LITHOPS

In particular, we focus on the macroevolutionary history of plant-herbivore interactions, and on connections between speciation, specialization, and niche shifts in complex food webs consisting of plants, insect herbivores, and parasitoids. Lately, our focus has expanded to include also community ecology of mushroom-fungivore-parasitoid networks, conservation genetics of endangered animals and their parasites, and the role of local adaptation in speciation of African Lithops plants... Together with Professor Allan G. Ellis from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, we will conduct two one-month expeditions in April 2016 and in June 2018 to investigate the level of local adaptation in Lithops species and populations. These measurements will rely on multi- and hyperspectral imaging techniques, so that the extent of crypsis can be quantified objectively. We will also use experimental manipulations to test whether improved color matching enhances survival in Lithops species. In..

Primary location: Svanvik Norway