Introduction to Laboratory of Animal Ecology

We study various aspects of ecology and evolution in wild animals, such as fish, birds, and insects. Our major interests are how organisms adapt to their environments under varying selection pressures, how organisms have diverged into many species, and how related species coexist and form species-rich communities. Our research includes multiple disciplines including population and community ecology, behavioral ecology, population genetics, biogeography, phylogenetics, systematics, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology. Members of the laboratory utilize both field and laboratory techniques in our research. Field studies are carried out in and around Kyoto, across Japan, and around the world. Laboratory techniques that we use include DNA and genomic analyses to resolve questions in population genetics, phylogeny, and adaptive evolution as well as environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques to reveal species distributions and abundances.