Project Leader/Coordinator
Juan José Negro Balmaseda
Estacion Biologica de Doñana
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Collaborative scientific institutions
Department of Ecological Modelling
Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research-UFZ Leipzig. Germany
Contact For Ecogenes: Volker Grimm (UFZ) & Eloy Revilla (EBD-CSIC)
Computational Ecology and Environmental Science Group Microsoft Research Centre
Cambridge. United Kingdom
Contact For Ecogenes: Richard Williams (Mrc) & Jordi Bascompte (EBD-CSIC)
Evolutionary Biology Centre
Uppsala University, Sweden
Contact For Ecogenes: Matthew Webster (BMC-UU) & Carles Vilà (EBD-CSIC)
Department of Animal Ecology
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Contact For Ecogenes: Theunis Piersma (Rug) & Jordi Figuerola (EBD-CSIC)
Biogeco (Biodiversity, Genes & Communities)
Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Bordeaux, France
Contact For Ecogenes: Rémy J Petit (Biogeco) & Pedro Jordano (EBD-CSIC)
Laboratoire de Recherche et de Conservation des Zones Humides
Biology Department. University Of Guelma, Guelma, Algeria
Contact For Ecogenes: Prof. B. Samraoui (Ug) & Jordi Figuerola (EBD-CSIC)
Stakeholders
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Government of Spain).
Department of Environment, Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (Regional Government Andalucía)
UNEP-MAP (Tunisia)
Red Electrica de España, SA
Abengoa, SA.
HIRED RESEARCHERS
Dr. Eaaswarkhanth Muthukrishnan
My research interest focuses on the adaptations or natural selection that has arisen from evolutionary history and human migrations due to different environmental conditions and its consequences in natural populations. My preceding doctoral and postdoctoral research experience provides a solid grounding in cutting-edge genetic techniques such as microarray-based SNP analyses and genome-wide sequencing. These techniques allow me to explore species of natural populations genetically to understand the mechanisms underlying adaptive variations.
Dr. Adrian Brennan
My primary research interests and experience are in ecological and quantitative genetics of hybridization, speciation, invasiveness, and reproductive systems in plants. My previous postdoctoral research experience includes study of these topics in Senecio species (ragworts) and, more recently, speciation genetics studies in Begonia. My contribution to the ECOGENES project at Doñana Biological Station will initially be ecological genomics analysis of wild Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) populations in the Mediterranean region.
Dr. Rudolf Philipp Rohr
As physicist, my primary research interests in ecology are in mathematical and statistical modelling. During my previous postdoc, I focused on the conception of new models for food-web structure, especially to study how life-history traits and phylogenetic correlation contribute to the architecture of trophic webs. My contribution to the ECOGENES project at Doñana Biological Station will initially be the extension of these modelling approaches to mutualistic networks.
Dr. Isabel Martínez Cano
I am interested in the study of the spatial patterning of biotic interactions, aspect which I have studied mainly in the context of the dynamics of temperate, mountain and tropical forest ecosystems. In my PhD at the University of Oviedo, I examined the influence of seed dispersal and predation by vertebrates in shaping the structure and function of temperate forests, combining field experiments and observations, and spatial analysis and modelling. I continued working as a Marie Curie Post Doctoral fellow at the UFZ ( http://www.thorsten-wiegand.de/ ), studying the response of Pyrenean treelines to climate change using individual-based models and species distribution modelling. During this time, I have also continued studying spatial patterns, although this time I focused on tropical forests as part of the ERC project ( http://www.thorsten-wiegand.de/towi_ERC.html ). Within the EcoGenes project, I will be part of the team focused on studying patterns derived from spatial-temporal population dynamics and their potential relation with life history, ecological, and behavioral traits.
Dr. Fernando Cruz
A central axis of my research is the efficiency of selection to shape natural variation. These changes have strong implications on genome evolution, population genetics and speciation. I use bioinformatic and comparative genomics approaches to better understand the evolutionary biology of vertebrates. Within the ECOGENES project I will get involved in different collaborations to identify the genomic footprints of global change and selection history in some endangered species (e.g. wolf, lynx, southamerican frogs...)
