About Me

My research seeks to understand the processes underlying the origin, resilience and adaptability of biodiversity, to be able to predict how biodiversity will respond to environmental change. To do so, my research uses a broad conceptual and empirical toolkit, working across the fields of evolutionary genetics, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, metabolic ecology, and ecological stoichiometry.

Evolutionary ecology of ecosystem resilience

One of the most concerning effects of environmental change is that ecosystems may undergo persistent critical transitions that radically alter their structure and the functioning when 'tipping points' are exceeded. Due to their dire effects, a large body of research has investigated how environmental changes by altering ecological processes trigger tipping point responses in ecosystems. However, there is ample evidence that environmental changes do not only alter ecological processes but also selective pressures that can drive rapid changes in phenotypic traits. Yet, the framework used to assess tipping point dynamics in ecosystem has lacked the evolutionary component thus far. To contribute towards the closure of this gap, I am currently developing a framework that integrates evolutionary processes in ecological models of ecosystem tipping points.

Further reading:

• Chaparro‐Pedraza, P.C. Fast environmental change and eco-evolutionary feedbacks can drive regime shifts in ecosystems before tipping points are crossed. Proc. R. Soc. B, 288: 20211192 (2021).
• Chaparro‐Pedraza, P.C., Matthews, B., deMeester, L., Dakos, V. Adaptive evolution can both prevent ecosystem collapse and delay ecosystem recovery. The American Naturalist, 198(6), E185-E197 (2021).
• Chaparro‐Pedraza, P.C., de Roos, A.M. Ecological changes with minor effect initiate evolution to delayed regime shifts. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4, 412–418 (2020). 

Ecological diversification

Ecological diversification is thought to have given rise to much of the diversity of life on earth. To understand the origin of biodiversity, it is therefore fundamental to identify the factors facilitating or constraining ecological diversification. My research aims to identify and understand these factors in an ecological and developmental context:

Ecological diversification and ecological interactions: Organisms rely upon interactions with other individuals for food, reproduction or defense. Ecological interactions thus shape an organism's fate. I have been investigating how ecological interactions, such as predator-prey, can influence diversification.

Further reading:

• Chaparro‐Pedraza, P.C., Roth, G., Seehausen, O. The enrichment paradox in adaptive radiations: emergence of predators hinders diversification in resource rich environments. Ecology Letters, 25, 802–813 (2022).

Ecological diversification and organisms' development: The functional roles of organisms change profoundly during development. Growth in body size is a fundamental property of life, and it unavoidably comes with changes in survival, metabolism and ecology. With my research, I seek to understand how this universal property of living organisms promote or constrain diversification.

Further reading:

• Chaparro‐Pedraza, P.C. Differential stage-specific mortality as a mechanism for diversification. BioRxiv. 

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Publications

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