Biology Education

Green Infrastructure (GI) is widely adopted by policymakers and practitioners as a form of Nature-based solution (NbS) to help restore nature and boost biodiversity, particularly in face of the climate crisis. Green infrastructure has been defined as “A strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, while also enhancing biodiversity.” Such services include, for example, water purification, improving air quality, providing space for recreation, as well as helping with climate mitigation and adaptation. The Natura 2000 network of protected areas constitutes the backbone of the EU’s green infrastructure and it is the goal of the EUs biodiversity strategy 2030 to find the most effective ways to connect these remaining sites as it aims to conserve 30% of habitat by the end of the decade to reverse the biodiversity crisis.

Key to the challenge of creating a functioning and resilient habitat network is accounting for the resource needs of different species. Ecological knowledge is necessary to understand why some forms of GI are ‘greener’ than others. Animal species diversity is underpinned by plant species diversity and depends strongly on resource heterogeneity in both space and time – requirements that are not always necessary to support ecosystem services. It is therefore important to know which species will benefit from which form of GI so that their placement and form if implementation also benefit biodiversity. 

The research student will collate and analyse existing data sets and apply knowledge of plant animal interactions to evaluate biodiversity benefits of various forms of Green Infrastructure. They will then help to devise new metrics for stakeholders to apply and recommendations to follow when making decisions about the relative merits of alternative GI as part of a larger habitat network.

For further information contact: Dr Richard Walters richard.walters@cec.lu.se; Dr Magne  Friberg Magne.friberg@biol.lu.se; Prof Henrik Smith Henrik.smith@biol.lu.se

More than 80% of all animal life are insects and most of this diversity stems from a single monophyletic innovation ca. 320 million years ago known as holometaboly or complete metamorphosis. Holometabalous insects show a radical transformation of the body plan during a single pupal stage that occurs between a feeding-specialist larva and the winged adult, rather than an incremental transition with every nymphal moult as seen in hemimetabolous insects. The reasons as to why and how holometaboly emerged remain poorly understood.

• How has complete metamorphosis enabled insects to better exploit resources?
• What were the likely environmental drivers associated with key developmental innovations across the insect tree of life?

The research student will contribute to an ongoing project to collate and analyse key ecological trait data across the insect tree of life to test hypotheses using phylogenetic and/or functional diversity methods.

For further information contact:

Dr Richard Walters richard.walters@cec.lu.se;

Prof Niklas Wahlberg niklas.wahlberg@biol.lu.se

It is becoming abundantly clear that wild and domesticated bees are surprisingly sensitive to global warming, heatwaves, and droughts – all hallmarks of climate change – leading to population declines, range restrictions, and reduced performance. This is a far-reaching problem that spans individual health and populations dynamics to reductions in pollination efficiency and loss of biodiversity at the landscape level. While these effects are well-documented, the reasons explain why bees are so sensitive to hot and dry conditions are understudied. One possibility is that bees simply overheat when it is too warm – much like we do – causing them to die from heat shock or necessitation acclimation of behaviour or physiology to minimise the negative effects. To understand whether bees will thrive in a future world, we now need fundamental information about their temperature tolerance and thermal sensitivity across species, time, and space.

Several projects at MSc or BSc levels are available at the intersection between bees, eco-physiology, and agriculture. Projects can be field- or lab-based, or both, and revolve around using and/or developing eco-physiological methods to answer why bees suffer from global warming. Enquiry can be at the level of populations (including biodiversity surveys), organisms, or cells. Starting time is either spring or summer, and duration is 30-60 credits. 15 credit options may also be available upon enquiry.

For more information, contact: Andreas Nord, andreas.nord@biol.lu.se

Unlike mammals, birds have nucleated red blood cells that retain almost all functional organelles in the mature state. Amongst these are the mitochondria – the powerhouses of the cell that are responsible for almost all energy production in the animal body. The fact that birds contain mitochondria in their blood cells is convenient because this makes it possible to study the very foundations of how birds live and prosper from a small blood sample. This insight has revolutionised research in ecology and evolution, ranging topics from embryonic development to thermal adaptation and fitness in the wild.

