Optimisation and constraint: explaining metabolic patterns in biology

Published in Journal of Experimental Biology.

Fish live faster in the tropics and slower in the poles because of mortality risks

A new study led by Dr Mariana Álvarez-Noriega has found that fish in tropical regions suffer high mortality and so optimise their fitness by diverting energy into reproduction earlier in life.

Life history optimisation drives latitudinal gradients and responses to global change in marine fishes

Published in PLOS Biology.

Are larvae picky eaters?

A study by recent PhD graduate Emily Richardson and supervisor Dustin Marshall found that the larvae of a filter-feeding marine worm move from being feeding generalists to specialists as they develop.

Response to comments on “Metabolic scaling is the product of life-history optimization”

Published in Science.

Fundamental niche narrows through larval stages of a filter-feeding marine invertebrate

Published in The Biological Bulletin.

The Conversation ‘Let’s get real’: scientists discover a new way climate change threatens cold-blooded animals

New research suggests temperature is not the only environmental factor affecting the future energy needs of cold-blooded animals.

Interspecific interactions alter the metabolic costs of climate warming

Published in Nature Climate Change.

Mapping the correlations and gaps in studies of complex life histories

Published in Ecology and Evolution.

Can we apply theory developed to understand hermaphroditism in plants, to animals?

George Jarvis and PhD supervisors Craig White and Dustin Marshall have found that the same theories predicting hermaphroditism and self-fertilisation in plants can also be applied to animals, and furthermore that strong competition among siblings for resources (or among gametes for fertilisation) may drive the evolution of hermaphroditism in both.

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