Potential of myrmecophiles to evolve adaptations to new environments

The potential of an organism to evolve adaptations to new environments may influence its future persistence. Within WP 4 we will investigate whether evolution in dispersal has occurred in UK Maculinea arion in response to changing habitat availability. For this purpose morphological traits related to dispersal as well as molecular markers will be applied. The rate of evolution of new phenologies under a changed climate will be subject of a field study which includes recently colonized M. arion populations inhabiting sites characterised by different climatic conditions and phenologically different host plants.

Finally we will use the simulation program described in WP 2 to explore the evolutionary dynamics of metapopulations in scenarios incorporating realist landscapes and climatic scenarios.