Many technical aspects inherent to the study of bird blood mitochondria have never been studied; a major problem that complicates the interpretation and reliability of published research data. In this project, you will apply state-of-the-arts methods in bioenergetics and cellular metabolism to test critical assumptions of current practices in mitochondrial measurement in blood, and also develop methodology to improve prevailing protocols. Experiences in laboratory techniques is helpful, but not essential. Starting time is flexible and the duration is 15-60 credits.

For more information, contact: Andreas Nord, andreas.nord@biol.lu.se

Mammals have a form of internal heat production localised to their mitochondria, which they ramp up in the cold. This heat production is localised to a specialised tissue call brown adipose tissue, or simply brown fat. A corresponding mechanism has been almost entirely overlooked in birds, likely because they lack brown fat, and conventional white fat is still considered highly inactive. Therefore, the prevailing belief is that birds produce heat only by ‘shivering’ with large skeletal muscle groups (primarily chest and thigh muscles). However, new findings challenge the prevailing view by suggestion there is ‘heat of unknown origin’ . One possible explanation for this is that birds can make their white fat reserves “browner.” This

Can birds use their fat to produce heat?

Mammals have a form of internal heat production localised to their mitochondria, which they ramp up in the cold. This heat production is localised to a specialised tissue call brown adipose tissue, or simply brown fat. A corresponding mechanism has been almost entirely overlooked in birds, likely because they lack brown fat, and conventional white fat is still considered highly inactive. Therefore, the prevailing belief is that birds produce heat only by ‘shivering’ with large skeletal muscle groups (primarily chest and thigh muscles). However, new findings challenge the prevailing view by suggestion there is ‘heat of unknown origin’ . One possible explanation for this is that birds can make their white fat reserves “browner.” This occurs through a substantial increase in the volume of mitochondria and metabolically active mitochondria in adipose tissue. The resultant ‘beige’ fat could potentially function similarly to brown fat. While we know that white fat can be ‘browned’ in various studies on humans and other mammals, the situation in birds remains entirely unknown.

We are currently studying white fat browning at the cellular level, by measuring mitochondrial respiration and aerobic enzyme activity, in Japanese quail. This project takes it to the next level, addressing how any browning in cold-exposed birds affect heat production at the whole-animal level. You will learn state-of-the-art physiological methods such as measurement of metabolic rate and electromyography (EMG), as well as honing generic skills in experimental design and bird husbandry. The duration is 30 or 45 credits, and starting time is in March or April 2024.

For more information, contact: Andreas Nord, andreas.nord@biol.lu.se

Songbirds rely on an endogenous program to follow species-specific routes and schedule their migrations to the annual cycle. The expression of the migration program has been shown to be controlled by geophysical information, such as the geomagnetic field and daylength. Most juvenile songbirds are thought to perform the migration completely alone and by relying primarily on their endogenous program, but to what extent they are affected by the social environment to make decisions on migration is not known. Based on our preliminary data we hypothesize that diurnally migrating dunnocks, frequently emitting flight calls, may be affected by conspecifics on migration. We aim to test the hypothesis that juvenile dunnocks can adjust their schedule of migratory fueling, migration activity, orientation to the presence of calls from conspecifics by bringing juvenile Dunnocks (Prunella modularis) into captivity. We are looking for a dedicated master’s student to conduct the experiment. We will capture Dunnocks in southern Sweden and will use purpose built behavioural labs (OriLAB) to simulate the experimental social situation during their typical migration and in a controlled light environment.
Fieldwork starts: September 2024

If understanding how songbirds are affected by conspecifics on migration excites you, then this may be your master’s project. Please, contact Professor Susanne Åkesson for more information.

