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The lab aims to understand the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain Neotropical biodiversity. We investigate how populations diverge, species originate, and evolutionary lineages respond historical changes by integrating evolutionary genetics, population genomics, phylogeography, molecular systematics, hybrid zone analyses, and biogeography. By combining genomic, phenotypic, ecological, and spatial data, we address fundamental questions about speciation, diversification, adaptation, and the geographic distribution of biodiversity. Our research focuses primarily on birds and other vertebrates from Neotropical ecosystems.
Research
Speciation Genomics and Hybrid Zones
A major focus of our research is understanding how speciation and reproductive barriers arise and are maintained during recent diversification. We combine genomic and phenotypic data to investigate how recently diverged Neotropical bird species establish and maintain genetic and phenotypic differentiation. Our work examines genomic islands of differentiation, adaptive divergence, and the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of reproductive barriers, using natural hybrid zones as evolutionary laboratories to study the early stages of speciation.
Phylogeography and Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Vertebrates
We investigate how geological history, climatic fluctuations, and landscape dynamics have shaped the diversification of Neotropical biodiversity. By integrating multilocus and genomic datasets with ecological niche modeling and spatial analyses, we reconstruct the demographic history and evolutionary relationships of populations across the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and montane ecosystems. Our studies have revealed cryptic diversity, clarified systematic relationships, and tested hypotheses regarding the roles of climatic refugia, landscape connectivity, and historical barriers in driving lineage diversification.
Evolutionary Genetics, Systematics, and Biodiversity Discovery
Our research integrates taxonomy, evolutionary genetics, and genomics to delimit species, uncover cryptic diversity, and understand the evolutionary processes underlying diversification. By combining genomic data with morphological, ecological, and geographic information, we address systematic questions in vertebrates while investigating patterns of genetic structure, demographic history, and local adaptation. This integrative approach has revealed previously unrecognized lineages, refined species boundaries, and provided new insights into the evolutionary history and diversification of poorly studied Neotropical taxa.
Climate Change, Mountain Biodiversity, and Conservation
Our lab investigates how environmental change influences biodiversity across space and time. Through long-term ecological research and landscape genomics, we study the effects of past and future climate change on species distributions, genetic diversity, and community composition, particularly in the montane ecosystems of the Chapada Diamantina in northeastern Brazil. These studies integrate evolutionary biology with conservation planning, generating knowledge that supports biodiversity management and contributes to large collaborative initiatives such as the Long-Term Ecological Program (PELD-DIAM) and the Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology for Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution (INCT IN-TREE).
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