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Crossing evolutionary boundaries: lizards in the Amazon-Cerrado transition

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About This Project

We are studying the evolution of lizards in the Amazon-Cerrado transition zone. In ecology, a transition zone between two biomes is called an ecotone. Most of the Amazon degradation is concentrated along this ecotone, in the 'arc of deforestation'. The ecotone vegetation is different from the core areas of both biomes, and might respond differently to climate change. We want to understand how lizards evolved in this transition zone, and how differently they might respond to climate change.

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What is the context of this research?

The Neotropical region has a remarkable biodiversity in its two largest biomes: the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna. These biomes harbor some of the richest fauna and flora on the planet, but are also highly threatened by continuous human pressure. There is a very extensive contact zone between these two biomes, where the vegetation mosaic is structurally and functionally different from the core vegetation of the Amazon and the Cerrado. In ecology, a transition zone between two biomes is called an ecotone. The largest part of the Amazon degradation is concentrated in the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone, along the so-called ‘Arc of Deforestation’. Like most ecotones, this area has been historically neglected in terms of scientific research and conservation efforts.

What is the significance of this project?

Ecotones can act as environmental filters of variable permeability that moderate the flow of species and genes. They can also have a role on the origin of biodiversity. The environmental and biological pressures vary from the core to the periphery of biomes, which should be reflected in the genetic structure of the organisms in the transition areas.

However, such predictions have hardly been tested, and we know very little about the evolution of organisms in the ecotones!

The Amazon-Cerrado ecotone may show different responses to climate change compared to the core vegetation of the two biomes. Similarly, animals that live in this area might have different physiological adaptations, and different evolutionary responses to climate change and habitat degradation.

What are the goals of the project?

Our project investigates the evolutionary processes that generate biodiversity in the highly threatened Amazon-Cerrado ecotone, and the possible role of climate change on those processes. We seek to understand how lizards evolved in this transition zone, and to quantify the genetic diversity and extinction risks of populations. To do that, we will use genomic data from the Amazon Racerunner (Ameiva ameiva) and test how the ecotone filters the genetic diversity of this species. We will also use physiological data to try and understand how differently the ecotone populations might respond to climate change, compared to the core Amazon and Cerrado populations.

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Throughout our team’s many years of research in the Amazon and Cerrado, we have already collected all the lizard samples we need. After that, we collected genomic data from several individuals of different localities, and now the most important part of the research needs your help! We have to analyze this massive amount of data we accumulated, and this is no trivial task. To do that, one of us will travel to the United States to collaborate with other experts in the field, and build a data analysis framework that will allow us to extract as much information as possible from the data (travel costs). After that, analyzing the data will require a very powerful computer to handle computational intensive analyses on such a large dataset (computer workstation).

Endorsed by

This project will shed light into very interesting and important evolutionary and ecological questions in the amazing Amazon-Cerrado transitional system. The research team is one of the most qualified group of scientists in their area to develop such a beautiful study.
The Amazon and Cerrado biomes are perhaps the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. They are also among the most threatened. However, we still know very little about how these environmental transitions impact genetic diversity in animals that occupy both biomes; knowledge that is critical to understanding the longterm impacts of habitat loss and climate change in the region. This team is unsurpassed in its expertise and ability to address these important questions.
The Amazon/Cerrado ecotone is among the most complex in the world. Both are heavily impacted by “development,” and are of critical conservation importance. Understanding causes and processes of diversity along this ecotone is a challenge, and studies on lizards promise to contribute considerably to this effort because 1) lizard diversity high in both the Amazon Rainforest and the Cerrado, 2) there appears to be very little faunal exchange, and 30 lizards can be relatively easily sampled. This promises to be a breakthrough study.

Meet the Team

Fabricius Domingos
Fabricius Domingos
PhD

Affiliates

Universidade de Brasília
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Fernanda P Werneck
Fernanda P Werneck
PhD

Affiliates

National Institute of Amazonian Research
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Guarino Rinaldi Colli
Guarino Rinaldi Colli
Associate Professor

Affiliates

Universidade de Brasília
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Fabricius Domingos

I am an evolutionary biologist, mostly interested on the diversification of Neotropical organisms. When I was six years old, I told my mom that wanted to be 'one of those scientists that name species', and specifically claimed that I would study reptiles. Indeed, I became an herpetologist, and I've been studying lizards for almost 13 years now. After all those years, I'm still interested in taxonomy, but most of my research involves investigating the evolutionary and biogeographic patterns that generate biodiversity. I am also a heavy metal aficionado, and all my scientific activities are developed under the most extreme soundtrack that humans could conceive.

Fernanda P Werneck

I am a researcher at the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Manaus, Brazil). My main research lines integrate ecological and evolutionary approaches to investigate the processes responsible by patterns of diversity, genetic variation and diversification of Neotropical amphibians and reptiles.

Guarino Rinaldi Colli

I am an Associate Professor at Universidade de Brasília. My research interests include the biogeography, conservation, ecology and evolution of the Cerrado herpetofauna.

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