How does phenotypic plasticity affect ecological dynamics?

Theme: Ecology genetics and evolution

Description: 

The HartLab focuses on understanding why population sizes of plants and animals rise and fall. This is one of the oldest and most fundamental problems in ecology, and underpins our ability to predict environmental impacts, and to manage threatened, harvested, and pest species.

Dominant explanations for the rise and fall of species have focused on environmental variation and species interactions but have typically excluded the ability of species to rapidly evolve or change plastically in response to changing conditions. I have Honours projects available for exploring how phenotypic plasticity fundamentally alter what we thought we knew about population and community dynamics. These projects will involve field and/or laboratory experiments on freshwater plants, combined with sophisticated statistical analyses, to understand when and how phenotypic plasticity affects the dynamics of plants and animals in an era of global environmental change.

Additional Information: 
For information about who we are and what we do in the HartLab please see: hartlab-ecology.com
Please contact Simon Hart for more information.

Contact: Dr Simon Hart