Project Title
Environmentally induced life history variation in the Southern pygmy perch, Nannoperca australis
Abstract
Fundamental to the field of biology is the study of life histories. Life history theory explores both the complexity and simplicity of life and provides a framework in which one can understand how natural selection works and how genetic variation will be expressed. An individual’s phenotype is made up of a series of life history traits that govern growth, survival and reproduction and these in turn are linked by constraining relationships termed trade-offs. Principle to the study of life history theory is the understanding of how variation in reproductive traits, evolved under different conditions, leads to variation in the fitness of individuals, populations and species.
Spatial environmental distinction among habitats and its temporal predictability within habitats play a major role in determining whether a species becomes locally adaptive or phenotypically plastic. I am interested in how environmental variability in freshwater environments influences the life history phenotypes of fish and thus their persistence on evolutionary and ecological timescales. I plan on investigating how hydrological harshness and predictability influence demography, reproductive investment (maternal effects) and sexual selection (mate choice) and possible trade-offs amongst these reproductive life history traits.
Supervisors
- Dr. Nick Bond
- Dr. Bob Wong
- Dr David Crook (Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment)
See also
eWater CRC
Wong lab page
|
|
Publications
- Morrongiello, J., Elith J., and Crook, D. (2006). Impacts of drought on fish in Victorian rivers and streams. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, Vic.
- Tonkin, Z., A. King, J. Mahoney, and J. Morrongiello (2007). Diel and spatial drifting patterns of silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus eggs in an Australian lowland river. Journal of Fish Biology 70:313-317.
|
