Life History Theory
Organizers
Dr. Corine Eising (RSEE)
Prof. Simon Verhulst (Behavioural & Physiological Ecology, GELIFES)
Course Teachers
Prof. Kees van Oers (NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
Prof. Ido Pen (Theoretical Biology, GELIFES)
Prof. Koen Verhoeven (NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
Prof. Tom van Dooren (Evolutionary Ecology, CNRS, Paris)
Prof. Christiaan Both (Global Change Ecology, GELIFES)
2024 Special guest lecturer(s)
Prof. Gert Stulp (Sociology & Evolutionary Biology, UG)
Dr. habil. Sandra Bouwhuis (IFV - Life History Biology, Institute of Avian Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany)
Aim of the course
Life History Theory deals with species-specific adaptive schemes of the distribution of the reproductive effort over the life of an organism. The general theoretical problem is to predict which combination of traits will evolve under specific conditions. The concepts used are also relevant to study within species variation in life history traits. The one week course aims at giving an overview of the field and will discuss methodology and recent developments.
Contents & Structure
The subject will be worked out on the basis of lectures, case histories, discussion and literature. Attention will be paid to various groups of organisms such as birds, fishes, insects and plants. The contact with current research projects is guaranteed as concrete examples will be treated by scientists working in the field. In poster sessions work and/or plans of the participating students will be discussed with the whole group and we will use computers to illustrate some of the concepts.
Topics and Teachers:
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Life History Theory, Cost of reproduction and aging in a life history context, Calculating fitness (Simon Verhulst, GELIFES)
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Evolutionary genomics, Personality, Epignetics and life history trade-offs (Kees van Oers, NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
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Life History evolution in social insects, practicals (Ido Pen, GELIFES)
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Life history models with rates of development and survival, Age and size at maturity (Tom van Dooren, Evolutionary Ecology, CNRS, Paris)
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Life history evolution in plants & Plant Epigenetics (Koen Verhoeven, NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
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A brief history of life history research on Schiermonnikoog & Excursion (Christiaan Both, GELIFES)
Provisional Program:
Sunday 14 January 2024:
Arrival at the "Herdershut", simple meal, arrangement of lodging, short session on who is who - course venue, Field station the Herdershut , Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands.
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17.00 - 19.30
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Welcome, sleeping arrangements, drinks & dinner
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19.30 - 20.00
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Introduction to the course (Simon Verhulst )
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20.00 - 21.00
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'Movie night'
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Monday 15 January :
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Simon Verhulst - The basics of life history evolution
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Simon Verhulst - Optimality in evolutionary ecology
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Ido Pen - Modelling age-structured and stage-structured life
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15:30-17:30
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Ido Pen - Calculating fitness (bring your own laptop!)
Life history models
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Poster presentations
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Tuesday 16 January :
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Ido Pen - The evolution of senescence in super-organisms
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Poster presentations
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Tom van Dooren - Age and size at maturity
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15.30-17.30
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Tom van Dooren - Life history models with rates of
development and survival |
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Posters presentations
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Wednesday 17 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Christiaan Both - A brief history of life history research
on Schiermonnikoog |
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10:30-12:30
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Christiaan Both - Excursion
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Gert Stulp - An evolutionary approach towards
understanding human behavior |
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15:30-17:30
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Gert Stulp - Workshop data visualisation
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Kees van Oers - life-history trade-offs and Animal personality
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Thursday 18 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Sandra Bouwhuis - Slow Life Histories
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Kees van Oers - Genetics, epigenetics and
life-history trade-offs
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:30
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Koen Verhoeven - Life history evolution in plants
& Plant Epigenetics |
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15:30-16:00
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Tea
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16:00-18:00
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Koen Verhoeven en Kees van Oers -
Practical The genetic basis of life history trade-offs’ |
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Sandra Bouwhuis - Crisis in a longterm study: avian flu
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Friday 19 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Wrapping up, evaluation & final discussion
(Kees & Koen - How does your own PhD project relate to Evolution of Life histories? |
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:00
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Packing & cleaning up
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12:00-12.45
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Lunch
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12:45-13:30
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Departure for boat
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13:30
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Boat
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General Information
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Required knowledge & preparation
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Poster: We ask you to make a poster on your own work to be discussed at the course. Send in your poster as pdf before 22 December 2023 at the very latest and prepare a short 5-minute powerpoint presentation (3-5 slides) to start the discussion on your poster. We will print the posters in a booklet so you can read them before the discussion.
A digital copy of the book by Roff (1992), The Evolution of Life Histories: Theory and Analysis will be made available via the RSEE Office to the course participants. |
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Course material
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Because we will run computer simulations, PhD students should bring along their laptop.
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Course credits
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2.5 ECTS
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Location
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Field Station The Herdershut, Heereweg 10, 9166 SE, Schiermonnikoog, phone 0519-531363
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Duration & date
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5 days; the course starts Sunday afternoon the 14th of January and ends Friday the 19th of January 2024
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Costs
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The registration fee is PROVISIONALLY € 350,- for all participants belonging to the RSEE and affiliated research schools (PE&RC, WIMEK). All other participants pay € 500,-. This includes lodging, meals, and the course material at the course venue.
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Participants
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The number of participants is limited to 25.
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Information
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Registration
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Payment, Registration
and Cancellation |
Please take note of our general course information on payment, registration and cancellation, applicable to all registrations.
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| Last modified: | 04 December 2023 10.08 a.m. |