The macroevolutionary dynamics of interacting species

How can we explain the diversity of life on Earth? The patterns and processes that describe how species traits evolve can provide key insights into the origin of species across the tree life. Recent interest has focused on patterns emerging from adaptive radiations where species interactions, particularly competition, are thought to be of particular importance. However, most models include ecology only by post-hoc inference: comparative analyses of evolution are often ecologically neutral and ignore ecological mechanisms such as competition and limiting similarity. But ecological processes can determine both the distributions of traits across species and the shape of the tree of life itself. New models indicate that the patterns emerging from ecological processes depend on subtle differences in the generating process and may be strikingly different from those currently under consideration. The aim of this project is to apply and extend macroevolutionary models of traits and phylogenies under different assumptions about underlying ecology. Empirical tests distinguishing between competing models will be applied to phylogenies and functional trait data from a broad range of organisms, including, but not limited to, birds and insects. This project would suit a student with interests in evolutionary ecology and data analysis/modelling.