My DPhil project focus on how environmental variation affects natural selection across different spatial scales. To do so, I use data from the Wytham Woods Tit study, mainly focusing on the great tit (Parus major). From this study, we know when the different birds start breeding, how many eggs they lay and how many offspring the produce etc. This can be combined with data on tree-phenology in their territories, collected from high-resolution drones. In this way I can investigate how small-scale phenological variation affects different parts of the birds’ lives. In addition, I use data from multiple great tit populations across Europe to identify the spatial scale at which natural selection occurs. Previously, I have been studying extra-pair paternity in birds, both within and among species, but mainly in a metapopulation of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Norway. I have also focused on how variation in spring onset can affect the onset of breeding for birds with different migration strategies.
