Integrating geospatial methods into evolutionary biology and conservation: case studies on selected Western Palearctic herpetofauna

Many evolutionary processes are influenced by spatio-temporal environmental variation, including speciation, genetic divergence among populations, and evolutionary change in physiology, morphology and behaviour. However, despite the extensive environmental data available from Geographic Information...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Pous, Philip de
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/301628
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/301628
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Herpetologia
Evolució
Conservació
Biogeografia
Evolución
Conservation
Herpetology
Evolution
Biogeography
Producció animal
59
Descripción
Sumario:Many evolutionary processes are influenced by spatio-temporal environmental variation, including speciation, genetic divergence among populations, and evolutionary change in physiology, morphology and behaviour. However, despite the extensive environmental data available from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) most evolutionary biologists and conservationists have not taken advantage of this data until recently. The general objective of this thesis was to integrate and expand the use of geospatial methods in evolutionary biology (biogeography, phylogeography and systematics) and conservation research. This general objective was accomplished through three specific objectives spread over six chapters, which compromised both methodological developments and their application in a series of case studies on Western Palearctic herpetofauna. This thesis explored and successfully used a number of promising new geospatial methods in combination with more traditional molecular analyses. Such integrative approaches will ultimately allow us to better consider and examine the range of potential histories underlying both inter and intraspecific divergence patterns.