I am interested in evolutionary ecology and behaviour in general.
First I focused on sexual selection. I worked with Nico Michiels at
the Max-Planck Institute in Seewiesen on a project where we
observed earth worms (Lumbricus terrestris) to find out how
they choose their partners (or what they actually do on a golf
course in the middle of the night...).
I also did my oral exams in Ecology and Zoology and my Diploma
thesis on sexual selection. For my Diploma thesis I worked with
Bart Kempenaers' group at the Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology
in Seewiesen on 'blood parasites of blue tits: abundance and
fitness effects'. I wanted to see if blood parasites in this population
are costly for their hosts and could therefore play a role in partner
choice. For this study I correlated individual data about blood
parasites (species, abundance) with breeding data from a long term
study of blue tits in the Viennese Forest. For my PhD thesis I am working on a social dilemma in reef fishes.
Sabretooth blennies (Plagiotremus rhinorhynchus, P. tapeinosoma)
bite off small pieces of tissue from other fishes. Their victims often
chase blennies as a reaction to biting. But because many of their
victims live in big shoals with many look-alikes, all members of the
group profit from punishing, but only the punishing individual pays
the costs. The prediction in a social dilemma like this is that as soon
as there are more than two individuals in a group of look-alikes, it
should not pay them to punish the blenny and chasing the blenny
should stop.
In our study area in the Red Sea we observed a negative correlation
between group size and aggression against blennies, but even in
big shoals of look-alikes the victims don't stop chasing. It seems
like reef fishes somehow solve the tragedy of the commons, unless
there exists another mechanism that explains why they don't stop
chasing.
In an experiment, where I trained Blennies to feed from plates, I could
show that chasing a blenny functions as punishment. Blennies learned
to avoid the punishing (=chasing) plate.
In another experiment I could show that some victims
(Pseudanthias squamipinnis), if they are distracted from punishing
the blenny immediately (because they were feeding), remember
that they were bitten and punish the blenny some minutes later.
Therefore chasing a blenny does not seem to be only an immediate
response to pain. At the moment I try to find out if intra- and interspecific aggression in
Anthias are correlated and if both types of aggression might be caused
by the same hormones.
All field data were collected at Marsa Bareika, Ras Mohammed
National Park, Egypt. All lab experiments were conducted at
Lizard Island Research Station, Australia.
