Our group is broadly interested in behavioral and evolutionary ecology, especially regarding how ecology shapes behavioral diversity and its evolutionary implications. We use a wide variety of approaches, including laboratory behavioral experiments, field research, meta-analyses, and theoretical modeling. We mainly use lizards and butterflies as study animals but are open to other organisms as along as they are tractable and appropriate for the questions of interest.
我們的專長是行為和演化生態，尤其對生態環境如何影響行為的多樣性特別有興趣。我們研究的方法很多元：行為實驗、田野資料、大數據分析以及理論模擬都有包含。我們研究的物種目前以蜥蜴與蝴蝶為主，但只要條件適合，其他的物種我們也會考慮使用。
The pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis predicts correlated expressions of behavioral tendency and cognitive style along a slow-fast continuum, but empirical evidence has been inconclusive. We investigate the proximate (genetics vs. environment) and ultimate (eco-evolutionary drivers) mechanisms of the personality-cognition coupling, using lizards and insects as systems.
How individuals modify their behaviors through experience can have profound effects at the community level through trophic interactions. We explore this phenomenon in the context of Müllerian mimicry. Focusing on toxic butterflies and their predators, we are interested in how predator learning can determine long-term dominance hierarchy between co-mimics and allow multiple distinct warning signals to coexist locally.
Climate change and its influences on species is a pressing concern for all biologists and has led to a new research theme in our group. Pulling big data from ecological databases, we integrate three approaches - species distribution models, life-history analysis, and food-web models - to understand what kind of species would be impacted the most by warming climates, and how this might affect the community as a whole. Even though we don't go out to sea ourselves, we construct in silico marine fish communities to help answer these questions.