Personal Chair
- About
-
- Email Address
- lesleylancaster@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274551
- School/Department
- School of Biological Sciences
Biography
PhD, University of California Santa Cruz, 2008. Dissertation title: Maternal Effects as Adaptations for Organizing Alternative Social and Antipredator Strategies.
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for Ecological Ananlysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), 2009-2012. Project title: Macroevolutionary causes of regional and habitat-based biodiversity gradients.
Postdoctoral associate, Lund University, 2012-2013. Project title: Adaptation at range limits in Ischnura elegans.
Lecturer, University of Aberdeen, 2013-
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Ecology Research Cluster Lead
SBS Executive Committee
- External Memberships
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Senior editor, Journal of Animal Ecology
Member of British Ecological Society and European Society for Evolutionary Biology
- Research
-
Research Overview
My research focuses on evolution under climate change, and evolutionary processes associated with geographic range limits. I am interested in how social and behavioral factors interact with changing ecological conditions to faciliate or hinder evolutionary change and macroevolutionary processes associated with geographic range shifts and habitat shifts.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Biological and Environmental Sciences.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Current Research
Recent work focuses on biogeography, niche evolution, and population- and community-level processes associated with climate change and invasions. My current study systems include Scottish damselflies (Odonata), experimental evolution in seed beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus), and synthesis of global data.
- Publications
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Page 3 of 4 Results 51 to 75 of 91
Ancient geological dynamics impact neutral biodiversity accumulation and are detectable in phylogenetic reconstructions
Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 1633–1642Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13326
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/11ceeda9-b75f-4c58-b978-c771e73dd7d7/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Reply to Perez et al.: Experimental duration unlikely to bias global variation in plant thermal tolerances
PNAS, vol. 118, no. 30, e2102037118Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2102037118
Dispersal Evolution in Currents: spatial sorting promotes philopatry in upstream patches
Ecography, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 231-242Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEpigenetic responses to temperature and climate change
Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 1469-1480Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHost use diversification during range shifts shapes global variation in Lepidopteran dietary breadth
Nature Ecology & Evolution, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 963-969Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] https://rdcu.be/b4ff4
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1199-1
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/752591d2-c558-4e0e-84e4-fb212878a649/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Global variation in the thermal tolerances of plants
PNAS, vol. 117, no. 24, pp. 13580-13587Contributions to Journals: ArticlesQuantifying the differences in avian attack rates on reptiles between an infrastructure and a control site
European Journal of Wildlife Research, vol. 66, 54Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-020-01393-y
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/c0e013cf-e106-415f-b20b-70785c7ef58e/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Maladaptive plasticity facilitates evolution of thermal tolerance during an experimental range shift
BMC Evolutionary Biology, vol. 20, 47Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-1589-7
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/317a5d96-c40c-4de5-82cb-1697f3843960/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
A new Editor team
Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 4-5Contributions to Journals: Editorials- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13165
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Temperature drives pre-reproductive selection and shapes the biogeography of a female polymorphism
Ecology Letters, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 149-159Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13417
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/c85ffa39-9911-4dc5-8ab4-25bf5aa8b68d/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Increased duration of extreme thermal events negatively affects cold acclimation ability in a high-latitude, freshwater ectotherm (Ischnura elegans; Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
European Journal of Entomology, vol. 117, pp. 93-100Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2020.010
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/955c18fd-faa9-4bda-aa4d-5349a9dbc264/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Evolving social dynamics prime thermal tolerance during a poleward range shift
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 126, no. 3, pp. 574-586Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/bly197
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/ae90ee19-f80f-41a5-a271-c0a0f8fb88f7/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
Towards an interactive, process-based approach to understanding range shifts: developmental and environmental dependencies matter
Ecography, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 201-210Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03975
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/69bfa89f-28ef-4020-9088-d73db4167134/download
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene
Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 760-786Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12729
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/0f60e75f-1657-4f4d-9266-714705878eeb/download
Odonata assemblages along an anthropogenic disturbance gradient in Ghana’s Eastern Region
Odonatologica, vol. 47, no. 1/2, pp. 73-100Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSignatures of local adaptation along environmental gradients in a range-expanding damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Molecular Ecology, vol. 27, no. 11, pp. 2576-2593Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14709
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/6d4d83bb-7c45-4fd9-8039-ce55c4b503d3/download
Range shifting species reduce phylogenetic diversity in high latitude communities via competition
Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 86, no. 3, pp. 543-555Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDo group dynamics affect colour morph clines during a range shift?
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 728-737Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13037
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/15c3eab3-8f84-4ac7-aa8e-a4a121e4e561/download
Odonata community structure and patterns of land use in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Eastern Region (Ghana)
International Journal of Odonatology, vol. 20, no. 3-4, pp. 173-189Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWarp-speed adaptation to novel hosts after 300 generations of enforced dietary specialisation in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae)
European Journal of Entomology, vol. 114, pp. 257-266Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLife history trade-offs, the intensity of competition, and coexistence in novel and evolving communities under climate change
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 372, no. 1712, 20160046Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWidespread range expansions shape latitudinal variation in insect thermal limits
Nature Climate Change, vol. 6, pp. 618-621Contributions to Journals: ArticlesGene expression under thermal stress varies across a geographical range expansion front
Molecular Ecology, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 1141-1156Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13548
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/82baee4b-ac22-4bd3-b5f1-6e8bdd58a420/download
Latitudinal shift in thermal niche breadth results from thermal release during a climate-mediated range expansion
Journal of Biogeography, vol. 42, no. 10, pp. 1953-1963Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12553
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/fb528fec-91ab-42f4-9043-bd64312eaa36/download
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/927516f4-7baa-43d7-94b7-aedea19f4a96/download
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstreams/0e6f4aa8-d722-422f-9b18-8f652a61f7a0/download
Maternal and genetic effects on escape: a prospective review
Escaping From Predators: An Integrative View of Escape Decisions. Cooper, W. E., Blumstein, D. T. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 343-359, 17 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107447189.015