This week we welcome Luke Mahler.
Anthropocene determinants of diversity in island anole lizards
The central aim of my research is to understand how ecological and evolutionary factors combine to determine biodiversity patterns over large spatial and temporal scales. To do this, I use radiations of Anolis lizards on Caribbean islands as a natural experiment to test hypotheses about macroevolution, biogeography, and community ecology. In this seminar, I will ask how biogeographic patterns and community structure, both of which bear strong signatures of macroevolutionary history, are being reshaped by human activities in the Anthropocene. Specifically, I will ask how classic biogeographic factors (e.g., island area and isolation) and economic trade combine to predict species richness in invaded island faunas, and how natural climate gradients and recent land use patterns jointly predict the assembly of local communities within islands.
