Sören Nylin
Professor, Ecology
Department of Zoology
Stockholm University
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
+46-8-164033
FAX 167715
Background and career
I was born in Sundsvall,
Sweden, in 1959. I moved to Stockholm in 1979 to study Biology at Stockholm
University. I graduated (equivalent to MSc) in Science Education in 1985 and in
Biology in 1986. I then became a PhD student at the Department of Zoology under
the supervision of Christer Wiklund, and in 1991 I presented my thesis Butterfly
Life History Adaptations in Seasonal Environments. Later the same year I
received a research grant from the Swedish Research Council (then NFR) and
could create a temporary Assistant Professor position for myself. In 1993 I
earned the title of Docent, in 1998 I received a permanent Lecturer/Associate
Professor position, and in 2002 I was promoted to Professor. In 2005 I became
Vice Head of the Department of Zoology, and from 2008 I am Head of Department.
Teaching and supervision: During the period 1988-1995 I did extensive undergraduate
teaching, including several course leaderships in e.g. Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology, and organization of several new courses. Between 1995 and 2007 I acted
as coordinator for PhD student courses in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution, appointed
by the Section of Biology, and 2003-2007 also as leader of the Research School
"Ecology, Biodiversity and the Environment". For this reason I did
most of my teaching 1996-2007 at the PhD level (Introduction to research
studies, Writing scientific papers, Philosophy of
Science, Evolutionary Biology etc). I still give
yearly lectures and courses on the practical and philosophical aspects of
Science. I have supervised eight finished PhD students
(Karl Gotthard 1993-1999, Niklas Janz 1993-1999, Anders Bergström 1999-2005, Georg H. Nygren
2000-2005, Elisabet Weingartner
2001-2008, Dan Wilhelmsson 2003-2009, Matthias H. Andersson 2008-2011, Lina Söderlind 2007-2012) and have hosted several post docs,
including Jack Windig, Niklas Wahlberg and Ulassa Kodandaramaiah. I
currently supervise PhD student Kristin Löwenborg.
Collegial assignments: I was a member of the Editorial Board for Ecology 2001-2004,
member of the Council of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)
2005-2009, International Vice President of the Lepidopterist's Society
2009-2010 and I’m currently Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Research
on the Lepidoptera.
Research interests
My current personal research
project (2012-2014) is "Evolution of insect host plant utilization and
life history: a hierarchical approach", funded by the Swedish Research
Council (VR). I collaborate with Niklas Janz's
group studying insect-plant relationships in a subproject of my broader
series of projects on insect phenotypic plasticity, exploring the considerable
environmental effects that the host plants have on the fitness of insects and
potential links to speciation. In my research as a whole I strive for a
synthesis between the host plant work and the other subprojects, which deal
with areas such as effects of temperature and photoperiod on insect life
histories and life cycles, connections to sexual selection, and the effects of
phenotypic plasticity on speciation and extinction processes. Phylogenetic
analysis is an important tool for such questions, and for this reason I am also
very interested in butterfly systematics, an area in which I collaborate with Niklas Wahlberg. I'm a
firm believer in the strength of combining insights from phylogenetic and
experimental studies, and my projects always include both approaches.
Major
research collaborations: I am one of the Principal Investigators on
the Stockholm University strategic research programme EkoKlim, on the effects of climate
on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a member of the steering group. I
am project leader for the new cross-biological project “Insect
life cycle genomics and adaptation in the wild”, funded by the Knut & Alice
Wallenberg Foundation 2013-2017, with additional funding from VR 2013-2016.
What else?
I'm married to Maria and
have two children born 1988 and 1990. My off-work interests include TV shows,
film and reading.
Publications
Nylin,
S. 1988. Host plant
specialization and seasonality in a polyphagous butterfly, Polygonia c-album
(Nymphalidae). Oikos 53: 381-386. Download
Nylin,
S. 2001. Life history perspectives on pest
insects - what's the use? Australecology 26: 507-517.
Download
Cassel,
A., Windig, J., Nylin, S. and Wiklund, C.
2001. Effects of population size and food stress on fitness-related characters
in the Scarce Heath, Coenonympha hero
(Lepidoptera, Satyrinae). Conservation Biology 15:
1667-1673. Download
Nylin, S., Gamberale-Stille,
G. and Tullberg, B. S. 2002. Ontogeny
of defence and adaptive coloration in larvae of the comma butterfly (Polygonia
c-album: Nymphalidae). J. Lep. Soc. 55:
69-73. Download
Windig,
J. and Nylin, S. 2002. Genetics of fluctuating asymmetry in pupal traits
of the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge
aegeria). Heredity 89: 225-234. Download
Gage,
M.J.G., Parker, G.A., Nylin, S. and Wiklund, C. 2002. Sexual selection
and speciation in mammals, butterflies and spiders. Proc. R. Soc. Biol. Sci.
