Title: Taking risk, dying when? Testing the mechanisms linking risk-taking behaviour and life expectancy in a wild bird
Project description
Understanding
the causes of individual variation in life expectancy is a major topic
in gerontology and evolutionary biology with clear application to human
health.
Nowadays, there is fast growing evidence in a wide range of animal
species that, just as in humans, individuals can differ consistently in
their behavioural responses to stressors (often encapsulated in the term
‘personality’). However, few studies have addressed
the connections between personality and life expectancy, despite clear
theoretical ground for connections. One hypothesis is that personality
types show different circulating levels of the ‘stress’ hormone
corticosterone that can have positive short-term
effects by eliciting fly or fight responses but negative long-term
effects on health and life expectancy. Because personality traits,
stress responses and life expectancy have been shown to have a genetic
basis in some species (though they have never been
investigated simultaneously in the same species), those traits may not
only be correlated at phenotypic level but also at the genetic level,
with important implications on their evolutionary potential.
Furthermore, because individuals born in a stressful environment
and/or stressed at adulthood may have both higher circulating levels of
corticosterone and a shorter lifespan, the importance of genetics
versus early and late socio-ecological environments in shaping
circulating levels of corticosterone and modulating the
links between personality and life expectancy remains unknown.
To address these questions, this PhD
project will build on a >20 year individual-based study in a colonial
bird, the Alpine swift. Most offspring are recruited locally, and each
year individual propensity to take risk (a personality
trait), reproductive success and survival are recorded. Hence, for most
individuals detailed information is readily available on their early
and late socio-ecological environment, their consistency in risk taking
behaviour measured through repeated testing
and their rate of ageing. New and archived samples collected on the
same individuals during its life course will be used to decipher
cascading effects from propensity to take risk, to stress response
(using corticosterone which provides an integrated measure
of stress physiology), and life expectancy. State-of-the-art
statistical approaches will be applied to study the genetic and
phenotypic covariance between risk taking and the rate of ageing, and to
test the influence of genetics versus early and late socio-ecological
environments on corticosterone and lifespan. Hence, by the end of this
project we will know in unprecedented details how and why different
personality types are ageing at different rates.
The
PhD project will enable the student to learn a variety of important
methods in animal physiology and evolutionary biology and to participate
in the field work. We will provide
a thorough training in laboratory skills, basic and advanced
statistical analyses, animal eco-physiology and evolutionary biology.
Relevant publications
Kroeger S, Armitage KB, Reid J, Blumstein DT, Martin, JG.A.
2020. Older mothers produce more successful daughters. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Martin JGA
et al. 2017. Genetic basis of between- and within-individual variance
of docility. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30(4):796-805.
Bize P et al. 2010. Sudden weather deterioration but not brood size affects baseline corticosterone levels in nestling Alpine swifts.
Hormones and Behavior 58: 591-598
Bize P
et al. 2012. Experimental evidence that adult antipredator behaviour is
heritable and not influenced by behavioural copying in a wild bird.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279: 1380-1388.
Bize P, Daniel G. Viblanc VA,
Martin JGA, Doligez B. 2017. Negative phenotypic and genetic correlation between natal dispersal propensity and nest-defence behaviour in a wild bird.
Biology Letters 1
Supervisory team
The project will be supervised by
Pr. Julien Martin (uOttawa) and Pierre Bize (University of
Aberdeen, Scotland). The student will be based at the Biology
department of the University of Ottawa. He/she will have the opportunity
to perform field work over the summer in Switzerland
and to visit the co-supervisor lab in Scotland.
Ottawa
consistently ranks among the best Canadian cities. You’ll love an
easy-going lifestyle that appeals to urban adventurers and nature lovers
alike. Enjoy a revitalized city that
is bursting with energy. Gigs, festivals, theatre and art are all close
by in a walkable downtown core. And, having the 2nd highest concentration of scientists and engineers in North America, you’ll have lots of opportunities to build up your network
and kick-start your career.
Financial support
Financial support is available for 4 years. The student is expected to complete two teaching assistantship per year.
Candidate Profile
For this PhD project our ideal candidate:
-
has a MSc in biology
-
is creative, highly motivated and can work alone or in teams
-
has strong interest in (behavioural, physiological and evolutionary) ecology and (quantitative and population) genetics
-
has strong interest for statistical analyses and past experience with R programming
-
experience with lab work is not essential; but the student should be eager to learn lab work
How to apply
Students
that are interested should send a writing sample (thesis, paper or
scientific article), a CV, a motivation letter, and the contact of two
references to Pr. Martin (julien.martin@uottawa.ca)
and Dr Bize (pierre.bize@abdn.ac.uk). We will continue to consider applications until the position is filled.
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Dr. Julien Martin
Biology department University of Ottawa
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Dr.Pierre Bize
Department of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen
pierre.bize@abdn.ac.uk
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