Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C510908/1
Neutral theories to explain genetic diversity of aquatic insects.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor AP Vogler, Imperial College London, Biological Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor D Bilton, University of Plymouth, Sch of Eng, Comp and Math (SECaM)
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor TG Barraclough, University of Oxford, Biology
- Grant held at:
- Imperial College London, Biological Sciences
- Science Area:
- Freshwater
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Natural Resource Management
- Global Change
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Systematics & Taxonomy
- Population Ecology
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Conservation Ecology
- Community Ecology
- Abstract:
- Although biological diversity is now of wide concern to society, we know surprisingly little about the general principles of how diversity is generated and maintained. Are there general rules which determine the distribution of species and the richness of biodiversity in an area? Can we make any predictions from these rules, to establish for example how these distributions will change with the changing climate? A new theory of biodiversity attempts to explain the distribution of diversity in an amazingly simple way, and for the first time provides a unified principle useful as the level of populations, species and entire ecosystems. The main idea of this theory is that species diversity is due to 'neutral' processes rather than due to direct interactions of species suggested in traditional models. While plausible, proof for the theory is based largely on computer simulations, not the real world. This project will make use of recent progress in DNA technology to test if a particular study group, aquatic beetles in the family Dytiscidae, conform to these neutral expectations. A fundamental issue in this theory is the degree of migration of individuals between habitats. Aquatic beetles are ideal to test these questions because they occur in well defined freshwater habitats with discrete distances between them. Due to the differences in their habitat structure and persistence, some groups will rely more heavily on dispersal than others. We will compare these groups carefully, studying entire communities, to test for species interactions over neutral models. Because we are working on the DNA level, this work will also provide new knowledge about how biodiversity is distributed at the level of genes, rather than species in current investigations. The study will demonstrate a new way of studying biological diversity and testing the forces that shape the species richness of the living world.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C510908/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £281,624
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Staff | Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Equipment | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £136,162 | £8,270 | £64,063 | £10,495 | £62,634 |
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