REA EXCELLENT SCIENCE DEPARTMENT MARIE CURIE EUROPEAN COMMISSION - ANCHIALINE CAVES TO UNDERSTAND EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES (VERBANIA) (DTA.AD002.296)

Thematic area

Earth system science and environmental technologies

Project area

Structure responsible for the research project

Water research institute (IRSA)

Project manager

DIEGO FONTANETO
Phone number: 0323518300
Email: d.fontaneto@ise.cnr.it

Abstract

Anchialine environments represent world-wide distributed land-locked water bodies with marine origin. They are comparable to islands for terrestrial habitats as they encompass young, discrete habitats with comparable ecological conditions to the sea, thus providing independent replicates of comparable evolutionary processes. All anchialine habitats previously investigated harbor high endemism, disharmonic communities, species with unique set of troglomorphic features, and old animal lineages interpreted as living fossils. In the four research parts of this project, we will test each of these observations and the processes related to them by analyzing large data sets with both macroecological and phylogenetic methods and a broad theoretical perspective from the field of evolutionary ecology, comparative evolution and island biogeography. This will facilitate to link the ecological and evolutionary processes observed in these habitats (easy to isolate and test due to the discrete and young nature of anchialine habitats) with those affecting oceanic ecosystems, providing a tool for a deeper understanding of the marine biota.

Goals

The goal of this project is to use the animal communities inhabiting anchialine environments as a model to investigate
evolutionary patterns and processes in island-like marine habitats.

Start date of activity

01/11/2017

Keywords

ANCAVE

Last update: 14/05/2024