NERC GW4+ DTP PhD studentship: Oxidative Shielding and Transgenerational Costs of Reproduction in Wild Banded Mongooses

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP). The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus six Research Organisation partners: British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Met Office, the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/

At least 4 fully-funded studentships that encompass the breadth of earth and environmental sciences are being offered to start in September 2017 at Exeter. The studentships will provide funding for a stipend which is currently £14,296 per annum for 2016-2017, research costs and UK/EU tuition fees at Research Council UK rates for 42 months (3.5 years) for full-time students, pro rata for part-time students.

Supervisors:
Main supervisor: Dr Jon Blount, University of Exeter
Co-supervisor: Prof Mike Cant, University of Exeter
Co-supervisor: Prof Andy Radford, University of Bristol

Location: University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall

Project Description:

The ’cost of reproduction’ is a cornerstone of life history theory: high investment in reproduction can decrease survival, or decrease future reproductive success. Despite considerable evidence of the existence of such trade-offs, however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Oxidative damage has been proposed as a key mechanism, but tests of this idea have proved equivocal (1). Using meta-analysis across females of mammals and birds, we have shown that there is a significant decrease in oxidative damage in breeders compared with non-breeders, while paradoxically, there is a significant positive association between reproductive effort (i.e. offspring number) and levels of oxidative damage. We hypothesised that these opposing patterns can be explained if mothers pre-emptively reduce their own levels of oxidative damage in order to shield themselves, and in particular their physiologically-dependent offspring (in utero, or in ovo), from harm caused by the inevitable increase in oxidative damage that ensues through the expenditure of reproductive effort - the ’oxidative shielding’ hypothesis (OSH) (2). To test this idea requires that known individuals are followed from pre-breeding through reproduction, and variation in the oxidative state of mothers is recorded, together with measurements of the consequences for offspring development and survival.

We have recently started to gather such data in our wild population of banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) living at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda (www.bandedmongoose.org) (3). Individuals are routinely monitored from birth to death including detailed observations of reproductive investment. It is also possible to experimentally manipulate maternal nutritional condition, in order to examine effects on oxidative shielding. This PhD studentship will carry out detailed tests of the OSH in wild banded mongooses. The project involves a Ugandan CASE Partner, Mwaka Environmental Consultants Ltd. Mwaka have over 20 years experience working in collaboration Uganda Wildlife Authority and international scientists on a broad range of ecological and behavioural research projects. They specialise in environmental consulting, ecological data collection and the provision of expertise, logistical support and training for Ugandan and International researchers working in Uganda’s protected areas.

The successful candidate will receive a multi-disciplinary training in experiment design, behavioural observation, physiological sampling, laboratory analyses of markers of oxidative state, statistical analyses and scientific writing. The student will be required to spend up to 4 months per year at the Uganda field site, with the remainder of the time being spent at the Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus (supervisors Dr Jon Blount and Prof Michael Cant), and at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol (supervisor Prof Andy Radford).

For further information please visit: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2254