1) Population differentiation and species formation in Galápagos:
An example of the significance of population demography and speciation studies is the research I am undertaking in Galápagos, one of the largest, most complex and most diverse archipelagos remaining in the world. On the one hand, the results will provide tremendous insight into the possible ecological and geographical particulars that promote population differentiation and species formation. On the other hand, it will provide information on the main threat to the highly endemic biota of the archipelago: future possible extinctions, due mainly to introductions of exotic species. The results of the demographic history of populations provided by this study will also help detect potential extinctions at the population level of native species, the number of which is notably greater than those at the species level, identifying its possible ecological or historical/geographical correlates. One more potential benefit is the early detection of habitat fragmentation due to human activity, information that will prove useful when formulating management and conservation policies.
This long term project is a collaboration with Ecuadorian researchers in The Charles Darwin Research Station like entomologist Lázaro Roque Albelo and with Analia Lanteri (UNLP, Argentina)
2) Other projects and collaborations already underway:
The re-colonization of ancient conifers by bark weevils (Cossoninae) in collaboration with Brian Farrell (Harvard University).
The study of effects of founder events and bottlenecks on North American populations of the introduced weevil Brachyderes incanus which causes severe injuries to conifers (in collaboration with Brent Emerson, University of East Anglia, UK)
The evolution of host switches in small ancient families of weevils with Southern Hemisphere disjunct distributions (in collaboration with Adriana Marvaldi and Silvia Ferrer, Crycit, Argentina).
The potential effect of host plant choice on diversification in weevils (in collaboration with D. McKenna and B. Farrell, Harvard University and Adriana Marvaldi, Crycit, Argentina).
