Barbara Tomotani

Natural light is an important signal for organisms to anticipate daily and seasonal changes in their environment. The Arctic has an unusual light environment, with almost no daylight during winter and no nights in summer. This is a challenge for biological clocks and may result in health or behavioural issues for animals, impacting their survival. While typical arctic animals have likely adapted to using this light regime in their schedules, newcomer species may struggle. Because of increasing urbanization and rising temperatures due to climate change, many species are moving north and into the Arctic. This means that these new arrivals will face this challenging new light regime. With the EvoLight Project, we study great tits (Parus major) small songbirds that settled quite recently in northern Norway. We want to understand if there is scope for rapid evolutionary adaptation – in other words, whether these newcomers are able to rapidly adjust. This is a matter both of scientific interest, as we can see evolution in action, and of environmental concern, because we can predict if and how species (including invasive ones) will adapt in our rapidly changing world.