Community Ecology Lab

I joined the Biology Department of Amazonas Federal University as an Assistant Professor in 2013. My research focuses on understanding the structure and dynamics of ecological communities. I'm also interested in the evoutionary outcomes of mutualistic and antagonist interactions at assemblage level. Currently I'm also the coordinator of the LTER site in Manaus, the IAFA Long-Term Ecological Site, and the vice-coordinator of the Zoology Graduate Program at UFAM.

Claudio studied ant richness patterns along a wide latitudinal gradient in Amazon. Now he is investigating taxonomical, functional and behavioural responses of ant assemblages facing changes in soil nutrients. His PhD thesis is being developed under the Amazon Fertilisation Experiment - AFEX, near Manaus. He is co-advised by Dr. Beto Quesada.

Isabela interest in butterflies began in 2011 and since then she worked in different Brazilian biomes, including Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Amazon. During her master's degree in Ecology at UFRN, she investigated the structure of fruit-feeding butterflies assemblages in an urban landscape. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at INPA. Her project is focused on phylogeography, morphological traits and the diversification of widely distributed butterflies, as well as on ecological process, as how the flood pulse of the Amazonian rivers influence the structuring of butterfly communities. She is co-advised by Dra. Fernanda Werneck. PDF.

Janderson is currently working with distribution and diversity of hygropetric beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) along spatial gradients in the Espinhaço Mountains in Brazil. He is advised by Dra. Neuza Hamada. PDF - PDF

 Amanda got her Master degree in Ecology at Universidade Federal do Acre. She studied ant assemblage diversity at Brazilian nut (Bertholletia excelsa) canopy trees growing in forests and pastures. Now she focused on biogeography and evolution of ant assemblages in white sand forests in Amazonian forests. She is co-advised by Dr. Sergio Borges.

Talitha is studying ant-plant interactions between flooding and terra-firme forests. She is particularly interested in understand how the interaction strength varies between mutualist and non-mutualist ant-plant networks. She is co-advised by Dr. Thiago Izzo.

Gilson in investigating how primary productivity and landscape characteristics affect mammalian richness and ecosystem functioning. Most part of his work take place on river islands at Anavilhanas National Park. Gilson is looking from different facets, from riverine people to the conservation unit managers, to build a broader view of fluvial islands ecosystem functioning. He is co-advised by Dra. Maíra Benchimol. PDF - PDF.

Diego seek to understand how ant functional diversity is shaped by evolution and environmental variation. Using a large data set covering a wide environmental variation in Amazon forests couple with experiments he aim to measure the fitness of some functional traits and also model the functional and phylogenetic diversity of ant assemblages along the amazon basin. He is co-advised by Dr. Pedro Pequeno. PDF PDF

Cris interested in ant functional assemblages correlates related to forest fragmentation and land conversion. Her PhD project aim to understand the role of matrix in ant assemblage structure, from ground-dwelling to canopy species. She is co-advised by Dr. Ricardo Solar.

Carolina graduated in biological sciences from UFRGS, where she evaluated the effect of fire on ant-plant interaction networks in the Pampa biome. She is currently studying how ant functional traits are related to dispersal in a seasonally flooded environment at Anavilhanas archipelago.

Erica is a MSc student at the Ecology Department at INPA. She is interested in ant acoustic and the role of morphological traits on ant communication. Instagram.

Giovana studies how environmental primary productivity affects the size and shape of buterflies between two very contrasting environments: flooded varzeas and terra-firme forests. She is an undegrad in Biology at UFAM.

Lucas is an undergrad in Biology at UFAM. He is currently desenvolving his research project along Claudios PhD thesis. He is investigating how major invertebrates taxa respond to changes in soil nutrients. His work is being developed under the Amazon Fertilisation Experiment - AFEX, near Manaus.

Alessander is investigating how ant diversity changes along a wide environmental gradient, from white sand forests to terra-firme forests. His work is carring out at RDS Rio Negro, near Novo Airão.

Esthefany studies ant-plant interactions along a flood gradient (between Igapó and terra-firme forests), near Manaus.

Will is invetigating multi-taxa sampling efficient. His aim is develop an integrate sample desing to proper sample ants and dung beetles. His work is undertaken at Rio Purus, Amazonas.