Jordi Moya-Laraño. Associate Research Professor
NEWS: 1st
European Community Genetics Meeting . Manchester, UK. 7-8th January 2010. Special
focus on the role of genetic variation in ecological networks,
modeling approaches in community genetics, GxG interactions
and host-parasite interactions.
Contact
Unidad Mixta de Investigacion en Biodiversidad
Universidad de Oviedo
Dpt. Biología de Organismos y Sistemas. Ecología.
jordi [at] eeza.csic.es
Research interests
As reflected in my research, I have a broad interest in ecology and evolution. Research focus on generalist predators, including community genetics, the quantitative genetics and evolution of sexual size dimorphism and food web ecology. I am also interested in statistical analysis as applied to ecology and evolution.
Academic and professional history
2009-present Associate Research Professor – Instituto
Cantábrico de
Biodiversidad, Oviedo, Spain
2004-2008 “Ramón y Cajal” research fellow. Department of Functional and
Evolutionary Ecology. Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas. CSIC
(Spanish Research Council). Almería, Spain
2002-2003 Department of Entomology. University of Kentucky.
Post-doctoral researcher. Principal Investigator: Charles W. Fox
2000-2002 Fulbright Post-Doctoral Scholar. Department of
Entomology. University of Kentucky, USA. Principal Investigator:
David H. Wise
Ph. D. Autonomous University of Barcelona. September 1999
B. A. Autonomous University of Barcelona. July 1993
Ongoing projects
COMMUNITY GENETICS AND FOOD WEBSWe are investigating the role
of genetic variation in food web interactions. I am currently working
on an invited paper for a special issue in Community Genetics (Phil Tr
R Soc). I show how genetic variation within species engaged in food web
interactions may substantially change food web structure (connectance,
looping, distribution of interaction strengths) and thus food web
stability. Simulations show how in a food web module including two
intraguild predators (wolf spiders) sharing a common prey and known
predator-prey ratios, in the top (larger) spider predator, the room for
cannibalism increases from 10 to 20% with an increase in genetic
variation in growth rates, potentially leading to strong changes in
food web structure. This may have important consequences for the
stability of the whole community. I argue that genetic variation in
growth rates and its genetic correlation with personalities (i.e.
boldness/aggression) may largely determine food web structure, thus
linking behavioral syndromes to food web dynamics and ultimately to
ecosystem functioning. I finally conclude my contribution with an
outline for future research to uncover how genetic variation and
diversity can affect food web structure and dynamics. In my research
group, we are currently implementing Individual Based Models to study
the role of genetic variations in food web structure and dynamics.
Also, with José M. Montoya we are editting a special issue for The Open Ecology Journal on genetics and
evolution in ecological
networks.
Collaborators: José M. Montoya, Richard Preziosi
COMPARATIVE ECOLOGY OF FOOD WEBS
The diversity of interacting animals within food webs may be crucial
for ecosystem
functioning. We are investigating how arthropod diversity in the
leaf-litter food web may determine the rate of leaf litter
decomposition in beech forests across three National Parks from North
Spain (Picos de Europa, Ordesa and Aigüestores). We are using a
combination of approaches to measure diversity, including species,
functional, taxon and phylogenetic diversity; the latter estimated from
the DNA barcodes of the species involved. The rate of decomposition is
especially relevant for beech forests as they suffer from nitrogen
limitation and these forests are currently declining in their Southern
range, likely due to global warming. In addition, the beech forests in
these three
National Parks likely expanded during the last millennia from
independent glacial refugia.
We are planning in seeking for patterns of predator-prey parallel
(micro)evolution among these evolutionarily independent food webs.
PhD students: Nereida Melguizo (Hired as graduate student - 1
Year)
Collaborators: Miquel
A. Arnedo, Marta Montserrat, Francisco
Valera,
THE EVOLUTION OF EXTREME SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM IN SPIDERS
Why males and females differ may be explained by their divergent life styles. However, disentangling which environmental factors are responsible for the evolution and maintenance of sex divergence is not always trivial. The evolution of Sexual Size Dimorphism (SSD) is most intriguing in spiders, the terrestrial animal group showing the strongest SSD, with females being up to 100 heavier than males in some species. In this group males are the searching sex and as such the selective pressures that operate upon males may be radically different than those operating on females. We are expanding our knowledge on the selective pressures that favor smaller males by investigating and expanding the Gravity Hypothesis of SSD (Moya-Laraño et al. 2002), which states that smaller males are favored during mate search because a small size allows males to be faster at reaching females living above ground. We combine biomechanical models of animal movement with field and laboratory experiments.
