Group Sören Nylin

My current research project (2012-2014) is "Evolution of insect host plant utilization and life history: a hierarchical approach", funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR). I collaborate with Niklas Janz´s group studying insect-plant relationships in a subproject of my broader series of projects on insect phenotypic plasticity, exploring the considerable environmental effects that the host plants have on the fitness of insects and potential links to speciation. In my research as a whole I strive for a synthesis between the host plant work and the other subprojects, which deal with areas such as effects of temperature and photoperiod on insect life histories and life cycles, connections to sexual selection, and the effects of phenotypic plasticity on speciation and extinction processes. Phylogenetic analysis is an important tool for such questions, and for this reason I am also very interested in butterfly systematics, an area in which I collaborate with Niklas Wahlberg. I'm a firm believer in the strength of combining insights from phylogenetic and experimental studies, and my projects always include both approaches.

I am one of the Principal Investigators on the Stockholm University strategic research programme EkoKlim, on the effects of climate on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a member of the steering group.