Institute record of Evolutionary Biology & Ecology

Information

Type

Organization

Name

Evolutionary Biology & Ecology

Acronym

ULB

Parent institute

Université Libre de Bruxelles; Faculté des Sciences

Description @en

Research activities within the unit of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (EBE) focus on five complementary thematics in evolutionary biology:

• natural substances produced by organisms that share the same environment from their secondary metabolism play a major role in interactions (intra- or interspecific). EBE focuses on pheromones involved in conspecific recognition among insects but also on the role of chemicals in insect-plants interactions (chemical defense, chemical mimicry);
• problems of biodiversity conservation are studied in the local area and in tropical forest ecosystems. At a local scale (Brussels and suburbs), EBE is interested in the distribution and behaviour of endangered species, which require to study potential competitors in expansion (invasive species). Bats, birds and ladybirds belong to the focus groups. In tropical forest, focus groups are termites and ants but also trees, on wich an evaluation is conducted of the biodiversity and its variations depending on natural environment conditions and human activities impact;
• evaluation and own development of available statistical tools to characterise the organisation of genetic diversity and identify the processes involved (genetic drift, dispersal, mutation, selection). Study of the genetic structure of societies and populations of social insects (ants, termites), and their social consequences in terms of reproductive strategies. Phylogeographic studies are conducted, at the interface between populations and species, to gain insights into the geographic distribution of genetic variation and on the mechanisms of speciation;
• gaining of a deeper understanding of the principles that lead evolution of animal societies and the ecological consequences of social life: organisation of societies, reproductive strategies and conflicts within groups. These researches focus on social insects (ants, termites), using several approaches as behaviour, ecology and genetics;
• studies of alpha taxonomy (identification and description of genus and species) are made in part for their own interest (inventory of living organisms), but also as a basis for studies on biodiversity estimation. Building of phylogenies, thanks to genetic tools, allows to elaborate evolution outlines for other features: social organisation, behaviour, reproduction.

Within these research activities, marine research topics studied are:

• biology and conservation of marine turtles;
• delimitation of marine species using molecular markers and morphology;
• genome assembly and analyses of marine species, with implications for fisheries in the case of species of economic importance;
• search for novel enzymes and other natural products (such as antibiotics) in the genomes of marine species (e.g., sponge-associated bacteria);
• phenotypic and physiological plasticity of marine species (such as coral holobionts);
• comparative analyses of genome sizes in marine organisms, trophic chains in the sea. The taxa studied include corals, crustaceans, sponges as well as vertebrates (turtles, elasmobranchs).