Aim of the study

My interdisciplinary PhD project is based in the Institutes of Applied Physics (official affiliation) and Evolution and Ecology.

Trapped by shape: physical limitations of the existence of terrestrial snails due to their construction plan.

My research questions:

(1) External limitations imposed by thermodynamic constraints: To what extent do thermal balances limit the potential survival of land snails of different sizes in different habitats?

• Simulation of the heat balance as a 1-D model.
• Measurement and modelling of water losses.
• Adaptation of modelling parameters to real geometry.
• Coupling the heat balance to habitat conditions.    
• Prediction of extinction and future potential distribution on earth.

(2) Internal limitations imposed by structural constraints: What are the consequences of the animals' evolved construction plan for the protection of internal organs against high temperature?

• Simulation of temperature distribution in the organism as a function of the environmental conditions.
• CFD simulation.
• Prediction of critical boundary conditions (e.g. overheating organs).

(3) Limitations imposed by the interface structure: What optimisation of the (nano-)structuring of the interface between organism and external medium to avoid high heat transfer has evolved?

• Determination of the absorption properties of the shell of differently heat-tolerant species
• Measurement of radiation properties.
• Parameter identification and modelling of absorption

(4) Limitations in habitat adaptation due to the developmental programme of species: Does the interaction of temperature and metabolic maximum in species of different size limit the real distribution of land snails?

• Determination of the interactions of metabolism, mass and temperature (influence of temperature on metabolic optimum at different masses, influence of metabolism on maximum size (and thus temperature tolerance) of species, influence of metabolism and temperature on growth and time to reach maximum size in a given species).
• Micro-respirometer measurements in different species.
• Coupling metabolism and growth during individual development.