Applications for a 3.5 years PhD scholarship at Queen's University Belfast on parent-offspring conflict in fallow deer are welcome from students worldwide.
Conflict between parents and offspring over parental resource allocation is expected to arise close to the time of offspring independence. Specifically, offspring should demand longer investment than parents are willing or able to give because parents need to allocate resources to future offspring and to their own survival. Theoretical models thus predict that offspring receiving resources for longer should have increased fitness and probability of survival; conversely, their parents should have lower subsequent reproductive success [1]. Therefore, the timing of withdrawal of investment is expected to have important implications for both parties. Surprisingly, we still know remarkably little about the fitness consequences of parent-offspring conflict; the extent to which the intensity of this conflict varies among individuals and why so; and how offspring respond to it to maximise their own probability of survival.
Objective: Using the fallow deer as a model species this project will investigate these outstanding questions on parent-offspring conflict and that in the wider group from the birth of fawns until weaning.
Study population and field site: The fieldwork will be conducted in the Phoenix Park, Dublin (Ireland) on a population of individually identifiable European fallow deer. The deer have been resident at the park since the 1600’s and fawns have been tagged annually since 1971 during the June birthing season. The student will join a team of scientists including PhD students and staff from Queen’s University, Belfast.