269: 2309-2316. Download
Nylin,
S. 2003. Evolutionary dynamics of host plant
range in the butterfly tribe Nymphalini (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Pages 107-114 in Legakis, A., Sfenthourakis, S., Polymeni, R. & Thessalou-Legaki
(eds.), The new panorama of animal evolution. Proc. 18th Int. Congr. Zool., Athens 2000.
Wahlberg,
N., Weingartner, E. and Nylin, S. 2003.
Towards a better understanding of the higher systematics of Nymphalidae
(Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28: 473-484. Download
Wahlberg,
N. and Nylin, S. 2003. Morphology versus molecules: resolution of the
positions of Nymphalis, Polygonia and related genera (Lepidoptera:
Nymphalidae). Cladistics 19: 213-223. Download
Wiklund,
C., Gotthard, K. and Nylin, S. 2003. Mating system and the evolution of
sex-specific mortality rates in two nymphalid butterflies. Proc
R Soc B. 270: 1823-1828. Download
Windig,
J.J., Veerkamp, R.F. and Nylin, S. 2004.
Quantitative genetic variation in an island population of the speckled wood
butterfly (Pararge aegeria). Heredity
93: 450-454. Download
Tammaru, T., Nylin, S., Ruohomäki,
K and Gotthard, K. 2004. Compensatory
responses in lepidopteran larvae: the role of growth rate maximisation. Oikos 107: 352-362. Download
Nylin, S., Nygren, G.H., Windig, J.J.,
Janz, N. and Bergström, A. 2005. Genetics
of host plant preference in the comma butterfly and evolutionary implications.
Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 84: 755-765. Download
Nylin, S., Gotthard, K. and Nygren,
G.H. 2005. Seasonal plasticity, host plants, and the
origin of butterfly biodiversity. In: Fellowes, M.D.E., Holloway, G.J. and Rolff, J. (eds.) Insect Evolutionary Ecology. CABI
Publishing, Wallingford, UK. Download
Wahlberg,
N., Brower, A. V. Z. and Nylin, S. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships and
historical biogeography of tribes and genera in the subfamily Nymphalinae
(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 86: 227-251. Download
Janz,
N., Nylin, S. and Wahlberg, N. 2006. Diversity begets diversity:
host expansions and the diversification of plant-feeding insects. BMC
Evolutionary Biology 6:4. Download
Peña,
C., Wahlberg, N., Weingartner, E., Kodandaramaiah, U., Nylin, S., Freitas,
A.V.L. & Brower, A.V.Z. 2006. Higher level phylogeny of Satyrinae butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based on
DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution 40: 29-49. Download
Blanckenhorn,
W.U.,
Esperk,
T., Tammaru, T., Nylin, S. and Teder, T. 2007. Achieving high sexual dimorphism: insects
add instars. Ecological Entomology 32: 243-256. Download
Esperk, T., Tammaru, T. and Nylin, S. 2007. Intraspecific variability in the number of larval
instars in insects. J. Economic Entomol. 100:627-646.
Download
Janz, N. & Nylin, S. 2008. The oscillation
hypothesis of host-plant range
and speciation. In: Tilmon, K.J. (Ed.).
Specialization, speciation and radiation: the evolutionary biology of
herbivorous insects. Pages 203-215. University of California Press, Berkeley. Download (From [Tilmon],
[Specialization, Speciation, and Radiation] (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2008). To purchase a copy of this book or for permission to reproduce or
reprint this material, visit www.ucpress.edu.)
Nylin, S. and Wahlberg, N. 2008. Does plasticity drive speciation? Host
plant shifts and diversification in nymphaline
butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) during the tertiary. - Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society 94: 115-130. Download
Nygren, G.H., Bergström,
A. & Nylin, S. 2008. Latitudinal
body size clines in the butterfly Polyommatus icarus are shaped by gene-environment interactions.
J. Insect Sci. 8:47. Download
Janz, N., Söderlind, L. & Nylin, S.
