioning, in particular. It also stresses the absolute need to consider the individual level when investigating the evolution of such behavioural processes. The thesis would explore the joint evolution of mating and dispersal individual strategies, and the mechanisms underlying the link between these behaviours, maternal effects in particular. This study would couple empirical and modelling approaches, belonging to evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology and population biology.