Objective
The world is seasonal and organisms’ adjustment of their seasonal timing to this environmental variation is crucial for their fitness. Climate change is strongly impacting seasonal timing which makes a better understanding of the potential for micro-evolution of timing in natural populations essential. As any phenotypic change ultimately involves changes in the physiological mechanism underlying timing, we need to unravel the genetics of these mechanisms. I will carry out a highly integrated eco-evo-devo project on the causes and consequences of genetic variation in timing of reproduction in great tits (Parus major), an ecological model species for that we recently developed state-of-the-art genomic tools. I will develop a powerful instrument to study this timing mechanism by creating selection lines of early and late reproducing birds using genome-wide, rather than phenotypic, selection. The phenotypic response of selection lines birds will be assessed both in controlled environment aviaries and in birds introduced to the wild. To unravel how selection has altered the birds’ physiology I will measure key components of the physiological mechanism at the central, peripheral and egg production levels. As a unique next step I will then introduce selection line birds into a wild population to assess the fitness of these extreme phenotypes. This will enable me, for the first time, to estimate the selection on timing without confounds, which I will compare with traditional estimates using observational data. Finally, I will integrate genetics, physiology and ecology to hindcast the rate of genetic change in our wild population and validate this rate using DNA sampled over a 20-year period. This innovative project integrates state of the art developments in ecology, genetics and physiology (eco-evo-devo) will set new standards for future studies in other wild species and will be of key importance for our predictions of evolutionary responses to a warming world.
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 genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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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
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.
ERC-2013-ADG
See other projects for this call
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.
Host institution
1011 JV AMSTERDAM
Netherlands
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.