Pilakouta Lab
publication spotlight
Predicting the effects of climate change on the fertility of aquatic animals using a meta-analytic approach
Chatten A, Grieve I, Meligoniti E, Hayward C, Pilakouta N (2025)
We synthesised 1894 effect sizes across 276 studies on 241 species to examine thermal effects on fertility in aquatic animals. Our meta-analysis revealed that external fertilisers tend to be more vulnerable to warming than internal fertilisers, especially in freshwater species. We also found that increased temperature is particularly detrimental for gametes and that under certain conditions, female fertility is more sensitive to warming than male fertility, challenging the prevailing view that males are more vulnerable.
preprints
Morelle S, Stökl J, Bailey NW, Steiger S, Pilakouta N. Mixed signals: heatwave exposure alters chemical signalling and increases same-sex sexual behaviour in an insect. Submitted to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Preprint available at BioRxiv.
Frost F, Noble DWA, Schou M, Rowe M, Rees J, Lüpold S, Chatten A, Smithson C, Cole BJ, Simões P, Lindenbaum I, Koppik M, Weaving H, Canal Domenech B, Churchill E, Zizzari ZV, Ellers J, Gigliotti S, Graziano M, Iossa G, De Nardo AN, Pilakouta N, Meena A, Ramm SA, Nakagawa S, Bretman A, Fricke C, Snook RR, Price TAR, Dougherty LR. Reproduction is more sensitive to warming than adult lifespan across invertebrates. In review at Ecology Letters. Preprint available at EcoEvoRxiv.
Pottier P, Dougherty LR, Vasudeva R, Berger D, Ramm SA, Domenech BC, Cole B, Drobniak S, Graziano M, Lupold S, Meena A, Pilakouta N, Schou MF, Simões P, Svensson E, Tuni C, Nakagawa S, Fricke C. Life-history traits do not always evolve in response to changing thermal environments. Submitted to Ecology Letters. Preprint available at EcoEvoRxiv
journal articles
2026
Grieve I, Pilakouta N (2026) No differences in reproductive success of burying beetles on lab vs field soil after adaptation to laboratory conditions. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Pilakouta N, Fisher D (2026) The role of social behaviour in providing resilience to environmental change. Journal of Animal Ecology
Brachmann MK, Costa APB, Robertson S, Donoghue K, Pilakouta N, Whitehead M, Liu X, Kristjansson B, Skulason S, Selman C, Parsons K (2026) Parallel adaptation to geothermally-warmed habitats due to common structural variation and functional developmental pathways. Nature Communications
Grieve I, Pilakouta N (2026) Thermal stress has size-dependent but not sex-specific effects on mortality in an insect model. Ecology and Evolution
Wiil J, Pilakouta N (2026) Early-life thermal stress reduces survival but has no long-term effects on reproduction in an insect. Journal of Thermal Biology
Grieve I, Pilakouta N (2026) Heatwaves impair female but not male fertility in a subsocial insect. Biology Letters
Sidhu K, Caplat P, Bocedi G, Pilakouta N, Lancaster LT (2026) The effect of differing levels of intrasexual and intersexual selection on survival and reproduction under a heatwave. Ecology and Evolution
2025
Smallegange I, Pilakouta N (2025) Linking the causes and consequences of phenotypic plasticity. Functional Ecology
Leiva FP, Ellers J, Berg MP, Cuxart-Erruz R, Barneche DR, Blackburn T, Castañeda L, Chown S, Gaitán-Espitia JD, Gebauer P, Gomez Isaza DF, Hardy ICW, Hermaniuk A, Hirst A, Jorissen S, Keasar T, Koene J, Le Lann C, Molinet C, Niklitschek EJ, Oliveira B, Orizaola G, Pilakouta N, Shameer KS, Shokri M, Stoks R, Tougeron K, Tuni C, van de Pol ILE, van Dis NE, Visser B, Vogels J, White CR, Wu N, Verberk W (2025) ShareTrait: Towards interoperable and reusable individual trait-based data. Functional Ecology
Burraco P, Hawkes L, Pilakouta N, Angelier F, Brans K, Orizaola G (2025) Evolutionary ecophysiology in extreme environments under a global change scenario. Conservation Physiology
Chatten A, Grieve I, Meligoniti E, Hayward C, Pilakouta N (2025) Predicting the effects of climate change on fertility in aquatic animals using a meta-analytic approach. Ecology Letters
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Featured as a Research Highlight in Nature Climate Change
2024
Pilakouta N, Hanlon EJH, Smiseth PT (2024) Intraspecific variation in parental care may reflect variation in parental quality. Ecology and Evolution
