Understanding body size variation across and within species has been a main quest in evolutionary biology, but many of the mechanisms underlying body size evolution remain elusive. This is largely because of the complex interplay of different factors such as climate, diet and interactions with competitors and predators. Island are simplified ecosystems with a reduced number of habitats, species diversity and number of predators, and generally milder climate, making them ideal natural laboratories for dissecting the intricate mechanisms underlying body size evolution. ISLADAPT aims to unravel mechanisms of morphological evolution and species diversification in birds, using both macro and microecological-evolutionary approaches based on state-of-the-art methodologies such as metabarcoding and Bayesian analysis. First, this project will use data from museums and literature for endemic island species and their closest relatives from mainland worldwide (WP1) to unravel the underlying mechanisms, such as changes in the ecological niche, geographical features and phylogeny, that explain the systematic morphological changes on islands (WP2). Second, ISLADAPT will use field-based data to test the hypothesis that morphological changes on islands are linked to changes in the feeding niche breadth. To do this, faeces and biometric data will be analysed from 20 bird species from Gulf Guinean Island and the nearby mainland, and diet composition will be identified with metabarcoding techniques (WP3). Third, ISLADPT will examine the relationship between bird morphological evolution and lineage diversification on islands by using biometric data from museums and phylogenetic information for three archipelagos: New Caledonia, the Gulf of Guinea and Salomon Islands (WP4). ISLADAPT will therefore address central, open questions in island biology and reveal the underlying mechanisms, thereby providing a major contribution to our understanding of island adaptation.

West Africa produces approximately half of the cacao consumed worldwide, but yields are threatened by unsustainable farming practices and the impact of pests and diseases. It is thus urgent to develop sustainable alternatives that protect local biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services such as biological pest control. Trophic ecology research is necessary to understand the ecology of pest predators and how to enhance them, but there are still large knowledge gaps in cacao trophic webs. Mesopredatory arthropods have been rarely researched, despite being considerably more abundant and diverse than apex predators, whose effect on pests and cacao yield has been studied. TheCacaoWeb aims to address central knowledge gaps about the role of mesopredatory arthropods in biocontrol and cacao crop yield in Côte d’Ivoire, the largest cacao producer worldwide. Through a multi-factorial experiment and metabarcoding approaches, I will assess how the diversity and diet of mesopredatory arthropods changes when agroforests are managed with or without insecticides, and under the presence of different shade tree species. Through a secondment at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, I will be able to assess how insectivorous birds affect mesopredatory arthropods and their diets, and the consequences of these multi-trophic interactions for crop yield. This secondment will also allow me to work as a researcher outside academia. TheCacaoWeb will bridge key gaps in trophic ecology, while addressing pressing questions to enhance sustainable farming practices in the cacao field. I will share my results with stakeholders in Switzerland, Côte d’Ivoire, and other countries in West Africa, expanding my collaboration network and ensuring that my scientific advances impact practice. This project will position me as an independent tropical ecologist in Europe standing out for the ability to apply scientific advances to solve current problematics in tropical agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

Understanding body size variation across and within species has been a main quest in evolutionary biology, but many of the mechanisms underlying body size evolution remain elusive. This is largely because of the complex interplay of different factors such as climate, diet and interactions with competitors and predators. Island are simplified ecosystems with a reduced number of habitats, species diversity and number of predators, and generally milder climate, making them ideal natural laboratories for dissecting the intricate mechanisms underlying body size evolution. ISLADAPT aims to unravel mechanisms of morphological evolution and species diversification in birds, using both macro and microecological-evolutionary approaches based on state-of-the-art methodologies such as metabarcoding and Bayesian analysis. First, this project will use data from museums and literature for endemic island species and their closest relatives from mainland worldwide (WP1) to unravel the underlying mechanisms, such as changes in the ecological niche, geographical features and phylogeny, that explain the systematic morphological changes on islands (WP2). Second, ISLADAPT will use field-based data to test the hypothesis that morphological changes on islands are linked to changes in the feeding niche breadth. To do this, faeces and biometric data will be analysed from 20 bird species from Gulf Guinean Island and the nearby mainland, and diet composition will be identified with metabarcoding techniques (WP3). Third, ISLADPT will examine the relationship between bird morphological evolution and lineage diversification on islands by using biometric data from museums and phylogenetic information for three archipelagos: New Caledonia, the Gulf of Guinea and Salomon Islands (WP4). ISLADAPT will therefore address central, open questions in island biology and reveal the underlying mechanisms, thereby providing a major contribution to our understanding of island adaptation.

The lagomorphs (rabbits, hares and pikas) are a successful mammalian group, which play key roles in many ecosystems (sustaining other species' communities and populations). The ongoing climate change is pushing most of their species into the extinction, and their demise can entail the decline of their communities and ecological systems consequence of a dramatic knock-on effect. The present project, REvoBBIT, aims to contribute to search solutions to this severe challenge from an unexplored perspective in this mammalian group: the Conservation Palaeontology. Through the study of the bone and teeth of extinct lagomorphs, it is possible to reveal the biological strategies and evolutionary shifts of those species or populations that were resilient and survived to past global warmings and coolings. This is a very significant knowledge to be considered in the conservation decision-making process of extant relatives. With this ultimate goal, REvoBBIT will study the extinct rabbits and hares from Sierra de Atapuerca (Pleistocene), which endured important glacial and interglacial periods, using trusty morphological methods and frontier molecular and geochemical techniques. Teeth and postcranial bones will be assessed disclosing their weight, diet, genetic size and diversity, as well as the past environmental conditions where they lived (temperature, humidity, etc.). The subsequent statistical analysis will let to identify the most significant ecological stressors and drivers that were involved in the evolution of lagomorphs. The results obtained in REvoBBIT will be the first step to build a big deep-time database of the lagomorph palaeobiology, and to develop predictive models of biotic response. At present, the significant knowledge gap in the palaeobiology and palaeoecology of this mammalian group prevents that palaeontological data will be considered in the protocol conservation design of extant relatives.

Imagine you are a farmer who arrives in a land in the far west of Europe and encounters unfamiliar plants and people. How would you react? Would everyone adapt in a similar way? These are the kinds of decisions that the first farmers made when they arrived on the Atlantic coast during the Neolithic period. The life of the first farmers is more than a single and linear story, it is a mosaic of different narratives, both individual and collective, that need to be addressed. Despite the significant contributions of many scholars to our understanding of Neolithic communities in Western Europe, both in terms of their material and immaterial manifestations, there remains considerable uncertainty about the impact of the complex human-environment relationships associated with the adaptation of sedentary life on the Atlantic shores. Using a convergent and multidisciplinary research approach involving archaeobotany, chemical analysis, functional ecology and food systems, this project aims to examine the adaptation of the Atlantic region to the first agricultural communities from the 5th to 3rd millennium BC. By analysing the whole process of crop selection and wild food management, from the initial stages to the final preparation of food, the project offers insights into the rationale behind these choices. Studying the early farmers is not only a matter of historical interest; it also provides a basis for understanding the evolution of food systems and the factors that shaped them, giving us invaluable lessons for the present and emerging future of biodiversity and food security.