Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: EDUARDO KOERICH NERY

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : EDUARDO KOERICH NERY
DATE: 24/02/2023
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: https://meet.google.com/qpt-mzvk-ooh
TITLE:

The evolution and consequences of ecological specialization in a Neotropical plant system

PAGES: 169
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Botânica
SUMMARY:

Ecological specialization is a common pattern designating those organisms with a relatively narrow breadth over some niche axes. On the one hand, specialization forecasts reduced geographic ranges that can increase extinction rates under changing environmental scenarios. On the other hand, specialization presumes mechanisms favoring mating with self-similar partners, including self-fertilization, which can increase population genetic isolation and consequently specification rates. Hence, ecological specialization can be a major driver of biological diversity, but evidences are still equivocal. The high plant diversity in tropical systems has been traditionally assigned to increased specialization over environmental gradients, i.e. environmental specialization, which would be a mechanism supporting plant species coexistence.  However, environmental specialization could also have promoted plant species diversification, a process often assumed rather than tested. The Atlantic Forest (AF) is a Neotropical montane domain that concentrates an outstanding plant species diversity within a relatively small geographic space, becoming an evolutionary enigma. Traditionally, AF’s plant diversification has been assigned to geographic isolation imposed by montane landscapes and the Pleistocene climatic shifts. Nonetheless, AF’s montane landscapes provide a wide range of habitat types for environmental specialization. This thesis addressed how environmental specialization has impacted plant species diversification in the AF domain. More specifically, the thesis aimed to answer: (1) whether environmental specialization is likely to evolve and to associate with plants with small geographic range, i.e. endemism, in the AF domain or not; (2) whether environmental specialization is associated with the evolution of plant mating system in the AF domain or not; (3) whether environmental specialization has impacted plant species diversification along with montane landscapes and the Pleistocene climatic shifts in the AF domain or not. Each major question was separately addressed in a study. All studies utilized comparative phylogenetic methods over geographic, environmental, and phenotypic data retrieved from a major clade Miconia, which includes AF-endemic and non-endemic plant species. The first study indicated that increased environmental specialization is selectively favored in the AF domain, correlating with reduced geographic range among AF-endemic plant lineages. The second study indicated that self-fertilization is selectively favored in the AF domain, favoring environmental specialization among AF-endemic plant lineages. The third study indicated that environmental specialization and montane landscapes have lead to increased speciation rates, while the Pleistocene climatic shifts have decelerated plant species diversification. Taking that, the thesis expands our current perspective on the origins of plant species diversity in the AF domain, highlighting environmental specialization as a major driver of plant evolution. Moreover, the thesis provides evidence that ecological specialization promotes biological diversification, contributing to a long-standing debate in the ecology theory.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - Interno ao Programa - 2887832 - ANSELMO NOGUEIRA
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Interno ao Programa - 058.701.134-31 - LAURA CAROLINA LEAL DE SOUSA - NENHUMA
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - GUSTAVO BURIN FERREIRA
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - VINÍCIUS LOURENÇO GARCIA DE BRITO
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - MARCELO REGINATO