Chair in Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Dean for Postgraduate Research
- About
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- Email Address
- s.piertney@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272864
- Office Address
Rooms 410 (Office) and 222 (Lab) Zoology Building
- School/Department
- School of Biological Sciences
- School/Department
- Senior Vice Principals
- Research
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Research Overview
Research within the Piertney-Lab focuses on the interplay between evolutionary and ecological dynamics in natural populations. From an eco-to-evo perspective, I examine how different ecological, environmental and behavioural processes drive microevolution, adaptation and speciation. Then from an evo-to-eco perspective, I link how genetic diversity affects individual fitness, population dynamics, ecosystem function and population persistence.
Studies have either a gene-centric focus, examining candidate genes of known ecological importance and adaptive significance (e.g. MHC, MC1R, IFN), or exploit next-generation 'omics technologies to gain a more holistic understanding of adaptation and genome-wide responses to environmental and ecological change.
Current Research
- Piezophilic adaptation in deep-ocean amphipods (NERC).
- The genomic landscape of speciation and adaptive variation in the intertidal isopod Jaera albifrons (NERC).
- Emergence, spread and persistence of maine invasive non-native species (with Marine Scotland Science, and South Atlantic Environment Research Institute).
- Genome-wide responses to demographic perturbation in insular populations of water voles (BBSRC)
- PolyExESS - Extreme environment simulation system for experimental evolution (NERC).
- The ecology, evolution and epidemiology of zoonotic pathogens in fragmented multi-host populations (BBSRC).
- The epigenomic landscape of maternal effects in the soil mite Sancassania berlesei (NERC).
- Teaching
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- Publications
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Page 1 of 15 Results 1 to 10 of 143
Large effective population size masks population genetic structure in Hirondellea amphipods within the deepest marine ecosystem, the Mariana Trench
Molecular Ecology, vol. 32, no. 9, pp. 2206-2218Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPlasticity is a locally adapted trait with consequences for ecological dynamics in novel environments
Ecology and Evolution, vol. 11, no. 16, pp. 10868-10879Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7813
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/22437/1/Bond_etal_EE_Plasticity_Is_A_VoR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Surviving winter on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Pikas suppress energy demands and exploit yak feces to survive winter
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 118, no. 30, e2100707118Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100707118
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Scavenging amphipods from the Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone: Extending the hadal paradigm beyond subduction trenches
Marine Biology, vol. 168, no. 1, 1Contributions to Journals: ArticlesExtended Pelagic Life in a Bathybenthic Octopus
Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 7, 561125Contributions to Journals: ArticlesParasite-mediated selection in red grouse--consequences for population dynamics and mate choice
Wildlife Disease Ecology: Linking Theory to Data and Application. Wilson, K., Fenton, A., Tompkins, D. (eds.), pp. 296-320Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersMicroplastics and synthetic particles ingested by deep-sea amphipods in six of the deepest marine ecosystems on Earth
Royal Society Open Science, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 1-11Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180667
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/12148/1/Microplastics_and_synthetic.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
Author Correction: Signatures of balancing selection in toll-like receptor (TLRs) genes – novel insights from a free-living rodent (Scientific Reports, (2018), 8, 1, (8361), 10.1038/s41598-018-26672-2)
Scientific Reports, vol. 9, 7394Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43510-1
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/14601/1/Correction_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Heat-shock protein adaptation in abyssal and hadal amphipods
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, vol. 155, pp. 61-69Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMicrobiome composition within a sympatric species complex of intertidal isopods (Jaera albifrons)
PloS ONE, vol. 13, no. 8, e0202212Contributions to Journals: Articles