Research
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The driving passion of my research is social evolution and inclusive fitness, and I am very interested in the use of empirical techniques to advance novel theories in these fields. To this end, I have spent the last four years extending inclusive fitness theory into the study of sexual conflict, in the laboratories of Prof Leigh Simmons and Assoc/Prof Joseph Tomkins at the Centre for Evolutionary Biology, the University of Western Australia. I am now looking to focus my research in the realm of social evolution, and am keen to pursue collaborations with interested researchers.You can see a more detailed description of my current and past research topics below.
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Inclusive fitness and the evolution of sexual conflict
Sometimes, female and male fitness optima are mutually exclusive. Photo credit: Jennifer Lymbery
Recently, my research has mainly been conducted at the interface of social evolution and sexual conflict. When females and males have incompatible fitness optima during reproduction, sexual conflict occurs and can cause the evolution of antagonistic traits that maximise the fitness of one sex while incurring a fitness cost for the opposite sex. Historically, studies of sexual conflict have assumed random interactions and zero relatedness among individuals. Inclusive fitness theory, however, predicts that when individuals are related to each other competition and conflict should be reduced. We use a combination of plastic behavioural experiments, quantitative genetic techniques and experimental evolution to determine whether non-zero relatedness social environments can moderate sexual conflict, using the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. This work has been performed in collaboration with Prof Leigh Simmons, Assoc/Prof Joseph Tomkins and Blake Wyber.
Publications:
Lymbery et al. (2019)
Lymbery & Simmons (2017)
Publications:
Lymbery et al. (2019)
Lymbery & Simmons (2017)
Carnivorous plants and their symbionts
The Albany pitcher plant is almost obscenely charismatic. Photo credit: Jennifer Lymbery
Previously, I have worked on an unusual carnivorous plant - insect symbiosis in the southwest of Western Australia, between the endemic Albany pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) and the equally unique flightless fly Badisis ambulans. The larvae of this fly live inside the pitchers and obtain nutrients by feeding on the plants' insect prey. Together with Prof Leigh Simmons, Prof Raphael Didham and Prof Stephen Hopper, I conducted a series of field experiments and correlational studies to investigate the nature of this interaction, and possible nutrient benefits or costs to the plants under different conditions.
Publications:
Lymbery et al. (2016)
Publications:
Lymbery et al. (2016)