| Grant number: | 09/54422-8 |
| Support Opportunities: | Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants |
| Start date: | June 01, 2010 |
| End date: | October 31, 2015 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology |
| Principal Investigator: | Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior |
| Grantee: | Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| City of the host institution: | São Paulo |
| Associated research grant(s): | 18/14809-0 - Evolutionary dynamics in ecological networks, AP.JP2 |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 15/12956-7 - How does species abundances affect the coevolutionary dynamics in mutualistic networks?,
BP.MS 11/15754-5 - Eusocial insects and the structure of pollination networks, BP.MS 11/17968-2 - Structure and geographical variability in mutualistic networks of plants and their frugivorous birds, BP.PD + associated scholarships - associated scholarships |
Abstract
One of the most central questions in evolutionary ecology is to understand how the evolution of species traits is affected by ecological interactions. Currently, a well-developed set of theories is available to describe how ecological interactions, such as mutualisms, mold and are molded by evolution and coevolution. These theories focus on the study of pairwise interactions. We already know, though, that even the most intimate types of species interactions are affected by other species in a given locality. In fact, most of these interactions involve dozens of species, forming ecological networks. The structure of different types of mutualistic networks has been described through metrics rooted on graph theory and statistical mechanics. However, the description of structural patterns of these networks has just began and we still do not understand how structure and coevolutionary dynamics are related in species networks. In this proposal, I would like to investigate how network structure and coevolution are related in mutualisms. To accomplish this goal, I will combine the approaches derived from network theory, numerical simulations and evolutionary models to ecological data. In a broader context, I expect to contribute to one of the timing topics in evolutionary ecology: the emergence of a theory to describe and predict the structure and coevolutionary dynamics of species networks. (AU)
| Articles published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the research grant: |
| More itemsLess items |
| TITULO |
| Articles published in other media outlets ( ): |
| More itemsLess items |
| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |
| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |