Evolution of a tropical high-altitude insect community in the Andes inferred from a global phylogenetic framework

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Balke
• Subject Area: Systematics and Morphology (Zoology) ; Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 496550039

The tropical high Andes feature extremely diverse ecosystems, with some of the world’s fastest plant radiations. This wealth of species and forms has attracted naturalists for a long time. Yet, the evolutionary origin of the high Andean biota remains little studied. Over the past decade, molecular phylogenetics and biogeographical analyses provided the technological and conceptual framework to study the evolution of Andean taxa in a comprehensive context. Little attention has, however, been directed at invertebrates to date, a major exception being butterflies. Here, we suggest to sample aquatic Coleoptera (here: diving beetles, Dytiscidae) from high Andean wetlands, which are integrative part of the Paramo and Puna plateaus – the roof of South America. This project is therefore a multinational cooperation. First, we use a DNA barcoding and morphology workflow to characterize the mostly undescribed Andean species, and reveal their large scale phylogeographic patterns, as well as clades potentially useful for later population genomic investigation of speciation. Second, we select individuals of all species, as well as congeners and related taxa from elsewhere, and use a shallow whole genome sequencing approach to generate data for phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses. Based on our extensive existing Dytiscidae database (>50% of the 4,000 known species with exisiting Sanger sequencing data, ca. 350 species with existing phylogenomic data), we will be in the unique position to reconstruct the evolutionary history, community assembly and morphological adaptation of this part of the Andean biota embedded in a global phylogeny.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Lars Hendrich; Dr. Adrian Villastrigo