Rodrigo R. Granjel. University of Seville. Supervisors: Oscar Godoy & Juan Arroyo. Start in 2017.
Summary:
Understanding the mechanisms by which biodiversity is
maintained is a key issue in ecology. According to contemporary species
coexistence theory, niche differences tend to stabilise coexistence when
intra-specific competence is higher than inter-specific competence. In
the absence of niche differences, fitness differences determine the
greatest competitor and, thus, coexistence only occurs when niche
differences overcome fitness differences.
Within this framework, I aim to (i) determine the role of spatiotemporal
variability of soil resources on plant diversity, (ii) explore how the
multilayer interaction network (pathogens, floral visitors, herbivores,
mycorrhizae) affects biodiversity, (iii) determine the interactive
effect of biotic and abiotic variation on biodiversity, and (iv) explore
the capacity of species functional traits and phylogenetic
relationships to predict coexistence.
To do so, I'm working on two different ecological systems: a
biodiversity experiment in Switzerland (PaNDiv experiment), where common
perennial plants from central Europe grow under treatments of nitrogen
addition and pathogen release; and a marshland in Doņana National
National Park (S Spain), where I observe the dynamics of a natural
community of annual plants under a gradient of soil salinity and water
availability.