Evolution, Behaviour, Adaptation Group

Members

The Evolution, Adaptation and Behavior group aims at studying the evolution of phenotypic and behavioral traits through a combination of long-term monitoring of natural populations, of field and lab experiments, of molecular analyses, and of mathematical and computational modeling. Our research mainly focuses on animals, in particular mammals (alpine marmot, giraffe), birds (white-throated dipper, collared flycatcher, great tit) and insects (various Drosophila species, the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens).

 
We study the evolution of fitness-related traits in interaction, either selective or plastic, with an individual’s biotic and abiotic environment. Interactions between individuals have a special importance in our reasoning and are thus the object of a first axis of research on group dynamics and social interactions. We also consider the environment as providing resources and informative signals through two other axes, one on phenotypic plasticity and the other on resource allocation and the sensitivity to environmental variables. In both, we consider the impact of stress factors caused by human activities — such as global warming, artificial lighting or invading species — or by the presence of pathogens.
 
 
Group dynamics and social interaction. The environment encountered by numerous animals contains, on top of resources and other elements, other individuals. Social interactions vary immensely between species, from a solitary lifestyle to such an extreme degree of cooperation that a part of the group sacrifices their reproduction at the benefit of others, specialized in this task. In this axis, we try to understand how groups form and how social structures are maintained, at various scales extending from unicellular organisms to cooperative mammals.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • Evolution of sociality: what are the consequences of climate change on the benefits of group living (in the alpine marmot)? How does that impact group composition and the probability and age of dispersal?
  • Group dynamics: how does the size and composition of familial groups evolve in the context of climate change? In giraffes, how do temporary groups form, and what role do kinship play in the probability and duration of pairing?
  • Which evolutionary trajectories have led to multicellular organisms expressing differentiated cell types, a part of which sacrifice their reproduction?
  • What are the neurogenomic determinants that signal the presence of related individuals in solitary individuals, triggering altruistic behaviors?

 
Phenotypic plasticity. Evolution by natural selection can drive phenotype changes on short timescales, in the order of a few generations. Yet it remains inefficient to track more frequent environmental changes. Phenotypic plasticity is a means to buffer such environmental variations, either through informed decisions or fixed reaction norms, which are the object of study in this axis.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • How do individual characteristics, in particular personality traits, shape the use of information on the environment for decision-making?
  • Is there a trade-off between the speed of decision making and its accuracy? What conditions favor genotypes that make fast, error-prone decisions, or slower, more accurate genotypes?
  • What types of environmental variations select for plastic genotypes?
  • Do changes in gene expression observed during environmental fluctuations induce behavioral changes?

 
Resource allocation and sensitivity to environmental variables. Organisms make other decisions throughout their lives as they decide how much resources to allocate to various traits, such as survival, growth, reproduction or immunity. This differential allocation of resources relies on complex systems, or instance the endocrine system in animals, that we study. These systems can be disturbed by anthropogenic changes that disrupt the long-term ecological setting in which they have evolves, resulting in major phenotype perturbations.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • How do endocrine systems — that allow the communication between tissues and control the differential allocation of resources — evolve?
  • How do chemical pollutants affect physiological processes, ageing and thereby life-history strategies in response to environmental variation?
  • What role do climatic fluctuations play in the heterogeneity of parasite infection, especially at stages that go through the external environment?

 

Publications

Display of 391 to 420 publications on 449 in total

Microspatial structure of Drosophila melanogaster populations in Brazzaville: evidence of natural selection acting on morphometrical traits

W. Haerty, Patricia Gibert, P. Capy, B. Moreteau, J.R. David

Heredity . 91 : 440-447

Journal article

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Genetic variability of sexual size dimorphism in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster: an isofemale-line approach

J.R. David, Patricia Gibert, Sandrine Mignon-Grasteau, H. Legout, G. Petavy, Catherine C. Beaumont...

Journal of Genetics . 82 ( 3 ) : 79-88

DOI: 10.1007/BF02715810

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Morphometrical evolution in a Drosophila clade: the Drosophila obscura group

B. Moreteau, Patricia Gibert, G. Pétavy, J.C. Moreteau, R.B. Huey, J.R. David

Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research . 41 : 64-71

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The fly that came in from the cold: geographic variation of recovery time from low-temperature exposure in Drosophila subobscura

J.R. David, Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau, G. Gilchrist, R.B. Huey

Functional Ecology . 17 : 425-430

Journal article

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Evolution of reaction norms In Phenotypic plasticity : functional and conceptual approaches

J.R. David, Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau

incollection . 4 : 50-63

Journal article

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Bet-hedging for variability in life cycle duration: bigger and later-emerging chestnut weevils have increased probability of a prolonged diapause

F. Menu, E. Desouhant

Oecologia . 132 : 167-174

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Intraspecific competition between healthy and parasitized hosts in a host parasitoid system: consequences for life-history traits.

