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Content archived on 2024-06-18

THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL COMPETITION IN THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL SIGNALS

Objective

Species interactions are known to play an important role in community ecology but their influence on phenotypic evolution is not well understood. Where closely related species come into contact they could diverge, converge, or competitively exclude each other. This project will examine the importance of the level of phenotypic and genetic similarity of species in determining patterns of phenotypic variation at contact zones. In particular, the project will focus on variation in traits important in social interactions and how these may diverge or converge between species based on the intensity of resource competition. It will incorporate geographic variation across the landscape and the importance of environmental variation between populations. Bird songs are known to play an important role in territorial interactions, and this study will focus on how the level of ecological and genetic similarity influences the extent of divergence or convergence in songs of Hypocnemis antbirds. Because of the importance of bird song in species recognition, variation in the direction of displacement is of fundamental importance to our understanding of the processes that explain evolutionary diversification. Furthermore, an understanding of how the extent of phenotypic similarity and ecological competition affects the level of range overlap that occurs between species at different contact zones may aid in better understanding current species distributions.

Call for proposal

FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF
See other projects for this call

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
EU contribution
€ 173 240,80
Address
WELLINGTON SQUARE UNIVERSITY OFFICES
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom

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Region
South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Linda Polik (Ms.)
Links
Total cost
No data