Global change and reproductive behavior: plasticity or microevolution?

“The weather is out of control!” This popular saying describes the impact of climate change on wildlife well: global warming disrupts the timing of seasonal processes such as reproduction and migration. Coline Arnaud’s work aims to improve understanding of this newly observed phenomenon by focusing on specific species of birds and squirrels. She is conducting a multidisciplinary study including field work as well as statistical and genetic analyses. One of Arnaud's aims is to find out whether changes in breeding and migration times involve genetic modifications or whether genotypes remain unchanged but are expressed differently due to different environmental conditions. Her results might contribute to obtaining a clearer picture of the mechanisms underlying wildlife response to climate change, which is essential for building efficient conservation programs.