Dr. Rocío Márquez Ferrando
I am interested in understanding how phenotypic plasticity per se may allow shorebirds to change their migratory in response to environmental changes. In the EcoGenes project I aim to explain the actual distribution, abundance and habitat use of the threatened continental black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa limosa) during the non-breeding season. We try to explain why nonbreeding individuals choose to stay in Doñana instead of going to traditional wintering grounds in West-Africa as the most individuals used to do in the past. To answer the questions we will work toward a characterization on which individuals (which trait sets) use Doñana as wintering area, determine the plasticity in their migratory traits and investigate the potential consequences for breeding success in The Netherlands.
Dr. Laura Gangoso
With an important background in population ecology, biogeography and conservation of large vertebrates on insular ecosystems, my research interests at present focus on the study of the complex interactions between the individuals and the environment. Beyond the genetic changes that may occur via the process of evolution, phenotypic and physiological plasticity may allow species to tolerate new environmental conditions at shorter time scales. A key issue is to address the role played by phenotypic flexibility at intra- e inter-individual level as well as intra-and inter-species levels in the adaptation to physical drivers (e.g. temperature) associated to global climate change. During the coming years, I will try to answer several questions, such as: what mechanisms may individuals use to adjust their physiology, including metabolism, thermal relationships, endocrine responses and immune parameters, to changing habitat conditions? How these mechanisms might contribute to compensatory responses to physical drivers? Are there any trade-off associated to these mechanisms? What is the role of pathogens and the alteration of the immune parameters in shaping species distribution? To what extent these important physiological traits have a genetic basis or are attributable to phenotypic plasticity?
Dr. Francisco José Ramírez
During the last few years I have specialized in the application of several intrinsic tracers, mainly stable isotopes and fatty acids, into those diverse fields such as animal feeding ecology, reproductive strategies or pollutant biomonitoring. These approaches have proved to play a relevant role in the management and conservation sciences, and I would like to develop them within the framework of the EcoGenes Project.
Juan José Negro Balmaseda
Estacion Biologica de Doñana
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Collaborative scientific institutions
Department of Ecological Modelling
Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research-UFZ Leipzig. Germany
Contact For Ecogenes: Volker Grimm (UFZ) & Eloy Revilla (EBD-CSIC)
Computational Ecology and Environmental Science Group Microsoft Research Centre
Cambridge. United Kingdom
Contact For Ecogenes: Richard Williams (Mrc) & Jordi Bascompte (EBD-CSIC)
Evolutionary Biology Centre
Uppsala University, Sweden
Contact For Ecogenes: Matthew Webster (BMC-UU) & Carles Vilà (EBD-CSIC)
Department of Animal Ecology
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Contact For Ecogenes: Theunis Piersma (Rug) & Jordi Figuerola (EBD-CSIC)
Biogeco (Biodiversity, Genes & Communities)
Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Bordeaux, France
Contact For Ecogenes: Rémy J Petit (Biogeco) & Pedro Jordano (EBD-CSIC)
Laboratoire de Recherche et de Conservation des Zones Humides
Biology Department. University Of Guelma, Guelma, Algeria
Contact For Ecogenes: Prof. B. Samraoui (Ug) & Jordi Figuerola (EBD-CSIC)
Stakeholders
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Government of Spain).
Department of Environment, Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (Regional Government Andalucía)
UNEP-MAP (Tunisia)
Red Electrica de España, SA
Abengoa, SA.
HIRED RESEARCHERS
Dr. Eaaswarkhanth Muthukrishnan
My research interest focuses on the adaptations or natural selection that has arisen from evolutionary history and human migrations due to different environmental conditions and its consequences in natural populations. My preceding doctoral and postdoctoral research experience provides a solid grounding in cutting-edge genetic techniques such as microarray-based SNP analyses and genome-wide sequencing. These techniques allow me to explore species of natural populations genetically to understand the mechanisms underlying adaptive variations.
