MSc. Martta Liukkonen presents her doctoral research: How fit is your gut? Microbiome underlying variation and selection in the great tit (Parus major) and the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis).
ABSTRACT: The gut microbiome underlies individual ecology and evolution by connecting to individual physiology, behaviour and fitness. Majority of past gut microbiome research has focused on humans, laboratory and economically important species, whereas many (wild) taxa have been ignored. Birds and wild birds in particular are gaining interest in gut microbiome research due to their unique life-history traits. It is becoming evident that the bird gut microbiome is strongly influenced by multiple environmental factors and that there is significant intra- and interspecies variation in the gut microbiome. This PhD projects aims to disentangle the associations between the environment and the gut microbiome in wild birds using experimental biology methods and long-term species monitoring. Specifically, the project investigates the dynamics between the gut microbiome, environmental variation, and short- and long-term fitness in the great tit and the collared flycatcher.
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