The staff of the Phylogenetic and Functional Ecology Lab (LEFF) is devoted to develop and apply innovative ecological research across multiple ecological scales (individuals within populations, populations within communities, communities within ecoregions or biomes), integrating micro- and/or macroevolutionary and ecological (phenotypic traits, environmental gradients) dimensions of biodiversity, which ultimately determine coexistence patterns for different biological groups. Projects currently developed at LEFF have the following main goals:
1) to propose new analytical tools that allow discriminating multiple interplays between evolutionary process, phenotypic trait patterns and environmental gradients for co-occurring species pools;
2) to generate theoretical and empirical knowledge on the influence of evolutionary processes on spatial distribution patterns of individuals within populations, populations within communities, and communities within ecoregions/biomes, and to what extent those patterns correlate to biogeographical factors and current environmental gradients;
3) to evaluate patterns of evolution of ecological traits in different biological groups and their relationships with dispersal capacity and habitat use.
4) to analyze the impacts of land use by man on multiple dimensions of biodiversity.