E&E Seminar Series: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: evaluating phenotypic responses to climatic warming in birds

ABSTRACT

Global climatic warming is having profound effects on species’ ecology and acts as a major driver of phenotypic change, but predicting how species will change in their morphology, behaviour and physiology is difficult. In this presentation, I will outline how our research on geographic patterns of morphology in Australian birds has been linked to the idea of ‘shape-shifting’ responses  in the context of climatic warming. I shall then discuss how these patterns are not necessarily clear-cut, and that behaviour, and differences in the thermoregulatory control of heat loss also likely interact with morphology to determine responses.

BIOGRAPHY

Matthew Symonds is an evolutionary ecologist, originally from the UK, who has been based in Australia for the past 25 years. His interests lie in understanding the ecological drivers underlying the evolution of diversity in morphology, physiology and behaviour in animals. In addition to his work on responses to climatic warming, his research has employed comparative approaches across multiple species, in particular the evolution of chemical communication in insects, and, more recently, the evolution of escape behaviours in birds.