Dr. Adrian Brennan
My primary research interests and experience are in ecological and quantitative genetics of hybridization, speciation, invasiveness, and reproductive systems in plants. My previous postdoctoral research experience includes study of these topics in Senecio species (ragworts) and, more recently, speciation genetics studies in Begonia. My contribution to the ECOGENES project at Doñana Biological Station will initially be ecological genomics analysis of wild Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) populations in the Mediterranean region.
Dr. Rudolf Philipp Rohr
As physicist, my primary research interests in ecology are in mathematical and statistical modelling. During my previous postdoc, I focused on the conception of new models for food-web structure, especially to study how life-history traits and phylogenetic correlation contribute to the architecture of trophic webs. My contribution to the ECOGENES project at Doñana Biological Station will initially be the extension of these modelling approaches to mutualistic networks.Dr. Isabel Martínez Cano
I am interested in the study of the spatial patterning of biotic interactions, aspect which I have studied mainly in the context of the dynamics of temperate, mountain and tropical forest ecosystems. In my PhD at the University of Oviedo, I examined the influence of seed dispersal and predation by vertebrates in shaping the structure and function of temperate forests, combining field experiments and observations, and spatial analysis and modelling. I continued working as a Marie Curie Post Doctoral fellow at the UFZ ( http://www.thorsten-wiegand.de/ ), studying the response of Pyrenean treelines to climate change using individual-based models and species distribution modelling. During this time, I have also continued studying spatial patterns, although this time I focused on tropical forests as part of the ERC project ( http://www.thorsten-wiegand.de/towi_ERC.html ). Within the EcoGenes project, I will be part of the team focused on studying patterns derived from spatial-temporal population dynamics and their potential relation with life history, ecological, and behavioral traits.
Dr. Fernando Cruz
A central axis of my research is the efficiency of selection to shape natural variation. These changes have strong implications on genome evolution, population genetics and speciation. I use bioinformatic and comparative genomics approaches to better understand the evolutionary biology of vertebrates. Within the ECOGENES project I will get involved in different collaborations to identify the genomic footprints of global change and selection history in some endangered species (e.g. wolf, lynx, southamerican frogs...)
Dr. Rocío Márquez Ferrando
I am interested in understanding how phenotypic plasticity per se may allow shorebirds to change their migratory in response to environmental changes. In the EcoGenes project I aim to explain the actual distribution, abundance and habitat use of the threatened continental black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa limosa) during the non-breeding season. We try to explain why nonbreeding individuals choose to stay in Doñana instead of going to traditional wintering grounds in West-Africa as the most individuals used to do in the past. To answer the questions we will work toward a characterization on which individuals (which trait sets) use Doñana as wintering area, determine the plasticity in their migratory traits and investigate the potential consequences for breeding success in The Netherlands.
Dr. Laura Gangoso
With an important background in population ecology, biogeography and conservation of large vertebrates on insular ecosystems, my research interests at present focus on the study of the complex interactions between the individuals and the environment. Beyond the genetic changes that may occur via the process of evolution, phenotypic and physiological plasticity may allow species to tolerate new environmental conditions at shorter time scales. A key issue is to address the role played by phenotypic flexibility at intra- e inter-individual level as well as intra-and inter-species levels in the adaptation to physical drivers (e.g. temperature) associated to global climate change. During the coming years, I will try to answer several questions, such as: what mechanisms may individuals use to adjust their physiology, including metabolism, thermal relationships, endocrine responses and immune parameters, to changing habitat conditions? How these mechanisms might contribute to compensatory responses to physical drivers? Are there any trade-off associated to these mechanisms? What is the role of pathogens and the alteration of the immune parameters in shaping species distribution? To what extent these important physiological traits have a genetic basis or are attributable to phenotypic plasticity?
Dr. Francisco José Ramírez
During the last few years I have specialized in the application of several intrinsic tracers, mainly stable isotopes and fatty acids, into those diverse fields such as animal feeding ecology, reproductive strategies or pollutant biomonitoring. These approaches have proved to play a relevant role in the management and conservation sciences, and I would like to develop them within the framework of the EcoGenes Project.