Ecological determinants of within-species trait variations
There is an increasing evidence that individuals within species are divergent in many phenotypic traits. Based on extensive comparative field surveys, I study how abiotic and biotic factors can shape variability within species at different geographic scales. I focus my research on trophic and morphological variability by combining stable isotope and morphometric analyses. My model species include both native (brown trout) and invasive (pumpkinseed sunfish and red swamp crayfish) freshwater species. |
Intraspecific trait variation and ecosystem functioning Intraspecific phenotypic variability can alter the extent to which and how species influence ecosystem functioning, but the mechanisms underpinning these changes remain relatively unknown. I use experimental approaches to understand how phenotypic variability modulate the ecological effects of individuals on community structure and ecosystem functioning. I specifically try to understand how diet variation influence ecosystem processes through changes in consumptive and nutrient-mediated effects. |
Size-dependent anthropogenic perturbation Size-dependent harvesting is a threat to exploited species, but how it affects the ecosystem remains overlooked. Using experimental approaches and medaka (Oryzias latipes) as a model species, I assess how the evolutionary response of size-selective mortality can expand beyond population dynamic and scale up to prey community structure and ecosystem functioning. I am also interested in understanding whether adaptation to opposite size-selective mortality is associated with change in microbiome composition of fish host. |