Grant: Discovery Launch Supplement

Determining how biodiversity responds to climate change and human-induced stressors has been a central focus in the fields of ecology, evolution, and conservation over recent decades. This dynamic field continues to advance incrementally, leveraging both theoretical and empirical frameworks, and applying a wide array of experimental, observational, genetic, and statistical approaches. Despite numerous studies spanning various taxa, traits, and scales (from local to global), our ability to forecast future biodiversity patterns remains relatively limited. Understanding the causes and consequences of rapid biodiversity changes in space and time is one of the most pressing priorities in ecology and conservation. Studies have highlighted that human-induced stresses, such as climate change, changes in land use, and pollution, are likely the primary forces behind biodiversity changes. Nevertheless, our comprehension of the mechanisms underlying the magnitude and direction of those changes and actionable measures to restore ecosystems needs further investigation. Specifically, there are two major challenges in understanding spatial and temporal dynamics of biodiversity: 1) different anthropogenic stressors can interact and shape species responses in unexpected ways (e.g., synergy or antagonism); and 2) the amplitude of fluctuations of environmental conditions (e.g., temperature regimes) has changed during the last decades due to shifts in climate patterns, which potentially induce non-linear effects. Uncovering how these factors act and interact on biodiversity responses in space and time will improve our ability to predict global change impacts. This will provide scientists, practitioners, and decision-makers with the critical knowledge and tools for a more efficient conservation and management of biodiversity. This research program identifies key knowledge gaps in global change biology, which present a significant challenge to our ability to anticipate and address the consequences of global change, especially as climate change evolves and its effects become increasingly critical. We plan to integrate fieldwork, laboratory experiments, theory, and statistical analyses, to determine and measure the impact of climate change and anthropogenic stressors on species responses in freshwater ecosystems, and understand how landscape composition shapes those responses. My research lab will focus on odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) which are bioindicators of global change in freshwater ecosystems. This proposed program will establish a training environment that fosters the development of highly qualified personnel, who will harness interdisciplinary skills to address critical research questions with important socio-economic and environmental implications.