Influence of environmental gradient on speciation and spatial patterns of biodiversity

• Grant number: 21/10318-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar
• Grantee: Inês Motta Comarella
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Biodiversity gradients such as the latitudinal and altitudinal are among the most general macroecological patterns in ecology, but their mechanistic causes are still debated in science. Advances in this issue have been driven largely by empirical results, which diverge among taxa and support different hypotheses. Still, these results show that environment gradients are a key piece in solving this ecological-evolutionary puzzle. In this context, a mathematical theory may be a promising tool to help determine the biological plausibility of verbal theories, in addition to providing predictions that go beyond empirical generalizations. Thus, this project aims to investigate the mechanisms by which environmental gradients can generate spatial gradients of biodiversity, applying a theoretical approach. For this, I intend to modify the individual-based and spatially explicit evolutionary model proposed by AGUIAR et al. (2009), adding an environmental gradient that will impose selective pressure on individuals according to their geographic location. In this way, we will simulate the environment in which species may have evolved, which varies over space and time.

Academic Publications

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

COMARELLA, Inês Motta. Competition, selection and the effects of environmental gradients on biological diversity. 2024. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia Campinas, SP.