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About us Practical matters How to find us prof. dr. ir. C. (Christiaan) Both

Research interests

I am interested in how organisms adapt to large-scale environmental change. Almost any species in the world is experiencing radical changes in its environment, due to human induced direct habitat changes, or more indirect changes like climate change. If organisms do not adjust to these changes, they likely will decline. My research seeks to understand the capacities and constraints in adaptation, with a clear focus on long-distance migratory birds. Their annual cycles are tuned to seasonal changes across different habitats, and these habitats vary often in the pace of change. In Africa, humans change habitats directly, whereas at the European breeding grounds climate change is altering trophic interactions. How can these species persist? More broadly, I am also interested in how the speed of adaptation varies between species within the same food-web, and how this affects the functioning of ecosystems.

Publications

Adaptation to climate change through dispersal and inherited timing in an avian migrant

Eco-evolutionary consequences of dispersal syndromes during colonization in a passerine bird

Translocation of shorebird siblings shows intraspecific variation in migration routines to arise after fledging

Age-dependent timing and routes demonstrate developmental plasticity in a long-distance migratory bird

Bonte Vliegenvangers maken het bonter

DNA metabarcoding quantifies the relative biomass of arthropod taxa in songbird diets: Validation with camera-recorded diets

Onderzoek naar het aanpassingsvermogen van Bonte vliegenvangers in Drenthe

Unravelling the causes and consequences of dispersal syndromes in a wild passerine

Connecting the data landscape of long-term ecological studies: The SPI-Birds data hub

Exploring the drivers of variation in trophic mismatches: A systematic review of long-term avian studies

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Press/media

Chasing after spring - Pied flycatchers have become climate refugees

Hoe komen grauwe kiekendieven de winter door in de Sahel?

Effect van temperatuur op vogels

De staat van Drenthe, talkshow

Blijvende brandgans blijkt net zo succesvol als trekkende soortgenoot

RUG-ecoloog over vogelgriep: 'Deze aard en omvang hebben we nog niet eerder gezien'

Opinie: Ga niet wéér twijfel zaaien: aan die stikstofdoelen valt echt niet te ontkomen

Juveniles black-tailed godwit tracked

It’s a birds’ world: Climate change

Minder koeien, maar veel meer huizen? Zo los je het stikstofprobleem niet op

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