Ecology and evolutionary dynamics are intimately linked and can operate at the same time scale. A key challenge for NIOO is to study the role of evolution for ecological interactions and processes involving micro- meso- and macroorganisms in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, in order to better understand how these processes may influence the capacity of species to respond to changes in their (a)biotic environments. Our aims are:

  • Predict evolution and its implications for ecological interactions, and ecosystem functioning.  
  • Study the genetic architecture and its diversity to predict the direction and rate of rapid evolution.
  • Consider interspecific differences in rates of genetic adaptation that may determine the response of communities to environmental change.

This research will help to develop a better understanding and prediction of algal blooms and its impact on water quality, the spread of disease, the proliferation of invasive species, and adaptation of biota to anthropogenic change.

 

Contact

Steven Declerck
Mark Zwart

Spotlight

Evolution in your back garden – great tits may be adapting their beaks to birdfeeders

British enthusiasm for feeding birds may have caused UK great tits to have evolved longer beaks than their European counterparts, according to new research. The findings, published in Science, identify for the first time the genetic differences between UK and Dutch great tits which researchers were then able to link to longer beaks.

 

'Eco-evo: untwining the strings of life'

 – Steven Declerck