Eco-evolutionary dynamics in complex systems

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Evolution in action has recently been recognized as an important player for many ecological interactions. It is now well recognized that evolutionary change can affect the interaction between species within in a few generations and that ecological interaction may influence the outcome of evolution in return. However, the concept of these so-called eco-evolutionary dynamics has not been fully integrated into our current thinking on how we for instance manage populations and try to sustain species diversity. Most work on eco-evolutionary dynamics focuses on simple consumerresource interactions, ignoring the more complex interactions that are found in nature. This project will use fast growing, aquatic organisms that allow following evolutionary change and ecological dynamics to study the eco-evolutionary dynamics at several levels of higher complexity (food web complexity, spatial complexity). Furthermore, the project will use eco-genomics to link ecological and evolutionary change to the molecular level (transcriptome and genome). The combined results will help to improve our understanding of basic dynamics responsible for long-term stability of populations and genetic and biodiversity.