Descrizione del progetto
Esplorare il modo in cui gli organismi interagiscono
Le interazioni ecologiche sono alla base degli ecosistemi e svolgono un ruolo chiave nella disponibilità dei servizi che forniscono. Gli sforzi per comprendere queste interazioni hanno preso in considerazione i processi ecologici ed evolutivi nelle comunità che si basano sulla dimensione corporea media delle specie. Tuttavia, questi metodi potrebbero essere imperfetti in quanto trascurano i cambiamenti, spesso accentuati, delle dimensioni corporee degli organismi durante il loro sviluppo. Il progetto EcoEvoDevoNetwork, finanziato dall’UE, intende condurre una ricerca senza precedenti sul modo in cui i processi evolutivi, ecologici e di sviluppo modellano la comparsa e il mantenimento di reti complesse di organismi che interagiscono. I risultati dello studio apriranno nuove prospettive sulle reti eco-evolutive complesse e forniranno strumenti per valutare e monitorare l’impatto delle attività umane sugli ecosistemi.
Obiettivo
Ecological interactions are the backbone of ecosystems and play an essential role in the availability of the services they provide. These interactions are to a large extent dictated by the body size of the interacting organisms. Efforts to understand the origin and maintenance of networks of interacting organisms have considered ecological and evolutionary processes in communities based on species-averaged body size. However, this species-centric approach neglects the often dramatic body size changes of organisms during their development. EcoEvoDevoNetwork will for the first time explore how evolutionary, ecological and developmental processes shape the emergence and maintenance of complex networks of interacting organisms, and will investigate how these processes mediate responses to environmental change. The result will open new vistas in complex eco-evolutionary networks and provide tools to assess and monitor the impacts of human activities on ecosystems. The research proposed here will build on recently developed ecological framework that synthesize size-structured models and trophic network models, and will extend it by incorporating evolutionary processes. This extended framework will for the first time explicitly account for processes at three different levels of biological organization: individual, population and community, in an ecological and evolutionary context. The applicant has a strong background in eco-evolutionary dynamics of size-structured populations, and will benefit from the expertise of the supervisor (Dr. C. Melián) in eco-evolutionary networks and statistical modeling during this project. The excellent supervision, infrastructure and facilities at the host institute will ensure the successful execution of this project and will provide a unique opportunity for the applicant to build a strong career in science.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
8600 Dubendorf
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