Objective
Large colour ornaments such as bright plumage in birds or vivid wing coloration in butterflies are some of the most intriguing phenomena in the natural kingdom. However, the selective pressures and constraints involved in the evolution of these traits are in most cases poorly understood. Here we posit that evaluating the underlying nutritional demands of large colour patterns promises to provide novel insights in to the evolution of colour traits. Colour patterns can represent surprisingly large pools of specific nutrients. For example, male Cabbage White butterflies (Pieris rapae) invest as much as 15% of their total adult nitrogen in wing pigmentation alone. However, despite the substantial resource draw that many colour patterns impose on their bearers and the potential importance of these resource demands to other morphological and life history traits, the nutrient dynamics underlying production of colour traits have rarely been considered in studies of their evolution. We will evaluate the importance of nutrient ecology in the evolution of the distinct seasonal colour forms of the European Map Butterfly, Araschnia levana. This butterfly exhibits an orange, ommochrome-dominated spring form and a black-and-white, melanin-dominated summer form. These two colour forms differ substantially in the nutrient demands they impose, with the former requiring large amounts of tryptophan, whereas the latter requires large amounts of phenylalanine and/or tyrosine. In order to better understand the evolution of this colour polymorphism, we will evaluate seasonal differences in nutrient availability, acquisition and allocation. We will also explore the role of hormonal control in mediating nutrient-based life history tradeoffs associated with these two distinct colour phenotypes. We expect that synthesis of results from the proposed studies will allow us to more thoroughly understand the evolution of this colour polymorphism, and colour traits more generally.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology materials engineering colors
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-2-IIF
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.