Integrating genetic data, phenotypic traits and abiotic factors to investigate the adaptation of spiders in the Brazilian Dry Diagonal

• Grant number: 20/03148-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: May 01, 2020
• End date: October 13, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Agreement: NSF - Dimensions of Biodiversity and BIOTA
• Principal Investigator: Vera Nisaka Solferini
• Grantee: Rafael Lima Vergilio
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/03428-5 - Dimensions US-BIOTA-Sao Paulo: traits as predictors of adaptive diversification along the Brazilian Dry Diagonal, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The Dry Diagonal (DD) is a wide corridor of open vegetation between the Atlantic and the Amazon Rain Forests, comprising three biogeographic domains: Chaco, Cerrado e Caatinga. The Brazilian Dry Diagonal (BDD) (Cerrado and Caatinga) represents 2/3 of the DD and it is characterized by a great seasonality in temperature and precipitation, which influences several biologic features of the organisms. Recently, new methodologies have alowed a better comprehension of the climate influences on morphological and genetical features of organisms. Characteristics that had been studied independently can now be integrated, improving the comprehension of the evolutionary processes leading to adaptation. This project will study the species Dolichothele rufoniger (Araneae: Theraphosidae) that occurs along the BDD, with some populations found in the Atlantic and the Amazon Forests. The aims are to study differentiation at the genomic and phenotypic levels to understand the process underlying the biological diversification in the BDD. This proposal is integrated in the project "Dimensions US-BIOTA-São Paulo: Traits as predictors of adaptative diversification along the Brazilian Dry Diagonal" (FAPESP 2018/03428-5). (AU)