Profile

Biography

Kathryn joined the department in April 2010 from the Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Glasgow. Kathryn holds a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in evolutionary biology. Prior to that, she held research positions at the University of Glasgow and University of Queensland.

Career

Research

Overview

Kathryn's research focuses on the impacts of social and environmental factors on behaviour, stress physiology, reproductive success, and susceptibility to oxidative damage. Current projects are investigating the effects of pollution and pharmaceuticals in the environment on vertebrates.

Previous studies have demonstrated the downstream impacts of early nutrition, driven for example by climate induced changes in prey abundance, on individual fitness. She is particularly interested in utilising state of the art techniques for measuring antioxidant levels, oxidative stress and disease prevalence in small vertebrates.

Collaborators:
Dr. Alistair Boxall, University of York
Beatrice Hernout, University of York

Current projects

Individual variation in behaviour: Confronted with the same environmental or behavioural stressors, individuals of the same species often differ markedly in their behaviour. For example, some individuals are always more risk-prone or exploratory than others. We refer to these differences as "personality" traits Dr Arnold's group have been investigating whether these individual differences in behavioural responses are accompanied by variation in underlying stress metabolism and oxidative stress.

Collaborators:
Katherine Herborn, University of Glasgow
Dr Lucille Alexander, Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition

Maternal Effects: Reproduction is an expensive business. Mothers, in particular, put a lot of time and energy into making eggs and caring for young, at the expense of their own well being. Dr. Arnold has been investigating how mothers partition resources among young and how that affects the development and long term fitness of offspring. In birds, for example, mothers put substances into yolk that can influence the development of the egg. These include antioxidants, such as carotenoids (responsible for red and yellow colours in nature) and vitamin E, which enhance immune function and reduce the damage to organs caused by the build-up of harmful waste products. Parents also provide food to offspring. Selection of particular prey items might be vital for providing nutrients essential to normal growth.  Dr Arnold's group use a range of avian model species to investigate maternal effects.

Collaborators:
Dr. Stephen Larcombe , EGI, University of Oxford
Dr Scot Ramsay (PDRA), Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Dr Ruedi Nager, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow

Sexual Signalling and colour preferences in birds: Fluorescence is widely used by humans as a 'highlighter' to attract attention. Research by Dr Arnold and colleagues shows that Australian parrots use their fluorescent plumage, which literally 'glows', to attract the attention of the opposite sex.

Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) under normal illumination	Budgerigar under UV illumination - note the fluorescent yellow patches

Collaborations
Dr Justin Marshall, Vision, Touch & Hearing Research Centre, The University of Queensland
Dr Ian Owens, Department of Biology and NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
Katherine Herborn, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow
   

Sex Allocation in Birds: Ongoing research focuses on sex allocation in birds and fish. This started as a BBSRC funded project with Richard Griffiths and David Houston. There is increasing evidence that female birds manipulate the sex of their offspring in response to environmental and social factors. We have been investigating when and how this is achieved, mainly using the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) and blue tit as models.

Collaborator:
Lindsay Henderson

Kin Recognition in Fish: One of my main interests is the evolution of sociality and group living. Essential to this is determining whether animals are able to recognise individuals, particularly those that they are related to. Living with relatives can be beneficial to individuals via the evolution of kin-directed altruism, but this is tempered by the increased risk of inbreeding. Therefore, in social species the ability to recognise relatives can be highly advantageous. This study focused on kin discrimination in the Lake Eacham rainbowfish, Melanotaenia eachamensis, and cooperatively breeding cichlids.

