Thesis supervisor: Zoltán (ATK NÖVI) Tóth
Location of studies (in Hungarian): MTA ATK Növényvédelmi Intézet Júlia majori Kísérleti Telep Abbreviation of location of studies: MTA
Description of the research topic:
Animals often rely on various abiotic and biotic cues in their environment when faced with behavioural and life-history decisions. The capacity to exploit social cues is usually interpreted as an adaptation to social life; however, recent studies indicate that the use of social information, produced inadvertently by conspecifics through their efficient interaction with the environment, may be ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. Besides, its significance is potentially far greater than previously thought as social information use can drive correlations in the behaviour and space use of individuals, which, in turn, may affect habitat selection, mate choice, and/or coexistence of competitors in natural populations. In a series of experiments, we aim to disentangle the relationship between sociality and the exploitation of social cues, and test specific predictions related to the adaptive value of social information use in aggregations of social and asocial anuran tadpoles. The expected results will provide important new insights about the scope and significance of social information use in previously understudied amphibian model species, and may also have implications for practices in conservation biology.
Required language skills: English Further requirements: knowledge of the R programming environment & willingness to work hard, learn new approaches and participate in international collaborations
Number of students who can be accepted: 1
Deadline for application: 2019-05-31
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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