A population genomics approach to assessing the impact of climate change on the evolution and dynamics of East African bovids

project summary

The objective of the project is to assess the impact of climate change on the demographic history, i.e. population size changes in African bovids and to infer the distribution of genetic lineages through time and space. The output is expected to include a better understanding of the potential effect of climate change on large mammal communities, an assessment of the threat to large mammals due to habitat fragmentation and a better understanding of the overall biogeography of East Africa. In terms of organisation, the project is a PhD. project undertaken by the applicant. The project has ties to premier research environments in Denmark and Uganda and builds on collaborative ties already existing between institutions in the two countries. Newly acquired high-throughput sequencing machinery at the Department of Biology in Copenhagen will be used to provide first-class genetic data to carry out state-of-the-art evolutionary analyses.