2009. No effect of larval experience on adult host preferences in Polygonia
c-album (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): on the persistence of
Wahlberg, N., Weingartner,
E., Warren, A.D. and Nylin, S. 2009. Timing major conflict between
mitochondrial and nuclear genes in species relationships of Polygonia
butterflies (Nymphalidae: Nymphalini). BMC
Evolutionary Biology 9:92. Download
Nylin, S., Nygren, G.H., Söderlind,
L. & Stefanescu, C. 2009. Geographical variation
in host plant utilization in the comma butterfly: the roles of time constraints
and phenology. Evol. Ecol. 23:807-825. Download
Cassel-Lundhagen, A., Tammaru, T., Windig, J.J.
and Nylin, S. 2009. Are peripheral populations special? Congruent
patterns in two butterfly species. Ecography 32: 591-600.
Download
Nylin, S. & Bergström, A. 2009. Threat status
in butterflies and its ecological correlates: how far can we generalize?
Biodiversity and Conservation 18: 3243-3267. Download
Nylin, S. 2009. Gradients in butterfly biology. Pp
198-216 in: Settele, J., Shreeve,
T., Konvicka, M., van Dyck,
H. (eds.), Ecology of butterflies in Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Heidel-Fischer, H., Freitak, D., Janz, N.,
Söderlind, L., Vogel, H. & Nylin, S. 2009. Phylogenetic
relatedness and host plant growth form influence gene expression of the
polyphagous comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album). BMC Genomics 10: 506. Download
Wahlberg,
N., Leneveu, J., Kodandaramaiah,
U., Pena, C., Nylin, S., Freitas, A.V.L. and Brower,
A.V.Z. 2009. Nymphalid butterflies diversify following near demise at the
Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Proc. R. Soc. B. 276: 4295-4302. Download
Kodandaramaiah,
U., Pena, C., Braby, M.F., Grund,
R., Muller, C.J., Nylin, S. & Wahlberg, N. 2010. Phylogenetics of Coenonymphina and
the problem of rooting rapid radiations. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 54: 386-394. Download
Pena, C., Nylin, S., Freitas, A.V.L. & Wahlberg, N. 2010. Biogeographic history of the butterfly tribe Eupthychiina (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).
Zoologica Scripta 39:
243-258. Download
Ah-King, M. and Nylin, S. 2010. Sex in an
evolutionary perspective: Just another reaction norm? Evol.
Biol. 37: 234-246. Download
Söderlind, L. and Nylin, S. 2011. The
genetics of diapause in the comma butterfly Polygonia c-album. Physiol. Entomol. 36: 8-13. Download
Midega, C.A.O., Khan, Z.R., Picket, J.A. & Nylin,
S. 2011. Host plant selection behaviour of Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
and its implications for effectiveness of a trap crop. Ent. Exp. Appl. 138: 40-47. Download
Peña, C., Nylin, S. & Wahlberg, N.
2011. The radiation of Satyrini butterflies
(Nymphalidae: Satyrinae): a challenge for
phylogenetic methods. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 161: 64-87. Download
Kodandaramaiah, U.,
E. Weingartner, N. Janz, L. Dalen, and S.
Nylin. 2011. Population structure in relation to host-plant ecology and Wolbachia infestation in the comma butterfly. Journal of
Evolutionary Biology 24:2173-2185.
Download
Mozuraitis, R., Murtazina, R., Nylin,
S. and Borg-Karlson A-K. 2012. Nonvolatile
chemical cues affect host-plant ranking by gravid Polygonia c-album females. Zeitschr. f. Naturforsch. C. 67:93-102. Download
Kodandaramaiah, U., Weingartner, E., Janz, N., Leski,
M., Slove, J., Warren, A. and Nylin, S. 2012. Investigating
concordance among genetic data, subspecies circumscriptions and hostplant use in the nymphalid butterfly Polygonia faunus. PLoS One 7(7): e41058. Download
Dalin, P.
and Nylin, S. 2013. Host plant
quality adaptively affects the diapause threshold: evidence from leaf beetles
in willow plantations. Ecological Entomology 37: 490-499.
Nylin, S. 2013. Induction of
diapause and seasonal morphs in butterflies and other insects: knowns, unknowns
and the challenge of integration. Physiological Entomology 38: 96-104. Download
Peer-reviewed publications outside of the Natural Sciences
Nylin,
S.
2009. Mad, bad scientists and cute, curious
magicians: the quest for knowledge in Buffy and the Whedonverse.
Slayage: The Journal of the Whedon
Studies Association 28. Download
This paper may look
strange, but I’m a serious fan of Joss Whedon’s
productions (seriously), as everybody should be. FYI: The jacket I’m wearing in
the picture at the top was screenworn by Harry Lennix (the character Boyd) in three episodes of Whedon’s TV show Dollhouse.
