How does differences in generation times affects coevolution in ecological networks?

• Grant number: 19/22146-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Grantee: Leandro Giacobelli Cosmo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/14809-0 - Evolutionary dynamics in ecological networks, AP.JP2
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/07939-0 - How does coevolution in mutualistic networks shapes discrete polymorphisms?, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Coevolution is one of the main processes shaping living organisms' phenotypes and earth's biodiversity. In the past few years, our knowledge of how coevolution proceeds in mutualistic and antagonistic pairs of species has greatly improved from both an empirical and a theoretical perspective. Yet, theoretical predictions of the coevolutionary process remains challenge because (1) in ecological communities species have the potential to coevolve with hundreds and even thousands of other species; (2) the way that species are connected in these communities can affect how coevolution proceeds and (3) coevolution can occur at different ecological scales. Among these scales, the time scales involved in the coevolutionary process can be very asymmetrical because species that coevolve in ecological networks frequently differ in their generation times and thereby, evolve at different paces. Such differences may interact with network structure and produce unique coevolutionary dynamics that can help explain complex phenotypic patterns found in natural communities. However, they may also destabilize ecological interactions and thus, it is essential to address possible mechanisms that can buffer the coevolutionary effects of differences in generation times. Here we propose to theoretically investigate how differences in generation times among interacting species affect coevolution in ecological networks. Moreover, we address how two possible buffering mechanisms, inducible traits and indirect defenses, modulate these effects. To achieve this goal, we will combine mathematical modelling and network science with numerical simulations parameterized with the structure of empirical ecological networks. We expect that our results will move us one step forward to understand how coevolution shapes species phenotypic traits, ecological interactions and Earth's biodiversity. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSMO, LEANDRO G.; YAMAGUCHI, LYDIA F.; FELIX, GABRIEL M. F.; KATO, MASSUO J.; COGNI, RODRIGO; PAREJA, MARTIN. From the leaf to the community: Distinct dimensions of phytochemical diversity shape insect-plant interactions within and among individual plants. JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, v. 109, n. 6, p. 2475-2487, JUN 2021. (13/25991-0, 14/50316-7, 19/22146-3)

COSMO, LEANDRO G.; ASSIS, ANA PAULA A.; DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; VALIDO, ALFREDO; JORDANO, PEDRO; THOMPSON, JOHN N.; BASCOMPTE, JORDI; GUIMARAES JR, PAULO R.. Indirect effects shape species fitness in coevolved mutualistic networks. Nature, v. N/A, p. 21-pg., 2023-07-19. (21/14335-0, 16/14277-2, 19/22146-3, 18/14809-0, 19/25478-7, 22/07939-0)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

COSMO, Leandro Giacobelli. How does coevolution in mutualistic networks shape the fitness and persistence of species?. 2023. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.