Research interest

I have a special interest in the topic of life history theory as it can provide profound insights for proper species conservation and population management. Through my master's thesis I encountered issues such as senescence in wild animals and the difficulties that can be associated with data collection. Alongside resource availability, I was also interested in the influence of age and gender on variations in life history strategies and the effects of relatedness between individuals on individual traits.

Furthermore I studied the influence of parental effects on the phenotype and fitness of offspring at an early age and the consequences for trade-offs between life history traits with advanced age. I have been able to work in numerous research groups and projects, and I would like to report on some of them here.

What does life history actually mean? The life story of an individual encompasses all of its life – from birth to death. Life history theory attempts to understand the evolution of key traits such as survival, growth, and reproduction to maintain reproductive success and maximal fitness in individuals, populations, species, and the environment. In doing so, age- and phase-specific patterns are examined in particular.

A central goal of life history research is to explain the range of variations in life history traits within biological populations. When faced with either fluctuating or stable environmental conditions, populations of a species will differ in their survival strategies to continue to maximize their fitness. There are numerous trade-offs, for example current or future reproductive success, growth rate or longevity, reproduction or longevity. Investing available resources in survival, growth, or reproduction will benefit in one trait but lack in another trait because resources are limited.

What does that mean for an individual? Let's take the arctic fox as an example. A particular arctic fox decides to invest more of its severely limited resources in reproducing offspring. As a result, fewer resources are available to invest in one's own survival. So although it is certain that this arctic fox will produce, for example, more or stronger offspring, this decision can lead to a reduction in its own probability of survival and thus a shorter longevity. This compromise is influenced not only by resource availability and environmental influences, but also by individual gender and age.