The impact of climate change on inter-specific interactions

An investigation of the phenological mismatch hypothesis for interactions between cuckoos, their hosts and their prey in south-eastern Australia.

Amongst wildlife, the most commonly documented response to climate change involves alterations of species phenologies. For example, many species show an advance in the timing of breeding with increasing temperatures. However, phenological shifts are often unequal across different trophic levels and between different life history strategies, which can result in phenological mismatches between closely interacting species, such as predators and prey or parasites and hosts. In collaboration with Rob Heinsohn, Rebecca Kilner and Robert Lacy, I aim to test the phenological mismatch hypothesis for interactions between cuckoos, their hosts and their prey in south-eastern Australia.

Partnerships

In collaboration with Rob Heinsohn (ANU), Rebecca Kilner (University of Cambridge) and Robert Lacy (Chicago Zoological Society).