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Kathi.Foerster@ed.ac.uk Room 402 Ashworth Labs Institute of Evolutionary Biology University of Edinburgh 0131 650 5553 CV Marie-Curie fellow, IEB, University of Edinburgh. 2005-2007. Royal Society Travel Scholarship, IEB, University of Edinburgh, UK. 2004. Post-doc, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany. 2002-2004. PhD Zoology, University of Vienna, Austria. 2002.                 Research Interests Generally, I am interested in the significance of genetic diversity to individual fitness, and how this affects mate choice decisions. Directional selection for superior genotypes is expected to erode genetic diversity in fitness-related traits, but such diversity is still abundant in natural populations. I currently explore some of the phenomena that are thought to explain this paradox, and that may have direct implications on an individual’s mate choice. Firstly, I am investigating sexually antagonistic fitness effects in red deer, Cervus elaphus, using quantitative genetic methods. Genotypes that produce successful males may not necessarily produce successful females, and vice versa. We expect such effects to be strongest in species with pronounced sexual dimorphism in both, morphology and life history. Physiological trade-offs may limit selection on a particular trait in one sex, if the underlying genotype has opposing fitness effects in the other sex. Such sexually antagonistic selection would favour less directional mate choice, since sons and daughters would benefit from different genotypes. Secondly, I am trying to identify causes for the correlation between individual heterozygosity and fitness that I previously found in blue tits, Parus caeruleus. Female blue tits benefit from choosing less related partners to increase their offspring’s heterozygosity and reproductive value. The MHC (major histocompatibility complex) is a gene complex likely to confer heterozygote advantage. I am currently investigating if mating patterns and individual performance are related to MHC class I genotype. Fitness advantages of MHC-heterozygotes would favour undirectional mate choice, depending on an individual’s own MHC genotype. Publications Poesel A, Kunc HP, Foerster K & Kempenaers B. Early birds are sexy: male age, dawn song and extra-pair paternity in blue tits Parus caeruleus. Anim. Behav. In press. Foerster K & Kempenaers B, 2005. Effects of testosterone on male-male competition and male-female interactions in blue tits. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol 57: 215-223. Foerster K & Kempenaers B, 2004. Experimentally elevated plasma levels of testosterone do not increase male reproductive success in blue tits. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 56: 482-490. Taborsky B & Foerster K, 2004. Female mouthbrooders adjust incubation duration to perceived risk of predation. Anim. Behav. 68: 1275-1281. Foerster K, Delhey K, Johnsen A, Lifjeld JT & Kempenaers B, 2003. Females increase offspring heterozygosity and fitness through extra-pair matings. Nature 425: 714-718. Foerster K, Poesel A, Kunc H & Kempenaers B, 2002. The natural plasma testosterone profile of male blue tits during the breeding season and its relation to song output. J. Avian Biol. 33: 269-275. Poesel A, Foerster K & Kempenaers B, 2001. The dawn song of the blue tit Parus caeruleus and its role in sexual selection. Ethology 107: 521-531. Kempenaers B, Foerster K, Questiau S, Robertson BC & Vermeirssen ELM, 2000. Distinguishing between female sperm choice versus male sperm competition: A comment on Birkhead. Evolution 54: 1050-1052 .