Sören Nylin
Professor, Ecology
Department of Zoology
Stockholm University
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
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 2008-2013 I served as Head of
Department. From January 1 2015 I serve as Dean of the Biology Section of the
Faculty of Science.
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.
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 Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Research on the
Lepidoptera 2010-2017.
Research interests
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. My latest personal research project (2016-2019)
is "What is host range?”, funded by the Swedish
Research Council (VR). 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 and moth 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. In recent years I have added a genomics approach, in collaboration
with Chris Wheat.
Major
research collaborations: I was 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. In
July 2016 this project fused with the Bolin
Centre for Climate Research. I am project leader for the 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. 2012. Host plant quality adaptively affects the diapause
threshold: evidence from leaf beetles in willow plantations. Ecological
Entomology 37: 490-499. Download
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
Celorio-Mancera,
M. D., Wheat, C.W., Vogel, H., Janz, N., Nylin,
S. 2013. Mechanisms of macroevolution: polyphagous plasticity in butterfly
larvae revealed by RNA-Seq. Molecular Ecology 22: 4884-4895. Download
Audusseau, H., Nylin, S., & Janz, N. 2013.
Implications of a temperature increase for host plant range: predictions for a
butterfly. Ecology and Evolution,
3, 3021-3029. Download
Nylin, S., J. Slove, N. Janz. 2014. Host plant utilization, host range oscillations and
diversification in nymphalid butterflies: a phylogenetic investigation.
Evolution 68: 105-124. Download
Wang, H., Fan, X., Owada, M., Wang, M. and Nylin, S. 2014. Phylogeny, systematics and biogeography of the
genus Panolis (Lepidoptera: Noctuideae) based on morphological and molecular evidence. PLoS One 9(3): e90598. Download
Gamberale-Stille, G.,
Söderlind, L., Janz, N. and Nylin, S. 2014.
Host plant choice in the comma butterfly – larval choosiness may ameliorate
effects of indiscriminate oviposition. Insect science 21: 499-506. Download
Nylin, S.,
Söderlind, L., Gamberale-Stille, G., Audusseau, H., Celorio-Mancera,
M.D.L.P., Janz, N., & Sperling, F.A.H. 2015. Vestiges of an ancestral host
plant: preference and performance in the butterfly Polygonia faunus and its sister species P. c-album. Ecological
Entomology 40: 307-315. Download
Wang, H., Wahlberg, N., Holloway,
J.D., Bergsten, J., Fan, X., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs,
W., Wen, L., Wang, M., & Nylin, S.
2015. Molecular phylogeny of Lymantriinae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea,
Erebidae) inferred from eight gene regions. Cladistics 31: 579-592. Download
Kucerova, L., Kubrak,
O.I., Bengtsson, J.M., Strnad,
H., Nylin, S., Theopold, U., & Nassel, D.R. 2016. Slowed aging during reproductive dormancy
is reflected in genome-wide transcriptome changes in Drosophila melanogaster. BMC Genomics, 17: 50. Download
Schäpers, A., Nylin, S., Carlsson, M.A., & Janz, N. 2016. Specialist and
generalist oviposition strategies in butterflies: maternal care or precocious
young? Oecologia,
180, 335-43.
Larsdotter-Mellström, H., Eriksson, K.,
Janz, N, Nylin, S. and Carlsson,
M.A. (2016) Male butterflies use an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone to tailor
ejaculates. Functional Ecology 30: 255-261. Download
Larsdotter-Mellström, H., Eriksson, K.,
Liblikas, I.I., Wiklund, C., Borg-Karlson,
A.K., Nylin, S., Janz, N. and
Carlsson, M.A. (2016) It’s all in the mix:
Blend-specific behavioral response to a sexual pheromone in a butterfly.
Frontiers in Physiology 7: 68. Download
Xi, X.Q., Wu, X.W.,
Nylin, S. and Sun, S.C. (2016) Body
size response to warming: time of the season matters in a tephritid fly. Oikos 125: 386-394.
Mozuraitis, R., Radziute, S., Apsegaite, V., Cravcenko, A., Buda, V. and Nylin, S. (2016) Volatiles released from foliar extract of host
plants enhance landing rates of gravid Polygonia
c-album females, but do not stimulate oviposition. Entolomogia
Experimentalis et Applicata 158: 275-283.
Celorio-Mancera, M.D., Wheat, C.W., Huss, M,,
Vezzi, F., Neethiraj, R., Reimegard, J., Nylin,
S. and Janz, N. (2016) Evolutionary history of host use, rather than plant
phylogeny, determines gene expression in a generalist butterfly. BMC
Evolutionary Biology 16: 59. Download
Janz, N., Braga,
M.P., Wahlberg, N. and Nylin, S.
(2016) On oscillations and flutterings
– a reply to Hamm and Fordyce. Evolution 70: 1150-1155.
Audessau, H., Celorio-Mancera, M.D., Janz, N. and Nylin, S. (2016) Why stay in as bad relationship? The effect of local
host phenology on a generalist butterfly feeding on a low-ranked host. BMC
Evolutionary Biology 16: 144. Download
Lehmann, P., Pruisscher, P., Posledovich, D., Carlsson, M., Kakela,
R., Tang, P., Nylin, S., Wheat,
C.W., Wiklund, C. and Gotthard, K.
(2016) Energy and lipid metabolism during direct and diapause
development in a pierid butterfly.
Journal of Experimental Biology 219: 3049-3060. Download
Kubrak,
O.I., Kucerova, L., Theopold, U., Nylin, S. and Nässel, D.R.
Characterization of reproductive dormancy in male Drosophila melanogaster. (2016) Frontiers in Physiology 7: 572. Download.
Audessau, H., Le Vaillant, M., Janz, N., Nylin, S., Karlsson, B. and Schmucki, R.
(2017) Species range expansion constrains the ecological niches of resident
butterflies. Journal of Biogeography 44: 28-38. Download
Kubrak, O.I., Nylin, S., Flatt, T., Nässel, D.R. and
Leimar, O. (2017) Adaptation to fluctuating environments in a selection
experiment with Drosophila melanogaster. Ecology
and Evolution 7:
3796-3807. Download.
Lehmann P, Nylin S, Gotthard K & Carlsson MA (2017) Idiosyncratic development of sensory
structures in brains of diapausing butterfly pupae: implications
for information processing. Proceedings of the Royal Society
B-Biological Sciences 284. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0897. Download
Lehmann,
P., Van Der Bijl, W., Nylin, S., Wheat, C.W. and
Gotthard, K. (2017) Timing of diapause termination in relation to variation in
winter climate.
Physiological Entomology in press, early online.
Pruisscher,
P., Larsdotter-Mellström, H., Stefanescu,
C., Nylin, S., Wheat, C.W. and Gotthard, K. (2017) Sex-linked inheritance of
diapause induction in the butterfly Pieris
napi. Physiological
Entomology in press, early online.
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