C. Bernstein, A. Heizmann, E. Desouhant

Ecological Entomology . 27 : 415-423

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Costs of reproduction: assessing responses to brood size manipulation on life-history and behavioural traits using multi-state capture-recapture models

Blandine Doligez, Jean Clobert, R.A. Pettifor, M. Rowcliffe, L. Gustafsson, C.M. Perrins...

Journal of Applied Statistics . 29 : 407-423

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Variable modes of inheritance of morphometrical traits in hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans

J.R. David, Patricia Gibert, G. Petavy, B. Moreteau

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 269 : 127-135

Journal article

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Resource limitation in natural populations of phytophagous insects. A long-term study case with the chestnut weevil

D. Debouzie, E. Desouhant, F. Oberli, F. Menu

Acta Oecologica . 23 : 31-39

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Geographic distribution of Triatoma dimidiata and transmission dynamics of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Yucatan peninsula Mexico

E. Dumonteil, S. Gourbière, M. Barrera-Perez, E. Rodriguez-Félix, H. Ruiz-Pina, O. Banos-Lopez...

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene . 67 : 176-183

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Public information and breeding habitat selection in a wild bird population

Blandine Doligez, E. Danchin, Jean Clobert

Science . 297 : 1168-1170

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Male sterility thermal threshold in Drosophila: D. simulans appears more cold-adapted than its sibling D. melanogaster

M. Chakir, A. Chafik, B. Moreteau, Patricia Gibert, J.R. David

Genetica . 114 : 195-205

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Phenotypic plasticity of adult size and pigmentation in Drosophila : thermosensitive periods during development in two sibling species

M. Chakir, A. Chafik, Patricia Gibert, J.R. David

Journal of Thermal Biology . 26 : 351-361

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Phenotypic plasticity of body pigmentation in Drosophila: influence of a developmental thermoperiodic regime in two sibling species

G. Pétavy, B. Moreteau, Patricia Gibert, J.R. David

Physiological Entomology . 27 : 124-135

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Locomotor performance of Drosophila melanogaster: interactions among developmental and adult temperatures age and geography

Patricia Gibert, R.B. Huey, G.W. Gilchrist

Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution . 55 : 205-209

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Chill-coma temperature in Drosophila: effects of developmental temperature latitude and phylogeny

Patricia Gibert, R.B. Huey

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology . 74 : 429-434

Journal article

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Phenotypic plasticity of body size in Drosophila: effects of a daily periodicity of growth temperature in two sibling species

G. Pétavy, B. Moreteau, Patricia Gibert, J.P. Morin, J.R. David

Physiological Entomology . 26 : 351-361

Journal article

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The stength of phenotypic selection in natural population

J.G. Kingsolver, H.E. Hoekstra, J.M. Hoekstra, D. Berrigan, S.N. Vignieri, C.E. Hill...

The American Naturalist . 157 : 245-261

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Chill coma tolerance: a major climatic adaptation among Drosophila species

Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau, E. Pla, G. Pétavy, D. Karan, J.R. David

Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution . 55 : 1063-1068

Journal article

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Public information and breeding habitat selection

E. Danchin, D. Heg, Blandine Doligez

incollection . -- : 243-258

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Viability and rate of development at different temperatures in Drosophila: a comparison of constant and alternating thermal regimes

G. Pétavy, J.R. David, Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau

Journal of Thermal Biology . 26 : 29-39

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Temperature dependence rate of developmental rate and adult size in Drosophila species: biophysical parameters

Patricia Gibert, G. de Jong

Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 14 : 267-276

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Clutch size manipulations in the chestnut weevil Curculio elephas: fitness of oviposition strategy

E. Desouhant, H. Ploye, D. Debouzie, F. Menu

Oecologia . 122 : 493-499

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The genetics of Phenotypic plasticity. IX. Genetic architecture and sex differences in Drosophila melanogaster

D. Karan, J.P. Morin, Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau, S.M. Scheiner, J.R. David

Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution . 54 : 1035-1040

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Developmental constraints on an adaptive plasticity: reaction norms of body pigmentation in adult segments of Drosophila melanogaster

Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau, J.R. David

Evolution and Development . 2 : 249-260

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Bet-hedging diapause strategies in stochastic environment

F. Menu, J.P. Roebuck, M. Viala

The American Naturalist . 155 : 724-734

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The use of conspecific reproductive success for breeding habitat selection in a non-colonial hole-nesting species the collared flycatcher

Blandine Doligez, E. Danchin, Jean Clobert, L. Gustafsson

Journal of Animal Ecology . 68 : 1193-1206

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Phenotypic plasticity of abdominal pigmentation in D. kikkawai : multiple interaction between a major gene sex abdomen segment and growth temperature

Patricia Gibert, B. Moreteau, A.K. Munjal, J.R. David

Genetica . 105 : 165-176

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Phenotypic plasticity of body pigmentation in Drosophila: correlated variations between segments

Patricia Gibert, Brigitte Moreteau, Samuel M. Scheiner, Jean R. David

Genetics Selection Evolution . 30 ( 2 ) : 181-194

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