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Abstract

       As an evolutionary ecologist, I have used an integrative approach that includes behavioral observations, experimental manipulations, meta-analysis and evolutionary theoretical modeling, to study the (1) ecological and social determinants of social evolution, (2) the ecological consequences of sociality, (3) species range size and (4) population and species vulnerability to climate change. The model organisms I study mainly include cooperatively breeding birds, Taiwan yuhina Yuhina brunneiceps, social burying beetles Nicrophorus nepalensis Hope, 1831 and moths. My research contributes to the understanding of macroecology, such as species range size and range limits, using both evolutionary theory and experimental methods. I also use macroecological perspective to study the evolution of sociality, such as the influence of cooperative behavior of social organisms on their distribution ranges and abundance.