Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Individual heterogeneity interacts with resource abundance and other ecological variables to affect population growth and the evolution of reproductive strategies. Through long-term monitoring of marked wild mammals, my research quantifies individual variation in phenotype, genotype, reproductive success and survival, identifies natural and artificial sources of that variation and explores its effects on individual fitness, population dynamics and evolutionary ecology. Long-term monitoring of marked individuals can document how heterogeneity in age, body condition, size, genotype and other variables leads to different responses to selective pressures and influences population dynamics. Over the next 5 years I will address questions on life-history evolution, the interplay of genetic and phenotypic variability in affecting population dynamics, anthropogenic selection on harvested mammals, and the relative roles of environment and population structure in driving population dynamics. My program is entering a new exciting phase: in addition to bighorn sheep, I now have well-established research programs on kangaroos and chamois, and new collaborations to analyze long-term data on harvested ungulates. These new initiatives will answer important questions linking evolutionary ecology and population dynamics with wildlife management. My students and I will monitor survival, reproduction and size of marked bighorn sheep, Alpine chamois and eastern grey kangaroos. With additional long-term data on age and horn measurements of thousands of harvested individuals (Stone's and bighorn sheep, chamois), I propose 4 interconnected research axes to explore the evolutionary, ontogenetic and environmental origins of individual variability, and its consequences for population and evolutionary ecology. Axis 1: Life-history evolution. Ph.D.1 explores the causes and consequences of variability in birthdate in kangaroos. Ph.D.2 will examine the determinants and fitness consequences of individual variability in age- and sex-specific growth, including potential compensatory growth, in kangaroos. Ph.D.3 will study maternal effects in bighorn. M.Sc.1 will analyze 8 years of data on over 200 marked chamois, combining information on spatial behavior and social interactions with a genetic analysis to determine the role of kinship in forming apparently stable social groups. Axis 2: Genetics and population dynamics. M.Sc.2 will build upon an experimental manipulation of population genetic structure and an increasingly deep pedigree to quantify the effects of genetic variability on population dynamics of bighorn sheep. Axis 3: Anthropogenic selection. Ph.D.4 will analyze multiple long-term data sets (20-40 years) to partition temporal changes in horn/antler size into those attributable to environmental and to anthropogenic factors. Axis 4: Population dynamics. Ph.D.5 will combine data on density, body size and age-sex structure with data on forage availability and weather conditions to fully understand the stochastic and density-dependent components of population dynamics in kangaroos. M.Sc.3 will combine new observations from proximity collars placed on mothers and newborn calves with a 40-year database on classified autumn counts of migrating caribou to explore the causes of variability in calf survival in two herds in northern Québec and Labrador. M.Sc.4 is examining the effects of weather on population dynamics of bighorn sheep. M.Sc.5 will compare the relative effects of population density and weather in population dynamics of Alpine chamois. My research takes place in study areas where the logistics of capturing, marking, measuring and monitoring large numbers of animals are well established and facilitated by government agencies.