Título: On The Generality of Ecological and Evolutionary Processes
Palestrante: Mike Dawson (Associate Professor at the University of California, Merced)
Data: 26 Setembro
Local: Anfiteatro C (Complexo pedagógico - Campus Gambelas UAlg)
Hora: 13:30h
Abstract
Approximately
0.5–2.0 million eukaryotic species inhabit the seas, whereas 2.0–10.0
million eukaryotic species inhabit freshwater or the land. Much
has been made of this several-fold difference in species richness but
there is little consensus about the cause(s); nonetheless, the idea of an
elementary distinction between marine and terrestrial systems has become
pervasive. Here, I present three perspectives on the generality of ecological
and evolutionary processes, principally from the seas. First, I point out
that, by some metrics, differences within realms can exceed those between
realms; supposedly fundamental differences between sea and land are overly
simplistic binary representations of more complex, theoretically rich, suites
of comparisons, for which relevant frameworks are being developed.
Second, I note that comparisons that lack
a relevant framework have over-emphasized unpredictability in some
processes (e.g. dispersal) within realms, which itself has
hindered discovery of general processes across realms. In contrast,
for example, when comparing genetic structure in synchronously diverging
co-distributed species, using standardized analyses of eastern North
Pacific rocky intertidal species, differences in the number of propagules
and their pelagic duration (PD) are sufficient to explain measured
differences in population genetic structure (FST).
A quantitatively similar relationship between PD and FST
for co-distributed species from the Great Barrier Reef suggests general,
perhaps predictable, interactions between species’ traits and geographical
variation and their effect on population structure. Third, I describe
patterns of species diversity in marine lakes in the context of island
biogeographic theory. I find that species richness is related to area and
colonization distance, and that community similarity is related to environment,
i.e. marine lakes show patterns that parallel those for terrestrial islands.
These results may indicate greater generality in ecological and
evolutionary processes across aquatic and terrestrial environments than usually
previously inferred.
Bio
He
began his education in the UK, with a BS in Marine Biology at the University of
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, before moving to the University of California at Los
Angeles where he gained his PhD studying the comparative phylogeography of
marine invertebrates and fishes. During his time as a Vice-President's
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales (Sydney,
Australia) and subsequent appointments at the Coral Reef Research Foundation
(Palau) and University of California, Davis (USA), Mike developed research foci
in the phylogenetic systematics of scyphozoan jellyfishes, community
genetics, and the evolutionary ecology of marine lakes. The last of
these, particularly, piqued his curiosity in similarities and differences
between aerial, freshwater, marine, and terrestrial biogeography and
contributed to his joining the International Biogeography Society (IBS), for
which he has been the Vice-President for Public Affairs and Communications
since 2007. Through his involvement with IBS, Mike also has had
opportunity to work as an Associate Editor for Journal of Biogeography and
Deputy Editor-in-Chief for Frontiers of Biogeography.