DISPERSIVE GENOMES: Epigenetic potential as mediator of phenotypic plasticity and natal dispersal

In an increasingly changing world, organisms need to adjust to environmental fluctuations, and life-history traits should evolve towards maximizing fitness in the face of this variability.

Natal dispersal - the movement between the place of birth and first breeding - is a particularly relevant life history trait, and a pivotal decision that will determine fitness prospects, population dynamics and species distributions.

Despite previous evidence that not all phenotypes are equally likely to disperse, the mechanistic underpinnings driving variation in natal dispersal remain poorly investigated.

Epigenetic mechanisms changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence enable more rapid and plastic phenotypic responses than are possible via genetic change, and individual genomes may differ in their capacity to respond epigenetically i.e. epigenetic potential.

A high capacity for epigenetically-induced phenotypic plasticity may be a requirement for dispersing individuals to successfully establish in novel environments, and I predict that individuals with higher natal dispersal propensity will show greater epigenetic potential.

To test this, I will use a 37-year dataset from a wild bird population and combine analysis of historical samples, field experiments and cutting-edge epigenetic techniques.

I will address this question at broad spatial and temporal scales, including long-term individual data and samples from multiple Eurasian populations to track past colonization and current expansion events.

I will be amongst the first providing mechanistic insights of dispersal behavior, a fundamental part of accurately predicting species responses to climate and anthropic changes.

I previously focused on studying physiological mechanisms driving phenotypic responses to environmental challenges, and I with this project I will take this expertise further into connecting molecular mechanisms, evolutionary processes and broad scale population dynamics.