Publications by authors named "H Richner"
Article Synopsis
- The text discusses a study on genomic diversity in the great tit (Parus major), focusing on how environmental factors and demographic history impact genetic variation across different populations in Europe.
- The research, which is one of the most extensive genomic surveys for a wild vertebrate, involved analyzing about 500,000 SNP markers from 647 individuals across 29 populations to understand patterns of genomic divergence.
- Findings revealed that genetic differentiation varied significantly among populations, influenced by factors like local recombination rates and natural selection, with reduced diversity noted in island populations and evidence of recent adaptive changes at the edges of the species' range.
Article Synopsis
- Endemic landbird populations in the Galapagos Islands, including Darwin finches, are declining due to habitat loss, food scarcity, and introduced species like the Avian Vampire Fly, which affects nestlings primarily through high brood mortality.
- The study investigates the food compensation hypothesis in Green Warbler-Finches, revealing that increased parasite infestation leads to decreased food provisioning by female parents and negatively impacts nestling growth.
- The findings suggest that instead of compensating for parasitic effects, female birds may prioritize future reproduction over current brood health, indicating a significant trade-off in reproductive strategies for long-lived tropical birds.
Background: In host-parasite systems, relative dispersal rates condition genetic novelty within populations and thus their adaptive potential. Knowledge of host and parasite dispersal rates can therefore help us to understand current interaction patterns in wild populations and why these patterns shift over time and space. For generalist parasites however, estimates of dispersal rates depend on both host range and the considered spatial scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly-life trade-offs faced by developing offspring can have long-term consequences for their future fitness. Young offspring use begging displays to solicit resources from their parents and have been selected to grow fast to maximize survival. However, growth and begging behaviour are generally traded off against self-maintenance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly-life stressful conditions can shape individual phenotypes and ultimately influence fitness. Oxidative stress is a pervasive threat that affects many fitness-related traits and can modulate life-history trade-offs. Yet, the extent to which exposure to oxidative stress during early life can have long-lasting effects on key fitness-related traits remains to be elucidated, particularly in natural populations of vertebrates.
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