Pilakouta N, Allan D, Moore E, Russell A (2024) Chronic and acute thermal stressors have non-additive effects on fertility. Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Sidhu K, Zafeiri S, Malcolm C, Caplat P, Lancaster L, Bocedi G, Pilakouta N (2024) Heatwaves during early development have long-term consequences for parental care in adulthood. Animal Behaviour
Patterson C, Pilakouta N (2024) Effects of parental care on the magnitude of inbreeding depression: a meta-analysis in fishes. American Naturalist
Dougherty LR, Frost F, Maenpaa MI, Rowe M, Cole BJ, Vasudeva R, Pottier P, Schultner E, Macartney E,
Lindenbaum I, Smith JL, Carazo P, Graziano M, Weaving H, Domenech BC, Berger D, Meena A, Bishop
TR, Noble D, Simões P, Baur J, Breedveld MC, Svensson EI, Lancaster LT, Ellers J, De Nardo AN, Santos
MA, Ramm SA, Drobniak SM, Redana M, Tuni C, Pilakouta N, Zizzari V, Iossa G, Lüpold S, Koppik M,
Early R, Gasparini C, Nakagawa S, Lagisz M, Bretman A, Fricke C, Snook RR, Price TAR (2024) The
effect of temperature on animal reproduction: a systematic map. Ecological Solutions and Evidence
2023
Pilakouta N, Sellers L, Barratt R, Ligonniere A (2023) The consequences of heatwaves for animal
reproduction are timing-dependent. Functional Ecology
Pilakouta N, O'Donnell P, Crespel A, Levet M, Claireaux M, Humble JL, Kristjánsson BK, Skúlason S, Lindström J, Metcalfe NB, Killen SS, Parsons KJ (2023) A warmer environment can reduce sociability in an ectotherm. Global Change Biology
Pilakouta N, Humble J, Hill I, Arthur J, Costa A, Smith B, Killen SS, Kristjánsson BK, Skúlason S, Lindström J, Metcalfe NB, Parsons KJ (2023) Testing the predictability of morphological evolution in contrasting thermal environments. Evolution
Pilakouta N, Killen SS, Kristjánsson BK, Skúlason S, Lindström J, Metcalfe NB, Parsons KJ (2023) Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment. Ecology & Evolution
2022
Pilakouta N, Baillet A (2022) Effects of temperature on mating behaviour and mating success: a meta-analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology
2021
Campbell CS, Adams CE, Bean CW, Pilakouta N, Parsons KJ (2021) Evolvability under climate change: bone development and shape plasticity are heritable and correspond with performance in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). Evolution & Development
Pilakouta N, Alund M (2021) Sexual selection and environmental change: what do we know and what comes next? Current Zoology
2020 and before
Pilakouta N, Killen SS, Kristjánsson BK, Skúlason S, Lindström J, Metcalfe NB, Parsons KJ (2020) Multigenerational exposure to elevated temperatures leads to a reduction in standard metabolic rate in the wild. Functional Ecology
Parsons KJ, McWhinnie K, Pilakouta N, Walker L (2019) Does phenotypic plasticity initiate developmental bias? Evolution & Development
Pilakouta N, Hanlon EJH, Smiseth PT (2018) Biparental care is more than the sum of its parts: experimental evidence for synergistic effects on offspring fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Pilakouta N, Smiseth PT (2017) Mating preferences for outbred versus inbred males are conditional upon a female's own inbreeding status. Animal Behaviour
Pilakouta N, Correa MA, Alonzo SH (2017) Predation risk influences heterospecific mating preference in the green swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri. Ethology
Pilakouta N, Smiseth PT (2016) Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Pilakouta N, Halford C, Racz R, Smiseth PT (2016) Effects of contest experience and contest outcome on female reproductive investment and offspring fitness. American Naturalist
Pilakouta N, Sieber DJ, Smiseth PT (2016) Sibling competition does not exacerbate inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Pilakouta N, Richardson J, Smiseth PT (2016) If you eat, I eat: resolution of sexual conflict over consumption from a shared resource. Animal Behaviour
Pilakouta N, Jamieson S, Moorad JA, Smiseth PT (2015) Parental care buffers against inbreeding depression in burying beetles. PNAS
Pilakouta N, Richardson J, Smiseth PT (2015) State-dependent cooperation in burying beetles: parents adjust their contribution towards care based on both their own and their partner’s size. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Pilakouta N, Alonzo SH (2014) Predator exposure leads to a short-term reversal in female mate preferences in the green swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri. Behavioral Ecology
popular science articles
Pilakouta N (2018) Are two parents better than one? Yes, but only if you're a burying beetle. The Conversation