Project description
How heatwaves impact reproduction
Heatwaves are a growing climate change-related risk. Despite plenty of research on the impact of climate change, little is known about the impact of heatwaves on reproduction in terms of fertility, morphology and behaviour. The EU-funded HeatWaveSS project will study how heatwaves affect reproductive success and ultimately biodiversity. The project aims to understand how parental exposure influences offspring health and the long-term consequences on populations. Guppy populations will be exposed to experimental heatwaves during ontogeny or after attaining sexual maturity to assess the consequences on morphology, fertility, and reproductive behaviour across two generations.
Objective
Heatwaves are a current problem faced by society and are increasing in frequency and intensity under ongoing climate change. While many climate change studies exist, those investigating the consequences of heatwaves are scarce, especially in relation to reproduction. The extreme temperatures experienced during heatwaves are likely to have negative effects on many aspects of reproduction (including fertility, morphology and behaviour), thus for the persistence of populations and, ultimately, biodiversity. Therefore, studying how heatwaves affect reproduction is a key issue that should be addressed now.
This project aims to study how heatwaves affect traits important for reproductive success, to understand the long term consequences of heatwaves on populations, and how parental exposure affects the fitness of offspring. Experimental guppy populations (P. reticulata) will be exposed to experimental heatwaves either during ontogeny or after attaining sexual maturity (reflecting the unpredictable nature of heatwaves). The consequences on morphology, fertility, and reproductive behaviour across two generations will be assessed. The sex ratio of the populations (the proportion of males to females ready to mate) will also be manipulated, since sex ratios fluctuate naturally and importantly affect mating decisions and reproductive investment, and thus effects of heatwaves may differ according to the sex ratio of the population.
By investigating the effects of heatwaves at different levels, data from this project will offer unique insights into their effects on individuals and populations, thus contributing to our understanding of the consequences of climate change and the processes underlying responses to environmental changes. Through enhanced knowledge in the fields of behavioural ecology, reproductive biology, and evolutionary biology, the proposed project will contribute to the progress of the European scientific community, with potential applications in conservation.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences behavioural ecology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences reproductive biology
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
35122 PADOVA
Italy
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.