Biodiversity

In addition to research on infectious diseases, I have also engaged in collaborative research on global patterns of biodiversity in mammals. Using resources such as published species level mammal supertrees, IUCN data on mammal geographic ranges, and compiled data on mammalian behavioral, morphological and ecological data in PanTHERIA and other sources it is now possible to address key questions in evolutionary ecology at unprecedented scales. For example, topics that I am currently engaged in include the effects of niche conservatism on the phylogenetic heritability of geographic range distributions in mammals, the factors that affect patterns of parasite community similarity between mammal species, and how trait diversity relates to other dimensions of biodiversity such as species richness and phylogenetic diversity.

 

In the future, using techniques and theoretical approaches developed in mammals, we will broaden this research to encompass other vertebrate groups, particularly amphibian and reptile groups. Supertrees are available or soon will be available for most major vertebrate groups, and species geographic range data are available for the majority of terrestrial vertebrates. Squamate reptiles are one group that is particularly ripe for this approach.  Squamates consist of more than 10,000 recognized species, constituting more than a quarter of all terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.  Yet compared to birds, mammals and amphibians we know relatively little about them.  For example, nearly 40% of species have not yet had their risk of extinction evaluated by the IUCN, and the first global biodiversity map to include all squamate species was only published in 2018.  Our knowledge of the factors that drive large scale patterns of squamate biodiversity and variation in the threat status of species remains in its relative infancy compared to other terrestrial vertebrates, and I have several ongoing projects focused on squamate reptile biodiversity and macroecology.