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Research Animal Ecology

Vole in maze

Learning and decision-making

In this project we measure individual differences in learning speed and flexibility of small mammals, along with decision-making and personality traits.

Behavioural adaptations to invasion processes

Animal personality may play an important role in invasion and re-colonisation processes. Here we investigate behavioural adaptations in an invasion of voles in Ireland after an accidental introduction

Rodent biodiversity and rodent-born diseases

The project aims at elucidating the interrelations between wildlife biodiversity and dynamics of zoonotic disease at local and European scales.

Garden lights at night

Light pollution and behaviour

Nocturnal animals are disturbed by artificial light at night (ALAN). We investigate the effects of light on nocturnal insects and small mammals.

Indivual niches of coexisting species

Inter-individual differences and coexistence

Individual differences are rarely recognised in ecological theory. Here we investigate the importance of inter-individual differences for ecological interactions and the facillitation of coexistence.

Bank vole feeding on oats

Indirect, tri-trophic effects of fear on biodiversity

In this project we investigate how the movement and foraging strategies of small mammals in a landscape of fear affect the diversity of experimental seed communities.

Pregnancy replacement in mammals

We want to disentangle potential adaptive and mechanistic explanations for pregnancy replacement (i.e. Bruce effect), suggesting that in rodents it is a form of sequential mate choice rather than a c

Innovation: from diffusion to fitness consequences

Here we analyse the interplay between personality, innovation propensity and spread of innovations in replicated populations of house mice living under semi-natural conditions.

Urban cognition

In this ongoing project, we investigate among-individual variation in behavioural flexibility and innovation propensity in various small mammals species.

Linde-Wildflower-Experiment

Here we compare the effectiveness of conventional wildflower strips and the innovative design of rolling wildflower blocks for increasing insect biodiversity.

Biopertubation

Here we investigate interactive effects of grassland succession, impact of Microtus voles, and harvesting regimes on several parameters of experimental grassland plots