EFFECTS OF FOOD AND DISEASE ON VOLE POPULATIONS

CASUAL SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

This presentation overviews a series of recent studies, aimed at evaluating the effects of food resources and parasites (micro and macro) on the dynamics of cyclic vole populations in northern Europe. A key theme of the work is the tropic relationship between food resources, individual physiological condition and infectious disease susceptibility, and how these can translate into population-level growth rate effects.

Kristian is a disease ecologist and recent PhD graduate. He is currently conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Helsinki in Finland, where he is primarily investigating the ecology of zoonotic viruses.

[Host: Zbyszek Boratynski, Biodiversity of Deserts and Arid Regions]

Image credits: Kristian M. Forbes