Tomos Potter

Academic Profile

My research has focused on how ecological and evolutionary processes interact to modify populations. This interest arose during my B.Sc. in Zoology at the University of Manchester, where I examined how population growth of a focal genotype of aphid was influenced by genetic interactions with its host and competitors. During the first half of my M.Sc. at the University of Amsterdam, I explored the genetics of hybrid incompatibility in diverging populations of spider mites. Later, I investigated the role of individual traits and population demography on intraspecific competition, and how these factors may have influenced the evolution of different life-history strategies in Trinidadian guppies. Prior to starting my DPhil, I worked as a field assistant, and then field research manager, for the Guppy Project; a long-standing field experiment investigating contemporary evolutionary change in populations of fish in Trinidad.

Current Research

I am interested in understanding the relationship between rapid evolutionary change and ecological dynamics. Traits may evolve rapidly in response to ecological change. Additionally, changes in the distribution of traits in a population may modify ecological processes. This process is termed eco-evolutionary dynamics, and may form complex feedback loops at multiple scales of organismal biology.

Using the well-studied system of Trinidadian guppies, I hope to understand the role of metabolic rate in particular in driving population-level eco-evolutionary dynamics. I aim to take a multidisciplinary approach, combining individual-based modelling, genetics/genomics, and field- and lab-based experiments, to better understand the interaction between population dynamics and changes in the distribution of heritable traits.


Knegt, B., Potter, T., Pearson, N., Sato, Y., Staudacher, H., Kiers, T., & Egas, M. (2016). "Detection of genetic incompatibilities in non-model systems using simple genetic markers: hybrid breakdown in the haplodiploid spider mite Tetranychus evansi." Heredity, advance online publication, 26 October 2016, doi: 10.1038/hdy.2016.103

Khudr, M. S., Potter, T., Rowntree, J., & Preziosi, R. F. (2014). "Community genetic and competition effects in a model pea aphid system." Advances in Ecological Research, Vol 50: Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics, 50, 243-265

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