Collaborators:
Dr Barbara Mable, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow
Michael Taborsky, University of Berne
Ashley Le Vin, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow

Grants

Supervision

Current students

Recent students

External activities

Memberships

• 2000-ongoing, Member, International Society for Behavioral Ecology
• 1996-ongoing, Member, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Grant Committees and Research Advisory Boards

• Contributor to DTI 2020: Science and Knowledge Workshop, Department of Trade and Industry, 2006-2007
• Contributor to Horizon Scanning Centre Workshop, Office of Science and Technology, 2006-2007
• Member of Grant Assessment Panel for International Grants, Royal Society, 2005-ongoing

Editorial duties

• 2008-ongoing, Editorial board Australian Journal of Zoology
• 2005-ongoing, Editorial board Biology Letters

Invited talks and conferences

• 2009 University of Glasgow - Invited talk at Biosciences careers fair. A PhD in the life sciences and life beyond
• 2008 Invited contribution to workshop on 'Maternal effects: Underlying mechanisms and implications for life history evolution' at Adelboden, Switzerland. Sex-specific maternal effects
• 2007 University of Berne, Switzerland - Invited Seminar, Parental provisioning decisions in birds
• 2007 University of Uppsala, Sweden - Invited Seminar, Sex ratio manipulation
• 2006 Vancouver, Canada - Invited Speaker at 3rd International E-BIRD Workshop on Individual variation - Does early nutrition affect behavioural responses to novel situations?
• 2006 York, England - Invited seminar at University of York - The importance of a good start in life: maternal effects and offspring fitness
• 2005 Budapest, Hungary - Invited Talk at International Ethological Congress - Maternal state, egg quality and offspring fitness
• 2004 Oxford, England - Invited seminar at University of Oxford - Avian sex ratios: diet, sex and death
• 2003 Brisbane, Australia - Seminar at University of Queensland - Avian sex ratios: diet, sex and death
• 2003 Lund, Sweden - Seminar at University of Lund - Avian sex ratios: diet, sex and death

Publications

Full publications list

Working papers/papers in preparation

• Herborn K., Alexander, L., & Arnold, K. E. Context-dependent preferences for visual or spatial cues in a non-storing songbird, the European greenfinch (Carduelis chloris). Animal Cognition.
• Larcombe S. D., Tregaskes C. A., Coffey J., Stevenson A., Alexander L. & Arnold K. E. Interactions between behaviour and multiple measures of oxidative stress in adult budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Journal of Avian Biology.
• Larcombe S. D., Coffey J., Adam A., Alexander L., Mullen W. & Arnold K. E. Do dietary antioxidants impact lipid-peroxidation and plumage colour in nestling blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)? Naturwissenschaft.
• Le Vin, A., Mable, B. & Arnold, K. E. Male mate choice in the green swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri): the importance of visual and chemical cues. Ethology

