Dr Anne Charmantier

Research interests

My main research objective is to understand the mechanisms underlying variation in reproductive traits related to individual fitness, with a special focus on the role of environmental degradation. This degradation can be internal, (the decrease of individual fitness with age due to senescence); or external, (changes in the environment, including those induced by man). Ultimately, I aim to understand how these environmental processes affect the evolutionary potential of populations.

• Natural selection and microevolution in natural populations

I aim to understand patterns of selection and evolution in natural populations by using data from long-term, individual-based studies of avian populations. Some of the questions I am interested in are: Can we predict the evolutionary response of reproductive traits in the wild? Why do some heritable traits under selection fail to evolve? Do environmental conditions influence heritability, and if so, how?

• Senescence and its evolution in wild populations

Senescence occurs when individual survival and/or fecundity decline with age. It is increasingly realised that senescence can be marked in wild populations, particularly in long-lived species, although data in the wild remain rare. In Oxford, I am studying reproductive traits which show strong senescence in the mute swan (Cygnus olor). I have lately shown age-dependence in the expression of genetic variation, which suggests the possibility of tests of evolutionary theories of senescence (MA: mutation accumulation and AP: antagonistic pleiotropy) by investigating patterns of genetic variance and covariance in the wild. I am also interested in whether senescence itself has a genetic component.

• Sexual selection and sexual ornaments

My Ph.D. thesis was very much centered on Behavioural Ecology, and especially on studying the ecological and genetic determinism of extra-pair paternities in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) using correlative and experimental approaches. I have kept since a keen interest in understanding processes of sexual selection using bird models. One of my projects in Oxford concerns the study of a sexual ornament: the black fleshy knob at the base of the bill in the mute swan. I study how this trait changes over seasons and individual age, and I try to uncover its role in sexual selection in this monogamous bird species.

Recent Papers

Charmantier A & Sheldon BC. 2006. Testing Genetic Models of Mate Choice Evolution in the Wild. Trends in Ecology and Evolution (in press).

Jouventin P, Charmantier A, Dubois MP, Jarne P & Bried J. 2006. Extra-pair paternity in the strongly monogamous Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans, has no apparent benefits for female. Ibis (in press).

Blondel J, Thomas DW, Charmantier A, Perret P, Bourgault P & Lambrechts MM. 2006. A thirty year study of phenotypic and genetic variation of blue tits in Mediterranean habitat mosaics. BioScience (in press).

Charmantier A, Perrins C, McCleery RH, & Sheldon BC. 2006. Quantitative genetics of age at reproduction in wild swans: support for antagonistic pleiotropy models of senescence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(17): 6587-6592. [Link]

Charmantier A, Perrins C, McCleery RH, & Sheldon BC. 2006. Evolutionary response to selection on clutch size in a long-term study of the mute swan. The American Naturalist 167(3): 453-465. [Link]

Quinn JL, Charmantier A, Garant D & Sheldon BC. 2006. Data depth, data completeness, and their influence on quantitative genetic estimation in two contrasting bird populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 994-1002. [Link]

Charmantier A, Perrins C, McCleery RH, & Sheldon BC. 2006. Age-dependent genetic variance in a life-history trait in the mute swan. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences. 273: 225-232. [link]

Charmantier A & Garant D. 2005. Environmental quality and evolutionary potential: lessons from wild populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 272:1415-1425.[link]

Charmantier A & Réale D. 2005. How do misassigned paternities affect the estimation of heritability in the wild? Molecular Ecology 14:2839-2850. [link]

Charmantier A, Blondel J, Perret P & Lambrechts MM, 2004. Do extra-pair paternities provide genetic benefits for female blue tits (Parus caeruleus)? Journal of Avian Biology 35: 524-532. [link]

Charmantier A & Perret P, 2004. Manipulation of nest-box density affects extra-pair paternity in a population of blue tits (Parus caeruleus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 56(4): 360-365. [link]

Charmantier A, Kruuk LEB & Lambrechts MM, 2004. Parasitism reduces the potential for evolution in a wild bird population. Evolution 58: 203-206. [link]

Charmantier A, Kruuk LEB, Blondel J & Lambrechts MM, 2004. Testing for microevolution in body size in three blue tit populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17: 732-743. [link]

Lambrechts MM, Caro S, Charmantier A, Gross N, Galan MJ, Perret P, Cartan_Son M, Dias PC, Blondel J & Thomas DW, 2004. Habitat quality as a predictor of spatial variation in blue tit reproductive performance: a multi-plot analysis in a heterogeneous landscape. Oecologia 141: 555-561. [link]

Charmantier A & Blondel J, 2003. A contrast in extra-pair paternity levels on mainland and island populations of Mediterranean blue tits. Ethology 109: 351-364. [link]