Life Finds a Niche: Ecological Specialisation Across the Tree of Life скачать в хорошем качестве

Life Finds a Niche: Ecological Specialisation Across the Tree of Life

Sara Gamboa, Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen (ZNS), Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg. @paleobicha Ecological specialisation is often viewed as an evolutionary dead end, yet many of the most diverse lineages on Earth are composed largely of specialised species. In this seminar, I explore how different dimensions of ecological specialisation — including climatic niches, biome occupancy, and diet breadth — shape patterns of diversification across taxa and spatial scales. Using a macroecological and macroevolutionary framework, I will present results from recent work testing classic hypotheses about niche breadth, ecological opportunity, and evolutionary success, including empirical evidence on how specialisation relates to speciation and extinction dynamics. I will also discuss how integrating large biodiversity databases, phylogenies, and trait information allows us to revisit long-standing ideas about the role of ecology in generating and maintaining biodiversity. Overall, the talk highlights specialisation not as a constraint, but as a dynamic and context-dependent strategy in the evolutionary assembly of biodiversity.