Professor Susanne Åkesson, Department of Biology

susanne.akesson@biol.lu.se

Migratory birds use daylength, or photoperiod, to align their migration schedules to the annual cycle, and global climate change is shifting temperature gradients towards the poles while light cues, such as photoperiod, are fixed by latitude and date. How the migration phenotype in birds is controlled by geophysical information, i.e. daylength, is still poorly understood. We aim to test the hypothesis that long-distance migrants can adjust their schedule of migratory fueling to a novel light environment by bringing juvenile Thrush nightingale (Luscinia Luscinia) into captivity, and we are looking for a dedicated master’s student to conduct the experiment. We will capture Thrush nightingales in southern Sweden and will use purpose built behavioural labs (OriLAB) to simulate the photoperiods experienced during their typical migration and in a novel light environment. Fieldwork starts: August 2024

If understanding how the endogenous migration program of songbirds’ functions and is controlled by geophysical information excites you, then this may be your master’s project. Please, contact Professor Susanne Åkesson for more information.

Professor Susanne Åkesson, Department of Biology

susanne.akesson@biol.lu.se

The tawny owl (Swedish: kattuggla; Strix aluco) is one of our most common top predators occurring in a range of landscapes including urban, agricultural and forest habitats. As a nocturnal animal, we still understand little about the species’ behaviour. We have deployed GPS loggers on breeding tawny owls over five years to collect data on movement and foraging ecology. There are several potential projects including:

• How do movement and foraging behaviours vary between females and males and in relation to brood size, sex ratio and/or condition?
• How do movement and foraging behaviours vary with habitat type?
• How do movement and foraging behaviours vary with prey choice?

The project will primarily involve processing and analysing movement data in R. The project would thus suit a student with a strong motivation to become highly competent in R programming. There is the possibility to combine other data collection methods, including analysing diet from nest contents and nestbox cameras or molecular sexing of chicks in the lab. The student will be have the opportunity to engage in research group meetings and discussions.

Contact Hannah Watson for more details: hannah.watson@biol.lu.se

Suggested reading:

Sunde et al. 2003. Reversed sexual dimorphism in tawny owls, Strix aluco, correlates with duty division in breeding effort. Oikos. 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2003.12203.x

Massa et al. 2015. Using GPS tracking to determine movement patterns and foraging habitat selection of the common Barn-owl (Tyto alba). El Hornero.

Increasing evidence suggests that the community of microbes located within the gastrointestinal tract of vertebrates, known as the “gut microbiome”, is a crucial determinant of health and physiological condition. In growing animals, the gut microbiome has been shown to affect digestive efficiency, growth and susceptibility/resistance to parasites. However, the factors shaping the acquisition of the gut microbiome during early life are poorly understood.

The tawny owl (Swedish: kattuggla; Strix aluco) is one of our most common top predators occurring in a range of landscapes including urban, agricultural and forest habitats. It is a generalist predator whose diet can vary markedly between nests and years, with knock-on effects on breeding success. Cloacal samples for microbiome analysis have been collected from adult and nestling tawny owls from a nestbox-breeding population close to Lund between 2020 and 2023.

The overall aim of the project is to characterise the microbiome of young and adult tawny owls and investigate the causes and consequences of variation in the microbiome. There are several questions that could be addressed including:

• How does diet shape the microbiome?
• How does the microbiome change during development and relate to chick growth?
• How similar are the microbiomes of parents and offspring?
• How does habitat type shape the microbiome?

The project would suit a student with an interest in evolutionary and molecular ecology and with some previous experience of R. Ideally, the student will have some molecular lab experience and will carry out DNA extractions and preparation of sequencing libraries. The student will employ bioinformatics approaches to process the sequence data and carry out multivariate analyses in R.

Contact Hannah Watson for more details: hannah.watson@biol.lu.se

Suggested reading:

Bodawatta et al. 2022. Avian gut microbiomes taking flight. Trends in Microbiology. 10.1016/j.tim.2021.07.003

Corl A et al. 2020. Movement ecology and sex are linked to barn owl microbial community composition. Molecular Ecology 29:1358-1371. 10.1111/mec.15398

Videvall E et al. 2019. Major shifts in gut microbiota during development and its relationship to growth in ostriches. Molecular Ecology 28:2653-2667. 10.1111/mec.15087