The role of sexual selection in facilitating rapid adaptation to climate change

气候变化可以说是21世纪对生物多样性的最大威胁。动物种群正在经历一段前所未有的环境变化时期，导致更高的灭绝率。了解是什么影响了种群应对和适应气候变化的能力，现在是生态学和进化生物学中最重要的问题之一。最近的研究表明，强烈的性选择可以提高种群的韧性，降低灭绝的风险。因此，性选择可能会提高人口应对气候变化的能力。然而，温度的变化也可能改变性选择的强度或方向，导致气候变化和性选择之间的复杂互动和反馈循环。为了解决我们知识中的这一差距，这个博士项目将研究气候变化如何影响性选择，以及性选择如何反过来影响人口适应全球变暖的能力。例如，温度的变化是否会导致男女竞争或女性配偶选择的变化？这种行为变化对后代健康的影响是什么？温度如何影响精子竞争？这个博士项目将使用埋葬甲虫作为模型系统。埋葬甲虫很容易在实验室里饲养，并且非常容易受到实验操作的影响。它们也有很短的世代时间和一套令人着迷的生殖行为。本物种在小型脊椎动物的身体上繁殖，为了获得繁殖的身体，两性之间存在着激烈的竞争。雌性可以储存精子，并可能与多个雄性交配，因此存在精子竞争的空间。埋葬甲虫还表现出精心的双亲照顾，包括喂养和保护后代。

Climate change is arguably the most significant threat to biodiversity in the 21st century. Animal populations are experiencing a period of unprecedented environmental change, leading to higher extinction rates. Understanding what affects the capacity of populations to respond and adapt to climate change is now one of the most important issues in ecology and evolutionary biology. Recent studies have shown that strong sexual selection can increase population resilience and reduce the risk of extinction. Sexual selection may therefore improve a population's ability to cope with climate change. Yet, changes in temperature may also alter the strength or direction of sexual selection, leading to complex interactions and feedback loops between climate change and sexual selection.To address this gap in our knowledge, this PhD project will investigate how climate change can influence sexual selection and how sexual selection can in turn influence a population's capacity to adapt to a warming world. For example, do changes in temperature lead to changes in male-male competition or female mate choice? What are the consequences of such behavioural changes for offspring fitness? How does temperature affect sperm competition? This PhD project will use the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides as a model system. Burying beetles are easy to keep in the laboratory and are highly amenable to experimental manipulation. They also have a short generation time and a suite of fascinating reproductive behaviours. This species breeds on carcasses of small vertebrates, and there is fierce intrasexual competition to secure a carcass for breeding. Females can store sperm and may mate with multiple males, so there is scope for sperm competition. Burying beetles also exhibit elaborate biparental care, which includes feeding and defending the offspring.