Coevolutionary mechanisms among antagonists: parasitoids and hosts as a study model

• Grant number: 21/13127-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2021
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Grantee: Caroline Marques Dracxler da Silva
• 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

Abstract

Ecological interactions are among the main drivers of biodiversity. Organisms of all taxa are necessarily involved in different types of interactions which can potentially promote diversification and reciprocal changes in interacting species, i.e. coevolution. Understand which mechanisms underlie coevolutionary processes is essential to develop accurate predictions about biological systems. Interactions between parasitoids and their hosts represent an ideal system to understand coevolutionary dynamics and for the elaboration and test of hypotheses regarding the role of coevolution on biological diversity. The goal of this project is to investigate the underlying mechanisms and processes that drive the development of defenses by hosts, and how parasitoids counteract such defenses. The reciprocal influence of interaction patterns and the underlying coevolutionary mechanism ultimately promote or constrain the diversity in this system. (AU)