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Research Groups

Biodiversity of Deserts and Arid Regions

The primary objective is to assess biodiversity patterns in deserts and arid regions. Ecological modelling, remote sensing, morphological and genetic data, and GIS are used in three main research lines:

Biodiversity distribution: atlas of distribution of species, multi-scale identification of biodiversity hotspots, identification of environmental and physiological factors related to distribution, and multi-time scale modelling of biodiversity distribution. Atlases of the distribution of amphibians and reptiles for Mauritania, the Banc d’Arguin NP in Mauritania, and the Kabylie province in Algeria, are being prepared. Identification of environmental factors related to biodiversity distribution is being developed for numerous water-dependent taxa in the Sahara. Research on mechanistic models linking physiological traits and distribution patters of endangered Vipera snakes under climate change scenarios are planned to start (FCT proposal). New software tools to model the distribution of biodiversity are being developed;
Evolutionary and Landscape processes: determination of biogeographical relationships and spatial patterns in morphological and genetic variation, identification of barriers to gene flow, and investigation of the role of paleogeographical mechanisms in diversification events. Studies on phylogeographic patterns in desert-ranged taxa are being developed. Analyses are focused on Mauritanian (on-going FCT project) and Algerian mountains (FCT proposal) and aim to assess diversification levels and refugia character of these “mountain-islands”. Particular care will be placed on molecular data analyses with geostatistics and GIS for deriving spatial patterns of genetic diversity. Least-cost corridors and gene flow estimates are being combined to understand metapopulation patterns (on-going FCT project). Past landscapes/climates in the Iberian Peninsula are being reconstructed to address diversification events;
Conservation planning: identification of threatened taxa and of factors making populations or species prone to extinction, design of optimised reserve solutions for biodiversity conservation, and simulation of the effects of climate change on biodiversity distribution. Studies on reserve design for biodiversity conservation will seek to integrate demographic and molecular data to cover distinct biodiversity levels (genes and species) under climate change scenarios. Studies target the Iberian Peninsula hotspot (FCT proposal) and Mauritania. Research at determining genetic conservation units in endangered desert-dwelling taxa will be developed. Red List evaluation of Sahara mountains taxa will continue. The effects of repeated-fire regimes, an important source of disturbance on biodiversity distribution in arid areas, is planned to start (FCT proposal).

Studies are developed in the desert, arid and semi-arid regions of North-West Africa and the Mediterranean Basin, the latter a global biodiversity hotspot, and particular attention is being paid to the Sahel and the Saharan “mountain-islands”. Climate Changes predictions forecast significant warming and increase of aridity conditions for these regions and other bordering areas of current deserts. Thus, the Mediterranean and the Sahel are upfront desertification areas were biodiversity research is urgent. The UN settled the 2010-2020 as the Decade for Deserts and Fight against Desertification, thus research is needed to quantify present biodiversity levels and to provide conservation planning options. The group is committed at gathering reliable data at useful scales and at producing outputs of high scientific standard, to be used as guidelines for conservation policies.