Max Planck Research Group Eco-Evolutionary Interactions

Summary 

In the Eco-Evolutionary Interactions group, we are studying how lucinid clams and their microbial partners adapted to diverging environmental conditions during a massive allopatric speciation event caused by the rise of the Isthmus of Panamá. Our motivation for doing research is to move from correlation to causation in studies of host-microbe evolution. As oceans undergo major changes due to human activities (for example ocean warming and acidification), understanding how animals and plants adapt to a changing environment is now more than ever one of the biggest questions in marine biology. To predict future responses, we can explore the past and use geological events, which provide valuable insights into adaptive mechanisms.

To better understand the ecology and evolution of symbioses, Dr. Wilkins and her group members apply experimental set-ups, fieldwork, as well as bioinformatic and statistical tools and isotopic analyses. Their research can be summarized into three major research axes: (i) symbiotic macroevolution across the Isthmus of Panamá, (ii) assessing the ecological history of lucinids using biogeochemistry, and (iii) manipulating symbiosis in the laboratory to understand short-term evolution.