Niche Evolution During Range Expansion in Ischnura Damselflies

Under changing climates, many organisms are facing dramatic range shifts and expansions. The evolutionary constraints and consequences accompanying these geographic shifts are little understood, but are critical for understanding the processes of adaptation, niche evolution, and generation and maintenance of genetic diversity.

This project will investigate the evolutionary constraints on and consequences of niche evolution in the blue-tailed damselfly, Ishnura elegans, which has expanded its range northward in Great Britain by over 150 km in the past 50 years. The project involves fieldwork across the UK, and potentially also in Sweden.

Field and genetic (genome-wide SNP) data will be used to test alternative hypotheses about niche evolution and adaptation to novel ecological conditions under range expansion. The ideal student shows initiative and independent thought, but will be provided with full training and support to ensure a strong basis in evolutionary and population genetic theory, and proficiency in analytical techniques, (e.g.,) genomic, landscape genetic, and species distribution models.

This position is based within the Ecology research group the University of Aberdeen, a cutting-edge research community with many opportunities for collaboration. The student will work primarily under Dr. Lesley Lancaster, and further information about her research interests can be found here: http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~lancaster.