top of page

Evolution of life-history traits

Research focuses on understanding the interplay between physiology, behaviour, life-history trade-offs and evolutionary adaptation. The long-term data allows studying subtle changes in pheno- and geno-types over multiple generations as a response to environmental change. Specifically, we use experimental manipulations and long-term observations throughout an animal’s lifetime to investigate how hormones and parasites affect individual life history trade-offs, mate choice, reproductive success/survival, and offspring sex ratios in along-lived social mammal, the Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus). The long-term data sets allow to model the impact of individual differences on population dynamics and to test basic ecological theory using empirical data. Many graduate-, undergraduate and post graduate projects have contributed to our understanding of ecology, population dynamics, physiology and evolutionary processes. Many of these students went on to become highly qualified ecologists working for governments in different countries, Universities, museums, NGOs and in the private sector.

PI:  Dr. Peter Neuhaus (Adj. Professor, University of Calgary)

​Duration: 25 years ongoing (1994-present)

Sociality and disease transmission

Adaptations to global change

Environmental modulation of stress

Climate adaptation

bottom of page