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Most birds do not have a penis, and most ornithologists have not thought about bird penises much. However, evolutionarily, the loss of the penis in birds is an extremely significant event: why lose an organ that seems so handy to get sperm close to female eggs? The few birds that have kept their penis may offer some insights as to why this penis loss may have occurred in birds. Waterfowl are remarkable in the variation of their genital morphology. In some waterfowl, males force copulations on females, and in these species males have longer and more elaborate penises, and females have convoluted vaginas that redirect paternity to her chosen mate. Male-male competition plays a critical role in influencing the morphology of the penis, surprisingly within the lifetime of an individual. The evolutionary history of avian genitalia is complex, and has had interesting consequences to avian behavior.

The first part of my talk will focus on the use of drones for the monitoring of wildlife. In this project, we evaluated the use of a drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera as a tool to monitor moose (Alces alces) in Scandinavia’s boreal forest. We first investigated the factors affecting moose detection probability and then estimated local moose population density. Additionally, we compared the efficiency of drone and ground approaches to detect and observe GPS-collared female moose and their calves and quantified how these approaches affected moose behavior and space use. The second part of my talk focusses on the interactions of moose and beavers, and how they are mediated by forestry. Specifically, we (1) analyzed GPS data to quantify habitat selection by moose in relation to riparian areas and Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber)  presence, (2) used camera traps to investigate if beaver lodges affect the diversity and relative abundance of other mammals, and (3) conducted shoreline transects to evaluate the role of moose density and forest structure on beaver occurrence and foraging patterns.

Climate change and biodiversity loss have led to an urgent need to maintain and restore genetic processes within and among plant populations in human-modified landscapes. Landscape genetics is a field which was born as an amalgation of landscape ecology and population genetics, and hence offers excellent tools for enhancing our knowledge of the role of land use change, climatic and topographic factors in shaping the genetic structure and gene flow of plants. Using plants in biodiverse semi-natural grasslands as an example, I will provide an overview about how our group has applied landscape genetic approach to track the gene flow of plants and touch upon some lessons we learned on this road. Finally, I will show how our landscape genetic studies led us to conduct a citizen science campaign in 30 European countries.

Mammalian teeth and mammalian gastrointestinal tracts are examples of convergent evolution to increase chewing efficacy and the use of microbes not only as service providers but as nutrients. The ruminant system combines several characteristics that make the combination of teeth and the digestive tract more than its components. This presentation is a travel through the ingestive and digestive adaptations of mammals.

Elucidating the mechanistic basis of adaptive variation in organismal performance is a central goal of evolutionary physiology. Aerobic performance, a complex trait, depends on the coordinated function of multiple physiological systems, with metabolic pathway flux and mitochondrial function playing critical roles. Investigating how evolved differences in organismal physiology shape aerobic capacity offers a powerful framework for understanding the evolution of complex traits. This is particularly relevant for animals facing oxygen limitation, whether from environmental hypoxia or from energetically demanding activities such as prolonged diving. In this talk I will present my research on how metabolic pathways are shaped by environmental challenges, with examples ranging from animals living in high-altitude hypoxia to ongoing work in diving birds.