Publications

• Arnold K.E., Larcombe S.D., Ducaroir L. & Alexander L. 2010 Antioxidant status, flight performance and sexual signalling in wildtype parrots.  Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.  In press.
• Arnold, K.E., Ramsay, S., Henderson, L. & Larcombe, S.D. 2010 Seasonal variation in diet quality: antioxidants, invertebrates and Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus).  Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society.  In press.
• Le Vin, A. L., Mable, B. K. and Arnold, K. E. 2010. Kin recognition via phenotype matching in a cooperatively breeding cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher Animal Behaviour Epub
• Herborn, K. A., Macleod, R., Miles, W. T. S., Schofield, A. N. B., Alexander, L., and Arnold, K. E. 2010 Personality in captivity reflects personality in the wild Animal Behaviour Epub
• Mullen, W., Larcombe, S., Arnold, K., Welchman, H., and Crozier, A. 2010 Use of accurate mass full scan mass spectrometry for the analysis of anthocyanins in berries and berry-fed tissues Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Epub
• Hargitai, R., Arnold, K. E., Herenyi, M., Prechl, J., and Torok, J. 2009 Egg composition in relation to social environment and maternal physiological condition in the collared flycatcher Behavioral Ecology And Sociobiology 63, 6, 869-882
• Larcombe, S. D., Coffey, J. S., Bann, D., Alexander, L., and Arnold, K. E. 2009 Impacts of dietary antioxidants and flight training on post-exercise oxidative damage in adult parrots Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 155, 1, 49-53
• Larcombe, S. D., Tregaskes, C. A., Coffey, J. S., Stevenson, A. E., Alexander, L., and Arnold, K. E. 2008 The effects of short-term antioxidant supplementation on oxidative stress and flight performance in adult budgerigars Melopsittacus undulatus Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 17, 2859-2864
• Arnold, K. E., Ramsay, S. L., Donaldson, C., and Adam, A. 2007 Parental prey selection affects risk-taking behaviour and spatial learning in avian offspring Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 27, 1625, 2693-2699
• Arnold, E., Blount, D., Metcalfe, B., Orr, J., Adam, A., Houston, D. C., and Monaghan, P. 2007 Sex-specific differences in compensation for poor neonatal nutrition in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata Journal Of Avian Biology 38, 3, 356-366
• Gilbert, L., Bulmer, E., Arnold, K. E., and Graves, J. A. 2007 Yolk androgens and embryo sex: Maternal effects or confounding factors? Hormones and Behavior 51, 2, 231-238
• Blount, J. D., Metcalfe, N. B., Arnold, K. E., Surai, P. F., and Monaghan, P. 2006 Effects of neonatal nutrition on adult reproduction in a passerine bird Ibis 148, 3, 509-514
• Arnold, K. E., Owens, I. P. F., and Goldizen, A. 2005 Division of labour within cooperatively breeding groups Behaviour 142, 11-12, 1577-1590 [online version]
• Rutstein, A., Gorman, H., Arnold, K. E., Gilbert, L., Orr, K., Adam, A., Nager, R. G., and Gravers, J. 2005 Sex allocation in response to paternal attractiveness in the zebra finch Behavioral Ecology 16, 4, 763-769
• Gorman, H. E., Arnold, K. E., and Nager, R. G. 2005 Incubation effort in relation to male attractiveness in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata Journal Of Avian Biology 36, 5, 413-420
• Adahl, E., Lindstrom, J., Ruxton, G. D., Arnold, K. E., and Begg, T. 2004 Can intraspecific brood parasitism be detected using egg morphology only? Journal Of Avian Biology 35, 4, 360-364
• Iwaniuk, A. N. and Arnold, K. E. 2004 Is cooperative breeding associated with bigger brains? A comparative test in the Corvida (Passeriformes) Ethology 110, 3, 203-220
• Hardling, R., Kokko, H., and Arnold, K. E. 2003 Dynamics of the caring family American Naturalist 161, 3, 395-412
• Hausmann, F., Arnold, K. E., Marshall, N. J., and Owens, I. P. F. 2003 Ultraviolet signals in birds are special Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences 270, 1510, 61-67
• Arnold, K. E., Orr, K. J., and Griffiths, R. 2003 Primary sex ratios in birds: problems with molecular sex identification of undeveloped eggs Molecular Ecology 12, 12, 3451-3458
• Arnold, K. E., Griffiths, R., Stevens, D. J., Orr, K. J., Adam, A., and Houston, D. C. 2003 Subtle manipulation of egg sex ratio in birds Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences 270, Suppl 2, S216-S219
• Arnold, K. E. and Griffiths, R. 2003 Sex-specific hatching order, growth rates and fledging success in jackdaws Corus monedula Journal Of Avian Biology 34, 3, 275-281
• Arnold, K. E., Adam, A., Orr, K. J., Griffiths, R., and Barber, I. 2003 Sex-specific survival and parasitism in three-spined sticklebacks: seasonal patterns revealed by molecular analysis Journal Of Fish Biology 63, 4, 1046-1050
• Blount, J. D., Metcalfe, N. B., Arnold, K. E., Surai, P. F., Devevey, G. L., and Monaghan, P. 2003 Neonatal nutrition, adult antioxidant defences and sexual attractiveness in the zebra finch Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences 270, 1525, 1691-1696
• Arnold, K. E. and Owens, I. P. 2002 Extra-pair paternity and egg dumping in birds: life history, parental care and the risk of retaliation. Proceedings Of The Royal Society Of London Series B-Biological Sciences 269, 1497, 1263-1269
• Arnold, K. E., Owens, I. P., and Marshall, N. J. 2002 Fluorescent signaling in parrots. Science 295, 5552, 92-92
• Arnold, K. E., Griffith, S. C., and Goldizen, A. W. 2001 Sex-biased hatching sequences in the cooperatively breeding Noisy Miner Journal Of Avian Biology 32, 3, 219-223