I am currently working on separate projects using a wide variety of methodologies and study species.
1 - Modelling and testing different negotiation rules over parental care
We are using individual based simulations to follow up the initial turn-taking model proposed by Johnstone et al., 2014. This model has been heavily influential in our understanding of parental negotiation rules, but it is based on a set of very specific assumptions, such as two concomitant rates of investments and perfect monitoring between the two parents.
In collaboration with Franz Weissing and Jia Zheng from the University of Groningen, we are modelling responsiveness rules between the two parents by means of reaction norms. This strategy allows parents to more flexibly adjust investment rates over behavioural and evolutionary time scales and can be applied to different parental systems such as biparental care or mate desertion.
We are also testing the negotiation models' predictions in the field using state-of-the-art GPS and radio-tracking tags. These methods are the new frontier in the study of parental behaviour in passerine species in the wild and we can explore spatial coordination of the foraging movements with a level of spatial resolution never achieved before. This work is in collaboration with Emiel van Loon, from the University of Amsterdam.
2 - Physiological regulation of mating and parental strategies in bird species and their evolutionary consequences (under construction :) )
3 - Effects of climate change on the evolution of mating systems (under construction :) )
1 - Modelling and testing different negotiation rules over parental care
We are using individual based simulations to follow up the initial turn-taking model proposed by Johnstone et al., 2014. This model has been heavily influential in our understanding of parental negotiation rules, but it is based on a set of very specific assumptions, such as two concomitant rates of investments and perfect monitoring between the two parents.
In collaboration with Franz Weissing and Jia Zheng from the University of Groningen, we are modelling responsiveness rules between the two parents by means of reaction norms. This strategy allows parents to more flexibly adjust investment rates over behavioural and evolutionary time scales and can be applied to different parental systems such as biparental care or mate desertion.
We are also testing the negotiation models' predictions in the field using state-of-the-art GPS and radio-tracking tags. These methods are the new frontier in the study of parental behaviour in passerine species in the wild and we can explore spatial coordination of the foraging movements with a level of spatial resolution never achieved before. This work is in collaboration with Emiel van Loon, from the University of Amsterdam.
2 - Physiological regulation of mating and parental strategies in bird species and their evolutionary consequences (under construction :) )
3 - Effects of climate change on the evolution of mating systems (under construction :) )