PhD students: Guadalupe Corcobado
Collaborators: Matthias
W. Foellmer, Dejan
Vinković, Miguel
A. Rodríguez-Gironés
STATISTICAL ANALYSES
We use simulations to demonstrate the validity of statistical procedures. We have proposed the use of Inverse Logistic Regression to study sets of variables that respond to simple treatments, which has been shown to raise the statistical efficiency by several times relative to the more conventional techniques. We have also used simulation to illustrate how to plot partial correlation and regression in publications. Perhaps, the most relevant statistical contribution is a new way to estimate animal body condition by statistically taking into account the physical density of the body (i.e., body mass relative to body volume controlled for structural size). Other simulations studies are on their way.
NOTICE:
On Friday 27 of March 2009 I got enough from renewing licenses for commercial statistical software and I switched all my work to R
Past projects
THE BENEFITS OF SEXUAL CANNIBALISM FOR FEMALE MEDITERRANEAN
TARANTULAS
Although sexual cannibalism (i.e., females killing and consuming males
before, during or after mating) may be widespread in some animal taxa,
it is not clear whether it is beneficial to females, likely because
most experiments are performed in the lab, where alternative prey
availability may not mimic that in nature. Using the Mediterranean
tarantula (Lycosa tarantula)
as a study system we demonstrated for the first time that in a natural
population, females of a cannibalistic species benefit from feeding on
males. We have also reported how this behavior occurs in 1/3 of the
females in natural conditions and how the frequency of this behavior
depends on the relative abundance of males. Furthermore, despite
laboratory findings for some species, females in nature kill
approaching males (i.e. pre-mating sexual cannibalism) in a
discriminatory way; meaning that a female is more likely to attack and
kill an approaching male once she has ensured her sperm (i.e., once she
has successfully mated with a previous male).
PhD student: Rubén Rabaneda-Bueno
Selected publications
Rabaneda-Bueno, R., Rodríguez-Gironés, M.A., Aguado de la Paz, S., Fernández-Montraveta, C., De Mas, E., Wise, D. H., Moya-Laraño, J. 2008. Sexual cannibalism: high incidence in a natural population with benefits to females. PLoS ONE 3:e3484.
Featured in: Science News
Moya-Laraño, J., Macías-Ordóñez, R., Blanckenhorn, W., Fernández-Montraveta, C. 2008. Analysing body condition: mass, volume or density? Journal of Animal Ecology 77:1099-1208.
Moya-Laraño, J., Corcobado, G. 2008. Plotting partial correlation and regression in ecological studies. Web Ecology 8:35-46.
Moya-Laraño, J., Vinković, D., De Mas, E., Corcobado, G., Moreno, E. (2008) Morphological evolution of spiders predicted by pendulum mechanics. PLoS ONE 3:e1841.
Moya-Laraño, J., El-Sayyid, M.E.T. & Fox, C. W. (2007). Smaller beetles are better scramble competitors at cooler temperatures. Biology Letters 3: 475-478.
Moya-Laraño, J. and Wise, D. H. (2007). Two simple strategies to increase the power of experiments with multiple response variables. Basic and Applied Ecology 8: 398-410.
Moya-Laraño, J. Wise, D.H. (2007) Direct and indirect effects of ants on a forest-floor food web. Ecology 88(6): 1454-1465.
Foellmer, M.W. & Moya-Laraño, J. (2007). Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: patterns and processes. In: Sex, Size and Gender Roles: evolutionary studies of sexual size dimorphism. D.J. Fairbairn, W. Blanckenhorn & T. Székely eds. Pp. 71-81. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Moya-Laraño, J.; Halaj, J.; Wise, D.H. (2002). Climbing to reach females: Romeo should be small. Evolution, 56(2): 420-425.
Moya-Laraño, J.; Barrientos, J.A.; Orta-Ocaña, J.M.; Bach, C.; Wise, D.H. (2002). Territoriality in a cannibalistic burrowing wolf spider. Ecology 83(2): 356-361.
Photo credit: Eva De Mas
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